ORCADES PROVINCIA IN ROMAN CALEDONIA (ACTUAL SCOTLAND)

The following is an interesting essay written by B. D'Ambrosio (University of Genova) about the "Orcades Provincia" (a Roman province that could have existed in the Orkney islands of northern Scotland).  Here it is some excerpts:

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ORKNEY: THE POSSIBLE 6TH PROVINCE OR ROMAN BRITANNIA (written under the supervision of prof. Giuliani Balestrino of the "Instituto di Geografia - Universita' Statale di Genova")

Recently some researches argue that the Romans created a province in the extreme north of actual Scotland: the "Orcades provincia".  Indeed in 2010 A. Montesanti wrote about this possibility the essay

 Orkney: the 6th province of Britannia? New evidences from Mine Howe

(https://www.academia.edu/33336307/Orkney_the_6th_province_of_Britannia_New_evidences_from_Mine_Howe)

I want to add -at least partially- this essay to my personal researches on the Roman presence in the British isles.

But first of all I want to pinpoint that nearly all of the British authors write that the Romans in their conquest & occupations were practically limited to the areas to the south of actual Scotland. The "Hadrian Wall" was the "real" northernmost limit of Roman Britannia, according to these historians: north of this famous wall the Roman presence was historically limited -for nearly a century- to approximately half of "Caledonia" (as was called Scotland by the Romans), while to the north of the "Antonine Wall" (between Glasgow and Edinburgh)  the Roman presence was reduced to a few decades only.

But in my opinion that is not true, and I am not alone with this point of view. Let me explain better:

We all know that during the Roman invasion of Britain the "King of Orkney" was one of 11 British leaders who is said to have submitted to the Emperor Claudius in AD 43 at Colchester (called Camulodunum in latin). What we don't know is the exact extension of the territory controlled by this king, who successively was probably- as Romans used to do in this situations- the ruler of a possible "client-kingdom" of the Roman empire. 

However there is certainly evidence of an Orcadian connection with Rome prior to AD 60 from pottery found in the Orkney islands at the Broch of Gurness (and 1st and 2nd century Roman coins have been found at Lingro Broch).

When Agricola -according to Tacitus- in 84 AD conquered all Scotland defeating the "Caledonians" with his victory at the "battle of Mons Graupius" (that probably happened near the recently discovered Cawdor fort in the Inverness area, or further east near the Bennachie hills), he sent a fleet to the northernmost shores of Britannia. 

This reference by Tacitus to these Roman ships arises some questions:
1) Why Agricola sent north a fleet and not units of his legions? 
2) Is it possible that this happened because he was aware that the tip of Britannia was ruled by the king of Orkney (or his sucessors), who was an ally (or a client-king) of Rome and consequently there was no need of a military expedition? 
3) And why Agricola needed to explore the Orkney islands if he already knew of them since their "submission" to Claudius a few decades before....or may be he needed to send roman ships (with some troops) to "take REAL possession" of the islands for Rome's empire?
4) If "subdued" the Orkneys island in the autumn months of 84 AD, is it possible that the Romans started in the winter 84/85 the process -later abandoned in spring/summer 85 AD- of creation of a new province of their empire (as they did with the "Germania provincia" before Varus defeat)?

These questions are not easy to answer, but archaeological evidences clearly indicate  that the Romans traded extensively with the Orkney inhabitants, according to scholars like Montesanti, who wrote that "Orkney might have been one of those areas that suggest direct administration by imperial Roman procurators, at least for a very short span of time". 

Furthermore, we have to remember that Tacitus wrote that under Agricola "Britannia perdomita est" (Britain is fully dominated), where the word 'perdomita' in latin is a reduction of the words "PERfecta DOMInaTA" (in English: totally conquered/dominated). Of course Agricola -after his victory against the Picts (called "Caledonians" by the Romans) at the battle of Mons Graupius in the fall of 84 AD- in spring 85 AD was ordered to leave Britannia and went back to Rome, so he could not consolidate his full control of all the huge island of Britain. Romans soon dismantled also the big Inchtuthil fort in the 'Gask Ridge' and went south of what is now the 'Antonine Wall', losing control of Caledonia after only a few winter months of full rule.  But the Roman links with the kingdom of Orkney remained, as Montesanti wrote in his researches.

Archeologist Andrew Kizpatrich is another scholar who think that Orkney did have tangible links to Rome: he concentrated on the shards of Roman amphora found at the "Broch of Gurness" (in the main island of Orkney) - an amphora of a style that had become obsolete by AD 60. Roman goods of these dates were rare further south in Scotland, which would imply that, some time before Agricola invaded Scotland, the Orcadian inhabitants of Gurness had links and access to Roman goods.

Fitzpatrick suggested that kings/chieftains in Orkney had connections (either through marriage or military alliance) with tribes in the far south of Scotland. This could explain the number of broch-like structures in the Lothian region. Fitzpatrick went so far as to suggest Orkney links with tribes in Essex who were known to have submitted to Claudius. 

The Roman practice of establishing "puppet" kingdoms along its expanding frontier could be related to the Claudius and Agricola reference - did the Roman invaders form some kind of alliance with certain powerful families in Orkney that benefited them both? It is certainly possible.

The same may have been the case with Agricola's alleged conquest of Orkney in AD 84, in which he is reported by Tacitus to have "discovered and subdued" the islands.

As we all know, after Agricola's withdrawal -and the creation of the Hadrian Wall and the Antonine Wall-  the Romans did only one strong tentative to dominate all Caledonia: under emperor Septimius Severus. By 210 AD, Severus' campaigning had made significant gains probably reaching the Inverness area (Muiryfold), but his campaign was cut short when he fell fatally ill, dying at Eboracum (actual York)  in 211 AD. Although his son Caracalla continued campaigning the following year, he soon settled for peace and went back to the Hadrian Wall. 

Map that I have created for Wikipedia, showing Cawdor, Muiryfold, Tarradale & Portmahomack location in Caledonia (actual Scotland)

But we don't know exactly where Caracalla's legionaries stopped their advance in north Caledonia. Probably they reached Portmahomack, as recently discovered evidences suggest.

However, is it possible that Caracalla's ships reached the Orkney islands, as happened with Agricola? Montesanti hints that it could have happened.

Indeed in 1984, a candidate for a Roman fort was identified by aerial photography at Easter Galcantray, south west of Cawdor (near Inverness). The site was excavated between 1984 and 1988 and several features were identified which are supportive of this classification. If confirmed, it would be one of the most northerly known Roman forts in the British Isles. 

Additionally, the possibility that the legions reached further north in Scotland is suggested by discoveries in Easter Ross. The sites of temporary camps have been proposed at Portmahomack in 1949, although this has not been officially confirmed. In 1991 an investigation of Tarradale on the Black Isle near the Beauly Firth concluded that "the site appears to conform to the morphology of a Roman camp or fort."

But it is Count Theodosius (the father of emperor Theodosius I) the one that could have created (or recreated) this "Orcades provincia" around 369 AD. Claudian narrate numerous exploits of Count Theodosius, who -after creating the "Valentia provincia"- would have penetrated to the remote region of northern Caledonia where he would have inflicted a resounding defeat at the Picts, who with his fleet would have sailed as far as the Hyperborean Ocean, and that would have inflicted a naval defeat on the Saxon pirates at the Orkney islands.

Claudian wrote in Latin (Claudian, De IV Consulatu Honorii Augusti, 25-35 ): "maduerunt Saxone fuso Orcades", that translated in english is "the Orcades turned to red color because of the massacre of the Saxon (pirates)".

Of course, the Claudian reference of Count Theodosius does not mean that we have a sure evidence of the establishment of this "Orcades provincia"…….but nothing indicates the contrary. Indeed 4th and 5th century classical sources (like Polemius Silvius, who lived a few decades later, in the mid fifth century) include the Islands in a Roman province: 

In a late document ("Nomina Omnium Provinciarum" of Polemius Silvius, Laterculus II), Polemius Silvius listed all the Roman provinces, including the Diocese of Britannia: (Britannia) Prima, (Britannia) Secunda, Maxima, Flavia, Valentiniana, and the name of the 6th hypothetical province called Orcades (Orkneys). Although the name of latter in Polemius’ list has been considered by Mommsen as an interpolation added subsequently (Eutropius, 7.13), new Roman archaeological finds from Mine Howe, Mainland, Orkney, might represent the evident clue for a different interpretation of the late Roman source.

It is difficult to understand why Polemius Silvius "created" this "Orcades provincia", if it is a fake (or a mistake) as some historians like J. Hind (https://www.jstor.org/stable/4435428?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents ) argue. And we have to remember that in all his other works P. Silvius showed no mistakes.....Anyway also about the existence of the "Valentiniana" province (called often "Valentia")  there are some scholar's doubts, but it seems that archeological evidence is demonstrating in recent years that Valentiniana existed really (even if for a very small period of time).

Map of Roman Britannia in 410 AD showing the province of "Valentia" in southern Scotland

And this "Valentia province" existence means that Roman presence in actual southern Scotland lasted more than one century - and may be nearly two centuries, or more! In the locality called Bremenium (actual High Rochester; see http://www.wildyorkshire.co.uk/naturediary/docs/2001/8/16.html) and Habitancium (actual Risingham, see above map) there are evidences of Roman occupation for all the second, third and fourth century (and beyond, possibly in Sub-roman years): see https://www.u3ahadrianswall.co.uk/wordpress/risingham-roman-fort-habitancum/.

Of course this is a clear demonstration that the opinion of some modern British historians about the Roman presence in Scotland lasting just 80 years is a complete mistake!

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Finally, here it s a few interesting and indicative excerpts from Montesanti's essay:

The Roman finds at Mine Howe seem to bear a chronological identification from the Flavian until the Hadrian period. Then and after a symptomatic lack/absence of further evidence, the relationships seem to start over from the Severan reorganisation. The occurrence both of high status and magical/healing and warlike artefacts is also taken as a direct indicator of characteristic activities at or around Mine Howe, enlightening the symbolic and ritual significance of the site also involved in the process of metal artefacts production (Sharples 1998:205; Card & Downes 2003a:17). The Romans might have chosen Mine Howe, one of Orkney’s key point, for the evident sacred role of the ditched underground structure and the related workshop. The outpouring of Romano-British materials is argued to be the direct response to the social thread posed by Rome to create and reinforce their own identity in the face of external threats. In this sense, Native key points or places would have been played an important role in craft production or trading exchange: the existence and the peculiar location at Mine Howe of a smithy/workshop would enhance the status of the site (Hodder 1982:1986-7; Jones 1997:113-5, 123-4; Hunter 2006:105; Hill 1995:9).

The above map shows the hypothetical area ot the Roman "Orcades Provincia" created -possibly- by Count Theodosius around 370 AD and that could be the reason of why Polemius Silvius a few decades later wrote that there were six Roman provinces in Roman Britannia. Note that the limits are closely related to the presence of the "Brochs", that could mark the area under rule of the King of Orkney (who submitted to emperor Claudius in 43 AD)

By contrast with Traprain Law, the lack of a massive presence of Roman pottery confirms the absence of Roman settlers as first indicator of any Roman activity. However, it would be plausible that Orkney might have been one of those areas that suggest direct administration by Imperial procurators, at least for a very short span of time. And this might have occurred twice in Orkney’s history. These archaeological hints might relate to an ‘unexpected’ Roman presence in 4th century in the symbolic site of Mine Howe and linked with the elusive notice of the intangible sixth province of Britannia, Orcades, pointed out on the Count Theodosius’ campaigns (Nomina Omnium Provinciarum of Polemius Silvius, Laterculus II; Eutropius, 7, 13, 2-3; Hind 1975:101; Steven 1976: 211-224; Birley 2005:399, n.2). These re-discovered objects might represent a brief but intense link for the actual issue of negotiated relationships between Natives and Romans. Yet, they may provide an innovative interpretation and a new meaning for individual deposits towards an understanding of their effect between people and material forms, artefacts and material actions. 

THE AROMANIAN REBIRTH

In my weblog in Italian language I have researched about the so called "Aromanian rebirth", that has happened with the development of nationalism in the Balkans since the XVIII century. Here it is a partial translation in English language of this research, titled in Italian "La rinascita degli Aromuni fino alla Grande Guerra" ('The rebirth of the Aromanians until WW1'). If interested read the original here: http://brunodam.blog.kataweb.it/2019/09/05/la-storia-recente-degli-aromuni/.

THE AROMANIAN REBIRTH IN THE LAST TWO CENTURIES

The following text is based on a research by N.S. Tanasoca (a well-known Romanian writer) on the historical story of the Aromanians in the Balkans. I want to clarify from the outset that this translation in Italian comes to be the opinion - in some way partialized - of many writers and historians of Romania and that it does not coincide with the opinion of other writers, especially Greeks and Bulgarians.
Furthermore, I personally believe that - to save something of the aromanian presence in the southern Balkans, after the failure of the two attempts to create an aromanian State (one supported by France in the first world war and the other by Italy in the second) - all that remains is to renounce to the idea of ​​an aromanian nation and to accept the Romania's support in creating a small Balkan area -with limited autonomy, inside other nations- with a "Romanian" dialect. In short, a kind of "reserve" of Aromanians, as it exists for Indians in the USA.

Only in this way could be prevented in the next few decades the total assimilation of the remaining aromanian areas in the Pindus, saving one of their substantial communities within a 'United Europe' (given that the aromanian presence -although official- in Albania and Macedonia is 'minimal and irrelevant').

Under the impact of historical circumstances, the Aromanians did not experience the phase of the full rebirth of small European nations in the 19th century and did not, therefore, become a standard ethnic group. However there was a kind of rebirth, but full of problems.

The 'Aromanian issue' between 1879 and the WW1


Between 1879 and 1919 the Aromanian national rebirth reached its peak.

Map showing areas (in blue color) with Romanian schools for Aromanians and Megleno-Romanians in the European side of the Ottoman Empire (1886).

The year 1879 witnessed the founding of the Bucharest Society for Macedo-Romanian Culture. Chaired by Calinic Miclescu, the Primate of Romania, and having Vasile Alexandrescu Urechia as its secretary, the institution was led by a Council made up of thirty-five personalities. These included Dimitrie and Ion Ghica, Dumitru Brătianu, C. A. Rosetti, Ion Câmpineanu, Gh. Chiţt, Nicolae Ionescu, Christian Tell, Menelas Ghermani, Dr. Ioan Kalinderu, D. A. Sturdza, Titu Maiorescu, Vasile Alecsandri, and Ioan Caragiani. As it had a legal status, the Society represented the genuine core of the Aromanian rebirth movement. Although the Society was not a government body, it had highly unusual responsibilities, such as the right to issue documents attesting civil status, including certificates of nationality intended to assist Aromanians in obtaining Romanian citizenship with comparatively reduced bureaucratic efforts.

Since it was a representative structure for the Aromanians, the Society also guided and coordinated their education in the Romanian language. Its initial objectives were to establish a Romanian bishopric for Aromanians and a boarding school for young people who were studying in Turkey, to raise funds and to subsidize the publication of Aromanian journals and books, and to support the Church. Beginning in 1880, the Society issued an Aromanian journal called Brotherhood for Justice, but it could only continue this effort for one year. Still, in 1880, it published a Macedo-Romanian album with 173 Romanian and foreign contributions to the cause.

The fact that the Society for Macedo-Romanian Culture was founded in 1879 was not purely coincidental. Immediately after gaining full state independence in 1878, Romania had the opportunity to freely develop a foreign policy of its own and used this Society to express its legitimate claim to play a part in the Balkans. However, this claim never implied territorial annexations, only the strengthening of Aromanian cultural autonomy. The Society functioned until 1948.

On the eve of the Balkan Wars, there were over 100 Romanian primary schools in the Ottoman Empire, as well as several secondary schools, including a high school in Bitola and a trade school in Salonika. Although these schools all required their students to pay tuition fees, they were subsidized by the Romanian government. The Aromanian schools outside Romania were placed under the direct authority of the Romanian State that appointed all the teachers. They were also subordinated to a General Inspectorate.

For several decades, this Inspectorate was headed by Apostol Margarit. With the help of the French priest Jean Claude Faveryal, he supervised the birth of many Romanian schools for the Vlach population of the Ottoman Empire. Apostol Margarit dedicated many works to the Aromenian question - Raport despre persecuŃiile şcoalelor române în Macedonia din partea Grecilor in 1875; Réfutation d'une brochure grecque par un Valaque épirote in 1878, Etudes historiques sur les Valaques du Pinde in 1881, Les Grecs, les Valaques, les Albanais et l'Empire turc par un Valaque du Pinde in 1886; La politique grecque en Turquie in 1890; Memoriu privitor la şcoalele de peste Balcani in 1887.

The Romanian schools in the Ottoman Empire were highly successful. They produced generations of graduates, many of whom later chose to settle in Romania. Yet, the main problem for these schools was that of persuading Aromanians to remain in their native environments. This goal could not be accomplished. Indeed the other Balkan nationalities displayed an open hostility to the Romanian education system, for they were competing for the Ottoman legacy even before the formal collapse of the Empire, ready to partition it as best they could. The support of Romanianism could be interpreted as engaging in open combat against all the Christian nationalities in Macedonia.

As for church organization, its progress did not match the positive evolution of the education system. Although on 16 June 1889, the Patriarchate finally permitted the use of the Romanian language in churches built by Aromanians, its attitude, in principle, remained aloof, if not hostile, either openly or through well-hidden manoeuvres. On 27 June 1891, a Sultan’s "irade" (decree) was promulgated, authorizing the use of the Romanian language in Aromanian churches and the use of Romanian books during religious services. Despite all efforts and in spite of an attempt, in 1896, to elect Antim, who was known to support the Aromanian cause, as the Ohrid metropolitan bishop, there were no possibilities of establishing an Aromanian bishopric able to free the Aromanians from the authority of the Greek church and to support their unhindered development.

Catholic propaganda, conducted mainly by a Lazarist named Faveyral of Bitola, was strongly directed toward the conversion of the Aromanians. Apostol Margarit was linked to certain attempts to bring about a religious union with Rome. But the Aromanian community was too attached to the Orthodox tradition to make such a shift. This tradition was a critical element in its national consciousness.

For some years a church in Voskopojë was managed by the Aromanian priest Cosma Demetresescu even after he was closed in a monastery, in 1891. In the same year another decree allowed Aromanians to use their language not only in the religious functions but also in the ritual books. The first years of XX century continued to stage violent attacks on Aromanian clergymen and notables, while romanian diplomacy increased its efforts to obtain from the Sultan privileges as the creation of an indipendent patriarchate. In 1903 Aromanians were among the victims and at the same time the partecipants of the Ilinden insurrection (in the Soviet of Krushova republic there were around 20 Aromanians and later, in the reform commission apponted by the Turks there was the Romanian Pandele Maşu). In 1903 an Aromanian cemetery was set in Monastir while in 1904 a Romanian consulate was opened at Yanyna.

The sympathies showed towards the Sultan were soon repaid and in 1905 sultan Abdul Hamid issued a decree ("irade") to grant Aromanians all the rights of a millet with the exception of a religious head, creating in this way the "Ullah millet". The irade of 22th May 1905 granted to the Vlachs the use of their language in religious matters and the freedom of electing mayors (muhtar). But it caused many angry protests among Greek ecclesiastical authorities, starting from the patriarch Joachim. Besides the opposition of the Greek priests, the irade caused the violent reaction of the bands born to fight the Bulgarian "komitadji". The repression of Aromanian rights included the killing of clergymen, the denial of the Sacraments and violent attacks against the attendants of Aromanian schools

According to Italian military sources, violence continued to mark the inter-ethnic relationships in the Balkans, as denounced by the Romanian press which continued to invoke drastic measures against the discriminatory and violent treatment of the Aromanians by bands of Greeks (and also of Bulgarians and Albanians, but in a minor scale). "Aromanul" (13th November 1913) protested against the assassination of some Romanian activists (Dem. Zicu of Petrici and Mitra Arghieri of Şatra), "Viitorul" (Rominii maeedoneni, 20th December 1913) and "Fulgerul" (Exterminarea Aromanilor, 20th January 1914) against the risk Aromanians could disappear; “Dreptatea" (Romanii albanezi şi asasinarea preotului Balamace, 26th March 1914) and “Adevarul" (Un mitropolit bandit, 29th March 1914) talked abut the fury caused by the murder of the Romanian bishop Haralambie Balamace and accused the Greek metropolit Ghermanos. Finally other protests were caused by the Greek response given by Venizelos, who accused the Albanians of having comitted the massacres of the Aromanians in Coritza (Guvernul şi masacrele din Corita, in “Adevarul", 30th March 1914; Incorigibilii, in “Mişcarea", 3rd April 1914).

Happily satisfied by the recognition of both their ethnic individuality and their cultural and administrative rights, the Aromanians after only 8 years were dealt a harsh blow in the aftermath of the Balkan Wars. The August 1913 Treaty of Bucharest sealed the establishment of national states in the European territories of the Ottoman Empire and divided the Aromanians among these states. Their cohesion was thus shattered, and they were left at the mercy of various national governments that had made no formal commitment to respect Aromanian ethnic autonomy and national rights.

During the first years of WW1, when Greece was divided between Ententists and supporters of the Central Powers, the Pindus Aromanians began an insurrectional movement with Italian support in order to establish, in the Pindus region, an Aromanian political body, completely independent of Greece. Supported by the Society for Macedo-Romanian Culture and by certain Romanian personalities, this movement was exploited by other political actors to obtain recognition of Romanian claims to the whole region of Banat.

But later, represented at Versailles by a delegation led by George Murnu, the Aromanians found themselves in a no-win situation. The Utopian intention to establish an Aromanian or an Aromanian-Albanian state was invalidated by Balkan and general realities. The geographical characteristics of the area concerned failed to provide for economic self-sufficiency. The Aromanians were overly dispersed throughout this area and were surrounded by more numerous neighbours who opposed the whole idea. Finally, there was a lack of consensus among Pindus Aromanians in favour of such an arrangement. The frailty of the dream of a Romanian-Albanian state could be observed in the treatment that Albania meted out to its Romanian minority. The Albanian state did its best to do away with all educational and religious activities carried out by the Aromanians and quickly took the next logical step, that of questioning the very existence of Aromanians on its territory.

The French and Italian intervention

In 1914, in the aftermath of Balkan wars, an Autonomous Republic of Epirus was formed around Gjirokastër. It was led by a distinguished local Greek politician, Georgios Christakis-Zogràfos, who referring to the Megàli idèa gave birth to an autonomous administration, put under formal Albanian sovereignty and recognized also by the Great Powers with the Protocol of Corfu. The experiment took also to the creation of an autocephale church whose chiefs soon reconciled with Athens. The end of the principate was then followed by a period of Greek administration and, after the division between royalists and Venizelos’ supporters had thrown Greece into an unstable position, by the arrival of French and Italian troops at Korcë and Gjirokastër.
The two provinces of Korytsa and Argyrokastro were inhabitated by a melting pot of creeds and populations and included also some Vlachs. During the Epirus autonomy, the Greek administration viewed all Albanian Aromanians as part of the Greek minority without taking into account their different nationality. 

The region later fell under the control of the Bulgarians, who tried to join Austrian allies, before being stopped by French intervention. Also some groups of rebels were active in the region of Korçë, one was led by Themistokli Gërmenji and another by Sali Butka. The latter, sacked completely the Aromanian Moscopole and threatened with the same perspective Korçë. 

When the city of Koritza came under French control, the French tried to get a compromise and an "Autonomous Albanian Republic of Korçë" was established with a council made up of seven Christians (someone Aromanian) and seven Muslims and with Themistokli Gërmenji as prefect of police. The new authorities introduced Albanian as the official language and replaced Greek schools with Albanian ones, which had been forbidden during the Greek administration of the city. 

Italy reacted against this French policy aimed at influencing Albanian affairs and, as Italian armies were also present in many parts of Albania - the port of Vlorë and the southern region of the Albanian principality- proclaimed Albanian indipendence and tried to counter-balance French dominion. 

In 1917, when Italian troops advanced into Albania they were welcomed in all Aromenian villages, for example in Ciamuria and Samarina. A National council for Pindus was created and it took a very pro-Italian attitude. They later founded, with the help of some local representative as Alkiviadis Diamandis, the "Principate of Pindos" in the area of Aromanian settlement. Italy undertook attempts to convert the pro-Romanian Aromanians into pro-Italian one, taking advantage of the historical and language relations these communities had with Italian latinity. 

In this particular context, Italian military forces felt the need to improve the ethnic and political conditions of the Aromanians, and sketched some documents on their history and customs. Their villages could be distinguished for the solidity and a certain elegance and were often placed in positions of military interest, next to the mountains and road junctions. The Aromanians were described as calm, wealthy, occupied in trade or sheep-breeding, resistant to any persecution or massacre, even though the denaturalization policies pursued by the Greeks, as reported by colonel Casoldi on 29th May 1917 in his account 'Note circa la questione valacca'. 

The Aromanian presence was particularly evident in two districts, Grammos – expecially in the city and around Koritza - and Pindus, where 36 villages were clearly detachable. Even if they were not as populous as the old Moscopole, these settlements mantained their ethnic identity. The language, instead, was in some case abandoned, also as a consequence of the Greek propaganda, pressures and abuses. Aromanians even arrived at creating national armed bands against those sent by Greeks to terrorize the region and this resistance was considered almost incredible by Italians, due to the peaceful and calm traditions of the Aromanians. It was also noted that many Aromanians enlisted in the Romanian army staying in Moldova asked to be sent back to the Balkans to fight for the security of their lands. 

Trying to conquer the sympathies of those communities, the Italians thought that the strategy to follow was that of sponsoring the birth and increase of local authorities in order to prepare for the peace negotiations a fertile ground for the establishments of cantons or political and administrative autonomy. These hopes were increased also by the demands of Aromanian communities, who after the years of the Greek-Romanian dispute and the troubles of war searched in the kingdom of Italy a stronger protector. 

On 27th July 1917 the Italian commander in Valona, General Giacinto Ferrero, received a telegram coming from the mayors of many Aromanian villages who met in Metzovo, representing the Pindus-Zagori people.

“Figli non degeneri di Roma sempre memori della madre nostra antica e tenaci custodi della lingua e delle tradizioni dei nostri padri dopo lunghi secoli di lotta sanguinosa contro la straniero che tentava tutti i modi di cancellare nostro carattere nazionale latino respiriamo finalmente le pure aure della libertà che le nuove legioni di roma vittoriose agli ordini vostri hanno apportato ai loro fratelli di sangue dispersi lontani sul Pindo e Zagori” ('Non-degenerate children of Rome always mindful of our ancient mother and tenacious guardians of the language and traditions of our fathers after long centuries of bloody struggle against the foreigner who tried always to cancel our national Latin character, we finally breathe the pure auras of freedom that the new legions of Rome victorious on your orders have contributed to their scattered blood brothers on the Pindus and Zagori').

Besides the enthusiastic recalling of ancient Roman roots, in this appeal the Aromanians underlined the security given to them by the Italian troops; their leaving would mean falling easily prey of the enemies who looked forward to the extermination of Aromanians. The latter invoked Italy and her powerful and careful protection, the only means of defence against the superiority of the enemies. Finally, the signataries self-appointed themselves the 'sons of Rome', who throughout millenary events had kept intact and preserved the remembrance of the Roman civilization in the valleys and the mountains of Pindus. 

Even if in a shorter form, the same declarations were included in the comunication sent the same day to the President of the United states, to the president of the Provisory Russian Government, to the Romanian Prime Minister I. C. Brătianu, to the Belgian Foreign Affairs minister, to the French, English and Russian consuls in Yanina, to General Ricciotti Garibaldi in Rome and to the mayor of Rome.

In late 1918 a "memorandum" of the Aromanian people was sent to the 'Peace Conference in Paris' through the volume "Les Macedo-Roumains (Koutzo-Valaques) devant le Congrè de la Paix" redacted by the National Council of the Pindus Roumanians and signed by G.Munru, Nicolae Tacit, Arghir Culina, T. Papahagi. Besides the historical connection, the Aromanians recalled their will of joining the Roman Catholic Church repairing “le plus grave erreur historique” (their biggest historical mistake) and restablishing the relationships that Kalojan Asan had with the Pope, which proved the never-ending Latin character of the Aromanian people Italy was the natural benchmark of the Aromanians and her prestige deriving from the victory of the war increased her power and attraction towards the Aromanians, who kept on invoking Italian protection for the safeguard of their Latin culture. 

At Delvino, on 28th December 1918 and 10th January 1919, a special Assembly was convoked. The meeting defined a precise political project: the autonomy of Pindus and Zagori united with Albania and under the protection of Italy and pointed out a strategy to avoid any other undesired solution.

But the Paris Peace conference was not favorable to the Aromanians.

After 1919

The years, 1919-1948, represented a period of stagnation and decline in the evolution of the Aromanian issue. The Turkish-Greek War that ended with the Treaty of Lausanne of 1923 entailed the resettlement in Greek Macedonia of over one million Greeks from Asia Minor. This act was a truly finishing stroke for Aromanians in Greece.

Aromanian shepherding was destroyed by the parcelling of the large pastures so that all the newcomers could receive a piece of land. The latter were protected in the practice of the liberal professions and in trade through a process perceived as a threat by Aromanians who suddenly faced competition. The situation being what it was, those Aromanians who were still keen on their Romanity decided to emigrate to Romania. With the support of the Romanian State, the Dobrudja Quadrilateral was settled by several thousand Aromanians who were then forced to move into Romanian Dobrudja, when the Quadrilateral was retroceded to Bulgaria, in 1940. To this systematic movement of people, must be added the more gradual emigration of all the Salonika and Grebena secondary school aromanian graduates to Romania during the 1920s and 1930s.

The last intervention of Italy happened during WW2, when the Aromanian leader Alkibiades Diamandis created -under Italian control- the "Principate of Pindus", but the Axis defeat in this war left a complete destruction of the aromanian rebirth as a possible small State: 

Diamandis' last autonomist tentative: the Principate of Pindus during WW2

Alkibiades Diamandis  during the course of World War I formed an armed Aromanian separatist band that operated in the Pindus mountains, then part of the Italian protectorate over Albania. With the tacit approval of the Italian authorities he proclaimed the initial foundation of a small "Principality of the Pindus" centered in Samarina, with himself as prince. Following a diplomatic protest by Greece, Italian troops departed from Epirus after a few days of occupation, as did Diamandi who was charged with sedition by the Greeks. Returning to Romania in the early 1920s he entered the Romanian diplomatic service and was appointed consul at Sarandë in order to influence the local Aromanian population.

Alkibiades Diamandis and his Aromanian troops of the 'Roman Legion'

Diamandis was active in the Greek regions of Thessaly and Macedonia during World War II, supporting the Italian and German occupation forces and promoting the creation of an autonomous Aromanian state, envisioned as a "Principality of the Pindus", a name also used for a similar attempt in 1917, in which Diamandis had also been involved. Calling himself a leader and "Representative of the Vlachs of the Lower Balkans", Diamandis established a "Roman Legion" -made of nearly 1,000 "legionaries"- and helped the Italian forces to control the area and in the collection of weapons that the Greeks had hidden after the surrender of the Greek Army.

An "Aromanian Parliament" (protected by the "Roman Legion") was summoned by Diamandis in Metsovo (Aminciu in Aromanian) in late 1941, but no laws were adopted—since the reunion was not official: the Italians were not keen on sharing power in the region.

Diamandis hoped for the creation of a state (with capital Trikala) that would encompass all of north-western Greece. The Pindus region also spans southern parts of present-day Albania and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, but the "Principality" was restricted to the areas under Greek rule. Diamandi also met the Greek collaborationist Prime Minister, Georgios Tsolakoglou, but Tsolakoglou refused to accommodate his demands.

In early 1942 a faction of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (VMRO) offered the throne of Macedonia to Diamandis, but there is no evidence as to whether he accepted it, however, his last successor, "Julius I", was always styled as Voivode of Macedonia. Diamandi eventually left the state in summer 1942, and took refuge in Romania because in the eyes of local Aromanians he was rather pro-Italian than pro-Aromanian, while the Italians considered him a Romanian agent. His successor for a very short time was Nicola Matushi, who tried to find a modus vivendi with the Greek leaders, but without success. From mid-1942 on, the armed Greek Resistance also made its presence felt, fighting against the Italians and their collaborators of the Roman Legion.

Diamandis left Greece by the end of summer of 1942 for Romania and Nicholas Matousis, an aromanian lawyer, already active as second-in-command, replaced him in the organization. Another important figure in the Legion was the Aromanian Vasil Rapotika (Vassilis Rapotikas) who was leading the paramilitary units.

In early 1943 the Italians with the support of the Roman Legion offered the vacant title of "Prince of Pindus" to the Cseszneky family, probably in recognition for their role in supplying the Italian Army with cereals. Gyula Cseszneky was a Hungarian-Croatian baron in Italian service, who only nominally reigned as Voivode Julius between August-September in 1943, but never actually assumed power, although some local autonomist Bulgarian-Macedonian leaders governed in his name. Whatever authority the Principality exercised, it practically ceased to exist after the Italian capitulation in September 1943, when the area was taken over by the Germans.

After some action from some resistance groups (ELAS) against members of the Legion, and the withdrawal of Italian forces, the Legion ceased to exist in September 1943, while Matousis fled to Athens.

The members of the Roman Legion who did not flee to Romania were tried in the Treason Courts set up in 1945-47 and were sentenced. Of the nearly one thousand original members in 1941, only 617 Aromanians were accused and 152 were found guilty, 91 of which did not receive a sentence since they were already in prison sentenced for treason in other cases and for 55 there was no continuation due to their death (many of them killed by the Resistance). 319 were found innocent