Alkiviadis Diamandi or Alcibiade Diamandis (sometimes spelled Diamandis, Diamanthis or Diamantis) was a Aromanian (Vlach) political figure of Greece, active during the First and Second World Wars in connection with the Italian officials (who were then administring parts of Greece). Aromanians (also called: Macedo-Romanians or Vlachs, in Aromanian they call themselves arumâni, armâni or aromâni) are a population living as a minority in Northern Greece, Serbia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Bulgaria; their number is estimated to about one or two million. ... World War I was primarily a European conflict with many facets: immense human sacrifice, stalemate trench warfare, and the use of new, devastating weapons - tanks, aircraft, machine guns, and poison gas. ... Combatants Allied Powers Axis Powers Commanders {{{commander1}}} {{{commander2}}} Strength {{{strength1}}} {{{strength2}}} Casualties 37 million Civilians 25 million military World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a mid-20th century conflict that engulfed much of the globe and is accepted as the largest and deadliest war in...

From Samarina to Rome via Bucharest

Diamandi was born in Samarina (at over 1,600 metres, the village situated at the highest altitude in Greece) to a family of wealthy ethnic Vlach merchants. After attending the Romanian primary school in Samarina, he studied at the Greek Lyceum in Thessaloniki (at that time still part of the Ottoman Empire) and on the eve of the Balkan Wars in 1912 he left (as many other Vlachs of Greece) for Romania, where he enrolled at the Comercial Academy (Academia Comercială) in Bucharest, and graduated from it. As Romania entered World War I in 1916, Diamandi briefly volunteered for military service, briefly serving as officer. This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Imperial motto (Ottoman Turkish) Devlet-i Ebed-müddet (the Eternal State) The Ottoman Empire at the height of its power Official language Ottoman Turkish Capital Bursa (1335 - 1365), Edirne (1365-1453), Ä°stanbul (Constantinople) (1453-1922) Imperial anthem Ottoman imperial anthem Sovereigns Padishah of the Osmanli Dynasty Population ca 40... The outcome as of April 1913 Boundaries on the Balkans after the First and the Second Balkan War (1912-1913) Distribution of races in the Balkan Peninsula and Asia Minor in 1923, Historical Atlas by William R. Shepherd, New York (The map does not reflect the results of the 1923... 1912 (MCMXII) was a leap year starting on Monday. ... Bucharest (Romanian: BucureÅŸti ) is the capital city and industrial and commercial centre of Romania. ... 1916 (MCMXVI) is a leap year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar) // Events January-February January 1 -The first successful blood transfusion using blood that had been stored and cooled. ...

It is not clear wether he was discharged from the Romanian Army or rather dispatched by the Romanians to Albania where, under the Italian and French tutelage (see Birth of Albania), he became in 1918 co-founder of the short-lived Republic of Korytsá (Korçë in Albanian, Curceaua in Aromanian), which was supposed, under the makeshift name of the 'Republic of Pindus' to be the first autonomous state of the Vlachs of Epirus. While in Albania, Diamandi befriended the Albanian political figure Fan S. Noli, whose political ideals he shared. National awakening and the birth of Albania (1876-1918) By the 1870s, the Sublime Portes reforms aimed at checking the Ottoman Empires disintegration had clearly failed. ... Korçë (Albanian: Korçë or Korça, Greek: Κορυτσά, Korytsá, Italian: Corizza) is a major city in south-eastern Albania, located at 40°37′ N 20°46′ E near the border with Greece. ... Map of areas inhabited by Aromanians Aromanian (also known as Macedo-Romanian in Romania or Vlach in most other countries; in Aromanian: armâneashti or armãneshce) is a language in the eastern group of the Romance languages, spoken in the Balkans. ... This article is about the broad geographical and historical region of Epirus, spanning Greece and Albania. ... Theophan (Fan) Stylian Noli (January 6, 1882 - March 13, 1965) was an Albanian bishop and politician, who served briefly as prime minister and regent of Albania in 1924. ...

After the withdrawal of the Italians, he sought refuge for a while at Sarandë in Albania, from where he fled to Rome - where he become involved with Benito Mussolini's Fascist political movement. He contacted the Romanian Legation and was issued a Romanian passport, with which he was able to travel to Greece. According to the Greek author Stavros Anthemides, Diamandi was 'pardoned' by the Greek authorities in 1927 for his resistance to Greek authorities. Photo of Sarandë (By Marc Morell) Syri i Kaltër, or the Azure Eye, is a well known natural cold water spring in Sarandë. (By Marc Morell) Sarandë (Albanian: Saranda or Sarandë, IPA or ; Italian: Santa Quaranta, Forty Saints); Greek: Άγιοι Σαράντα or... City motto: Senatus Populusque Romanus – SPQR (The Senate and the People of Rome) Founded 21 April 753 BC mythical, 1st millennium BC Region Latium Mayor Walter Veltroni (Left-Wing Democrats) Area  - City Proper  1290 km² Population  - City (2004)  - Metropolitan  - Density (city proper) 2,823,807 almost 4,000,000 1... Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (Predappio near Forlì, July 29, 1883 – Giulino di Mezzegra near Como, April 28, 1945) led Italy from 1922 to 1943. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... A Legation was the term used in diplomacy to denote a diplomatic representative office lower than an embassy. ...

The Athens years: A 'Prince' on the making

Shortly after the presumed amnesty, he arrived in Athens as the "vice president of the National Petroleum Company of Romania", as an oil importer. This was coupled with activities import in lumber imports wood from Romania to Greece, and some other business ventures. He rented a flat in the fashionable Kolonaki, and frequented the bars and cafes of Piraeus, where he had got involved in a brawl with a Greek navy captain named Giorgakis. During the squable, Diamandi was wounded by a bottle flung in his direction by his adversary, and the resulting scar was used to identify him later on when he was on the run. The Acropolis in central Athens, one of the most important landmarks in world history. ... Kolonaki (Greek: Κολονάκι) is a neighbourhood in central Athens, Greece. ... View of Piraeus A night ferry about to leave the port of Piraeus for the Dodecanese Piraeus, or Peiraeus (Modern Greek: Πειραιάς Peiraiás or Pireás, Ancient Greek / Katharevousa: Πειραιεύς Pireéfs) is a city in the prefecture of Attica, Greece, located south of Athens. ...

Diamandi frequently traveled to Rhodes (which was at the time an Italian possesion), managing to attract the attention of the Greek Counter-intelligence Services. It is widely assumed that the Greeks were aware that Diamandi was an undercover Romanian agent who was trying to incite up the Aromanians against the Greek state. Already during Ioannis Metaxas's regime, Diamandi was served with an expulsion order, but he had managed to avoid being forced out while the political context was turning more and more in his advantage Main entrance to the medieval city of Rhodes Rhodes, Greek Ρόδος (Rhodos; see also List of traditional Greek place names), is the largest of the Dodecanese islands, and easternmost of the major islands of Greece in the Aegean Sea. ... Look up Undercover in Wiktionary, the free dictionary Being undercover or wearing plainclothes is disguising ones identity for the purposes of gaining the trust of an individual or organization to learn secret information. ... Ioannis Metaxas Ioannis Metaxas (Greek Ιωάννης Μεταξάς, April 12, 1871 - January 29, 1941) was a Greek General and the Prime Minister of Greece from 1936 until his death. ...

Experiments in statehood: The 'Autonomou Kratou tis Pindou'

Italian poster titled The attack on Greece

When the Greco-Italian War started, at the end of October 1940, Diamandi was already in Konitsa on the Albanian-Greek border. The invading Italians offered him the rank of Commandatore, and he served as translator and assistant to the Italian Chief of Staff General Alfredo Guzzoni. After Italy's initial defeat, Diamandi was forced to seek refuge in Tirana (at that time under Italian rule) and re-entered Greece with the Italian armies five months later in the spring of 1941. Image File history File links Gallag. ... Image File history File links Gallag. ... The Greco-Italian War was a conflict between Italy and Greece from October 28, 1940 to April 6, 1941. ... 1940 (MCMXL) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... Konitsa (Greek: Κόνιτσα) is a town in Epirus, Greece, near the Albanian border. ... Translation is an activity comprising the interpretation of the meaning of a text in one language—the source text—and the production of a new, equivalent text in another language—the target text, also called the translation. ... average temperature and precipitations in Tirana Tirana (Albanian: Tiranë or Tirana) is the capital and largest city of Albania. ... For the movie, see 1941 (film) 1941 (MCMXLI) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ...

The Italian press of the time, jubilant on the advance into Greek Epirus

This time he went on to form the so-called Autonomou Kratou tis Pindou or Autonomou Vlahikou Kratou on the territory of Epirus, Thessaly and parts of Macedonia, which was supposed to constitute a Vlach Homeland. He started self-styling himself Principe and sketched the outlook of the Principality of Pindos for the Vlach region. Diamandi's deputy and right-hand was the Larissa-based lawyer Nikos Matoussi, while the third in the hierarchy of the nascent state was Rapoutikas Vassilis. The model for the Vlach state were the Swiss cantons, united into a confederation - which meant, in this case, the Principality. Image File history File links NellEpiro. ... Image File history File links NellEpiro. ... Thessaly (Θεσσαλια; modern Greek Thessalía; see also List of traditional Greek place names) is one of the 13 peripheries of Greece, and is further sub-divided into 4 prefectures. ... The Principality of Pindos (also Pindo or Pindus) and Duchy of Macedonia was an autonomous state set up under fascist Italian and Bulgarian control in northwest Greece and southern Yugoslavia during the Second World War and Greek Civil War. ... Larissa (Greek: Λάρισα, Lárisa, (Turkish: Yenişehr-i Fenar) is the capital city of the Thessaly periphery of Greece, and capital of the Larissa Prefecture. ... The twenty-six cantons of Switzerland are the states of the federal state of Switzerland. ... A confederation is an association of sovereign states, usually created by treaty but often later adopting a common constitution. ...

In June 1941, Diamandi found himself in Grebena and then to Metsovo, where he founded the Koma Koinotita Koutsovlachon, which were part of the Enosi Roumanikon Koinotiton (The Union of the Romanian Communities). A Vlach Parliament was summoned in Trikala, but no laws were drawn - since the Parliament had mostly a decorative role, as the Italians were not keen on sharing power in the region. Nevertheless, it did issue a series of local regulations, aimed at restricting the use of the Greek language in favour of Aromanian. It also carried out Dimanadi's wish to have the town and villages entry signs in Greek replaced with new ones in Aromanian and Italian. Thus, Metsovo became Aminciu in Aromanian and Mincio in Italian, Nympheon became Nevesca and Nevesa, Samarina was doubled by Santa Maria etc. For the movie, see 1941 (film) 1941 (MCMXLI) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Metsovo (Greek: Μέτσοβο, Aromanian: Aminciu) is a town in Epirus on the mountains of Pindus in Northern Greece, between Ioannina to the north and Meteora to the south. ... Trikala (Greek: Τρίκαλα) is a city in northwestern Thessaly, Greece. ... Greek (Greek Ελληνικά, IPA – Hellenic) is an Indo-European language with a documented history of 3,500 years. ...

A Vlach Manifesto in occupied Greece

On March 1, 1942, Diamandi issued an ample Manifesto which was published in the local press and republished by Stavros Anthemides in 1997 (in his book on the Vlachs of Greece; see bibliography). The Manifesto was countersigned by leading Vlach intellectuals such as: March 1 is the 60th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (61st in leap years). ... This article is about the year. ... 1997 (MCMXCVII) is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

• the lawyer Nikos Matoussi
• Prof. Dimas Tioutras
• the lawyer Vasilakis Georgios
• the physician Dr. Frangkos Georgios
• the teacher A. Beca
• the businessman Gachi Papas
• the physician Dr. Nikos Mitsibouna
• Prof. Dim. Hatzigogou
• the lawyer A. Kalometros
• the engineer Niko Teleionis
• Vasilis Tsiotzios
• Prof. Kosta Nicoleskou
• Prof. Toli Pasta
• Dim. Tahas
• Prof. Stefanos Kotsios
• Prof. G. Kontoinani
• Dr. Kaloera
• Prof. Toli Hatzi
• Giovani Mertzios of Neveska (whose son Nik. Merztios, in a twist of history, is a well known pro-Greek Vlach author of Greece)
• Pericli Papas
• Prof. Virgiliu Balamace (related to Nick Balamace, currently the Secretary of the 'Society Farsarotul' in the United States)
• ing. S. Pelekis
• K. Pitouli
• the lawyer Toli Hatzis
• Dim. Barba

Two Vlachs of Albania and Bulgaria, Vasilis Vartolis and the Samarina born writer Ziko Araias, known also as Zicu Araia also endorsed the Manifesto. In Romania, it was co-signed by the Veria-born George Murnu, a professor at the University of Bucharest. Diamandi travelled to Bucharest shortly after he met Murnu, and together they attended a meeting with the then Leader (Conducător) of Romania Marshal Ion Antonescu, and the Foreign Minister Mihai Antonescu. The status of the Principality of Pindos was discussed. Veria is also a settlement in the prefecture of Laconia, see Veria (Laconia), Greece as well as a commune in the Jura département with the e accented as Véria Veria (also spelled Veroia, Greek: Βέροια - Véria, Bulgarian and Macedonian: Бер - Ber, Latin: Beroea) has a population of about 35... University of Bucharest University of Bucharest is a university founded in 1864 by decree of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza to convert the former Saint Sava Academy into the current University of Bucharest. ... Ion Antonescu Ion Antonescu (June 15, 1882, PiteÅŸti – June 1, 1946, near Jilava) was the prime minister and conducător (Leader) of Romania during World War II from September 4, 1940 to August 23, 1944. ... Mihai Antonescu Mihai Antonescu (1907-1946) was Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Romania during World War II. Antonescu made his living as an attorney before becoming Prime Minister Ion Antonescu’s (whom he was not related to) Minister of Propaganda in 1940. ...

One option favoured by Diamandi was to put the Principality under the sovereignty of the Romanian Crown (as an associated "free state"). Diamandi, as a "Prince", would then have the right to atend the Consilii de Coroană ("Crown Councils"), which were to be held in Bucharest or in the Transylvanian Alps mountain spa and ski resort of Sinaia. Another option was to link the principality to the ruling Italian House of Savoy. None of these options was to be realised. The King of Romania was the title of the ruler of the Kingdom of Romania from 1881 until 1947 when Romania was proclaimed a republic. ... Southern Carpathians (also called Transylvanian Alps; in Romanian: Carpaţii Meridionali) are located between the Prahova river in the east and the Timiş river and Cerna river in the west. ... This article needs copyediting (checking for proper English spelling, grammar, usage, etc. ... The House of Savoy was a dynasty of nobles who traditionally had their domain in Savoy, a region between Piedmont, Italy, France and French-speaking Switzerland. ...

Refuge in Romania

Towards the second year of the Italian occupation, guerilla actions broke out in the area, between the Greek Resistance supported by the Allied Forces and the Italo-German side. The chaos that ensued drove Diamandi to leave (either that or he was ordered back) to Romania. His subsequent fate is unknown. Guerrilla War redirects here. ... An ELAS Warrior The Greek Civil War was fought between 1942 and 1949, and was the result of the repression of the post-war Greek regime. ... The group of countries known as the Allies of World War II came together as World War II unfolded and progressed. ...

Matousis escaped, first to Athens than to Romania too, while Rapoutikas was shot dead by one of the Greek factions involved in guerilla activities just outside Larissa {the Greeks then tied his corpse on the back a donkey and paraded him through the Vlach villages of the Pindus - this was intended in order to scare the local populace and as a final proof that the Pindus Principality had reached its end).

Mysterious Diamandi's incomplete life story

There are many gaps in the biography of the secretive "Prince" Diamandi, and he is scarcely mentioned in most of the few books that deal with the period). Accordong the to the German scholar Dr. Thede Kahl (see bibliography), Diamandi was for a while Kingdom of Romania's Consul in the Albanian port Vlora/Vlorë just opposite across the strait of the Italian town of Otranto. The Greek historians usually avoid mentioning him alltogether, while other scholars who give vague reference to him (such as Lena Divani or Mark Mazower) make sure that they clearly distance themselves from Diamandi hence bestowing upon him apelatives like "extremist" and "shameful", failing to bring to the surface new data or impartial informations as to the personality of Diamandi. From 1859 to 1877, Romania evolved from a personal union of two vassal principalities (Moldavia and Wallachia) under a single prince to a full-fledged independent kingdom with a Hohenzollern monarchy. ... Vlora (Photo by Marc Morell) Vlorë (Albanian: Vlorë or Vlora) is the second largest port city of Albania, after Durrës, with a population of about 85,000 (2003 estimate). ... Vlora (Photo by Marc Morell) Vlorë (Albanian: Vlorë or Vlora; Greek: Αυλών/Aulōn (ancient), Αυλώνα/Avlóna (modern); Italian: Valona) is the second largest port city of Albania, after Durrës, with a population of about 85,000 (2003 estimate). ... Otranto is a seaport and archiepiscopal see of Apulia, Italy, in the province of Lecce, from which it is 291 miles southeast by rail, 49 ft. ...

After Dimandi's abdication a Hungarian baron named Julius Milványi Csesznegi was proclaimed Prince Regent of the Pindus, but neither Baron Julius, nor his brother Michael ever set foot on the territory of the state - nevertheless, some Aromanian leaders governed in their name. Baron is a specific title of nobility or a more generic feudal qualification. ...

Alkiviadis Diamandi is given mention in 1995 by the British author Tim Salmon in his book about the Vlachs of Greece (see bibliography) as follows: 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

A pro-Mussolini teacher called Dhiamantis who returned to Samarina during the Occupation and tried to set up a fascist Vlach state the Principality of Pindos. It is possible that the idea of autonomy struck a chord in some nationalistic Vlach breasts but they certainly were not the collaborators he accused them of being.

The author finds the precedents of Diamandi's movement in the Vlachs' desire of separateness, which he sees as a sign of "strength". Other pasages of his book emphasize this aspect as well.

He writes:

Up to the 1920s the Vlakholoi - the Vlach clan as it were- had been so strong that the government could not really interfere with them. There had been Romanian schools (financed from Romania from around the Treaty of Berlin in 1881 which forced the Turks to cede Thessaly to Greece, drawing the frontier through Metsovo and thus dividing the Greek Vlachdom in Yannina, Thessaloniki and Grevena up until 1940. In fact, there was one in Samarina itself.

Sometimes referred to as the Jazz Age or primarily in North America and in Australia as the Roaring Twenties . In Europe it is sometimes refered to as the Golden Twenties. ... The Treaty of Berlin was the final Act of the Congress of Berlin (June 13-July 13, 1878), by which the United Kingdom, Austria-Hungary, France, Germany, Italy, Russia and Turkey revised the Treaty of San Stefano signed on March 3 of the same year. ... 1881 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... Ioannina (Greek: Ιωάννινα, often Γιάννενα /janena/ or Γιάννινα /janina/); is a city in Epirus, north-western Greece, with a population of approximately 100,000. ... Grevena (Greek: Γρεβενά) is a town in Greece, capital of the Grevena prefecture, one of the fifty-one prefectures of Greece. ...

Vlach Legionnaires and Iron Guardists

There are today few refferences to Diamandi and his Roman Legion in the Greek media. Yet recently there seems to be a revived interest in this obscure period of Vlach history. The English Professor Clogg recently published an article for the daily newspaper Kathimerini, sheding light on this issue. The following is a fragment of it, with the permission of the author:[1] (Saturday, September 8th, 2005): Kathimerini (Greek: Καθημερινή) is a daily newspaper published in Greece. ...

Just before Christmas 1944, as the Dekemvriana raged in Athens, the Germans called for Greek-speaking volunteers from among these Iron Guardists for a mission to Greece. Three Greek-speaking Vlach volunteers were dispatched to Guntramsdorf near Vienna. Here they were billeted with 11 Vlachs who had retreated from Greece alongside the German forces. These 11 may well have been involved with the Vlach Roman Legion, created by the Italians in Thessaly and Epirus. The Acropolis in central Athens, one of the most important landmarks in world history. ... Stamp bearing the symbol of the Iron Guard The Iron Guard is the name most commonly given in English to an ultra-nationalist anti-Semitic, fascist movement and political party in Romania in the period from 1927 into the early part of World War II. Originally founded by Corneliu Zelea... Vienna (German: Wien [viːn]; Hungarian: Bécs, Czech: Vídeň, Slovak: Viedeň, Romany Vidnya; Serbian: Beč) is the capital of Austria, and also one of Austrias nine states (Land Wien). ...

The 14 were then trained for the mission by an Oberleutnant Prinz and a Lieutenant Lorre. This lasted for less than three weeks and involved the use of machine guns, automatic pistols and pistols, along with camouflage and sabotage techniques, including the use of time fuses and booby traps. Two of the party were sent to Murau for training as wireless operators. The entire group was trained for parachute landings, although in the turmoil of the rapidly disintegrating Third Reich they never completed a practice jump. Oberleutnant is a rank of the German military which dates from the early 19th century. ...

The mission team was initially scheduled to be parachuted into Greece on the night of January 30-31, 1945, when there was a full moon, but the flight was called off due to bad weather. A fortnight later, however, on February 13, the party was hauled out of a cinema and told they would be flying that night. They were given last-minute instructions by Lieutenant Lorre. January 30 is the 30th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... January 31 is the 31st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... February 13 is the 44th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ...

As they subsequently told their British interrogators, the mission was given £700 in pounds sterling and dollar bills, along with 50 gold sovereigns. Two radio transmitters, with appropriate codes, two light machine guns, two automatic pistols, together with explosives, detonators, fuses and timing mechanisms were packed into four containers which were to be dropped with them. The party was dressed in civilian clothes for they were not part of any military unit, neither German or Romanian, and each member was given a revolver before embarking on a Junkers 52 at Wiener Neustadt airfield base. The Junkers Ju 52 nicknamed Tante Ju (Auntie Ju) and Iron Annie was a civilian airliner and military transport aircraft and bomber manufactured between 1932 and 1945 by Junkers. ... Wiener Neustadt is located south of Vienna in the state of Lower Austria. ...

Their mission was to radio information three times a week on the political situation in Greece, with particular reference to EAM/ELAS; on the strength and location of British forces; and on the strength and popularity of the Greek government and of the forces at its disposal. Through intrigue and propaganda they were to foment civil strife and bad blood wherever possible. At a later stage, they were to sabotage roads and bridges. They would be supplied by parachute drops. It was intended that some members of the mission should, if possible, actually join ELAS. They were given no contacts in Greece and no arrangements were made for their evacuation. Instead, bizarrely, they were told to await the return of German forces to Greece. Presumably in their internment camps they had been so cut off from accurate information that they had little idea as to how badly the war was going for the Germans. EAM-ELAS is the name of the main communist resistance movement in Greece during World War II. EAM-ELAS stands for abbreviation of Ethnikón Apeleftherotikón Métopon-Ethnikós Laïkós Apeleftherotikós Stratós which means National Liberation Front-National Popular Liberation Army. ... Ethnikos Laikos Apeleftherotikos Stratos (ELAS) (Greek Ethnikos Laikos Apeleftherotikos Stratos (ELAS) (Greek Εθνικός Λαϊκός Απελευθερωτικός Στρατός (ΕΛΑΣ) National Popular Liberation Army) was the military arm of the Ethniko Apeleftherotiko Metopo (EAM) (Εθνικό Απελευθερωτικό Μέτωπο (ΕΑΜ) National Liberation Front) during the period of the Greek Resistance and the Greek Civil War. ...

Upon parachuting into Greece at 3 a.m. on February 14, the party, as often happened with such missions, was widely scattered. A group of seven was unable to link up with the other members of the team. Nor were they able to recover the crates containing their supplies, which appear to have been collected by local villagers. The seven soon became aware of the hopelessness of their situation and decided to embark on the perilous journey from the Peloponnese overland to Romania. Though Peloponnese is used to refer to the entire peninsula, the periphery with that name includes only part of that landmass. ...

They did not get very far before being captured. They had been dropped near Kerpini. After lying up for a day, they gradually made their way northward, via Valtesinikon, Karvouni and Kato Klitoria to Kalavryta, which they reached at midday on February 17. Here they took the train to Diakopton, where they arrived on the evening of the same day. That same evening, two members of the party went into a kafeneio in Diakopton where they made the mistake of offering a gold sovereign in payment. The cafe owner was unable to offer change for such a valuable coin, whereupon they proffered a dollar bill. They seemingly had no Greek money with them. Their behavior aroused suspicion and they were arrested by two members of the Greek armed forces. The arrested men revealed where the other five members of the party were staying. One of the members of the second group was also arrested on February 17 in hiding in Dafni, while there were reports of another member being held captive in Kalivia. Yet another member of this second group had parachuted into a tree and was reported to have been captured in Mouria. Kleitoria is a modern Greek town in the Arkadia prefecture, near the site of the ancient village of Kleitor. ... Kalalvryta or Kalavrita (Greek: Καλάβρυτα) is a town, a province and a municipality in the eastcentral part of the prefecture of Achaia. ... February 17 is the 48th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... For a tiny city of the suburb of Athens that has this name (rarely Daphni), see Daphne, which is the smallest municipality. ... Κalyvia or Kalivia (Greek: Καλύβια) is loctated in the Bay of Skoutari. ...

A top secret account of their abortive mission is contained in a report compiled in Corinth on February 20, 1945, by a British officer, Captain P.M. Gardner. He took part in the interrogation of the leader of the party, Ion Adanucu, and of one of the wireless operators, George Varduli. The other members are listed as George Geagea, the deputy leader; Vasile Ciunga; Nicolae Anagnosta, the second wireless operator; Achile Gulea; Anton Janculi; Miltiadi Zeana; George and Vasile Dica (presumably related, perhaps brothers); Panaiot Simu; Sterie Cutova; Naum Colimitra and Spiru Hasioti. This mission party, which may not have been the only one despatched to Greece at the time, was launched two months to the day before Vienna was liberated by Soviet troops. The subsequent fate of the party is not clear. Were they repatriated to Romania? Here their fate in a country where the Communists, bitterly hostile to the Iron Guard, were remorselessly tightening their grip would have been harsh, just as it would have been had they found themselves in Russian-occupied Vienna. Did they disappear into the sea of displaced persons in a Europe freed from Nazi tyranny? Or did they, like a number of Iron Guardists, end up in Francisco Franco's Spain or in South America? Temple of Apollo at Corinth Corinth, or Korinth (Κόρινθος; see also List of traditional Greek place names) is a Greek city, on the Isthmus of Corinth, the narrow stretch of land that joins the Peloponnesus to the mainland of Greece. ... February 20 is the 51st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... Vienna (German: Wien [viːn]; Hungarian: Bécs, Czech: Vídeň, Slovak: Viedeň, Romany Vidnya; Serbian: Beč) is the capital of Austria, and also one of Austrias nine states (Land Wien). ... Red Army flag The short forms Red Army and RKKA refer to the Workers and Peasants Red Army, (Рабоче-Крестьянская Красная Армия - Raboche-Krestyanskaya Krasnaya Armiya in Russian), the armed forces organised by the Bolsheviks during the Russian Civil War in 1918. ... The Romanian Communist Party (Romanian: Partidul Comunist Român) was a Communist political party in Romania until 1989. ... Stamp bearing the symbol of the Iron Guard The Iron Guard is the name most commonly given in English to an ultra-nationalist anti-Semitic, fascist movement and political party in Romania in the period from 1927 into the early part of World War II. Originally founded by Corneliu Zelea... Francisco Franco Francisco Paulino Hermenegildo Teódulo Franco y Bahamonde (December 4, 1892 – November 20, 1975), abbreviated Francisco Franco Bahamonde and sometimes known as Generalisimo Francisco Franco, was the dictator and Head of State of Spain from 1936/1939 until his death in 1975. ... South America South America is a continent crossed by the equator, with most of its area in the Southern Hemisphere. ...

It has also been supposed that Diamandi ended up with them in hiding in the abovementioned locations and subsequently assumed another identity.

Terminology

• The Legion Diamandi had gathered under his lead made reference to the Roman Empire's Legio V Macedonica. Chosen for the common belief that Legions were the factors behind the modern-day Romance languages and Latin Europe, the name particularly enhanced the connection with Romania - as the Vth Legion had spent time in both Macedonia province and Dacia - and presumably complimented Italian Fascism and its claim to Imperial dominance).
• The names of the main institutions and of the Principality itself were given in Greek and, were possible, Romanian. Reference in Aromanian was not available.

The Roman Empire is the term conventionally used to describe the Ancient Roman polity in the centuries following its reorganization under the leadership of Octavian (better known as Caesar Augustus), until its radical reformation in what was later to be known as the Byzantine Empire. ... This coin was issued by Roman emperor Gallienus to celebrate the V Macedonica, whose symbol, the eagle, is crowned of wrath by Victoria. ... The Romance languages, also called Romanic languages or New Latin languages, are a subset of the Italic languages, specifically the descendants of the Latin dialects spoken by the common people in what is known as Latin Europe (Italian/Portuguese/Spanish Europa latina, Catalan Europa llatina, French Europe latine, Romanian Europa... Latin Europe Blue: Countries where a Romance language is national language Green: Countries where a Romance language is an official language Latin Europe (Italian/Portuguese/Spanish: Europa latina; Romanian: Europa latină; French: Europe latine) is composed of those nations and areas in Europe that speak a Romance language and are... The Roman province of Macedonia was officially established in 146 BC, after the Roman general Quintus Caecilius Metellus defeated Andriscus of Macedon in 148 BC, and after the four client republics established by Rome in the region were dissolved. ... Booty from Trajans conquest of Dacia Map of the Roman provinces Pannonia, Dalmatia, Moesia, and Dacia The Roman province of Dacia was limited to Transylvania, Banat and Oltenia. ...

Bibliography

• Evangelos Averof-Tositsas, Η πολιτική πλευρά του κουτσοβλαχικού ζητήματος ["The political aspects of the Aromanian question"], Trikala reprint 1992 (1st edition Athens 1948) p. 94
• Stauros A. Papagiannis, Τα παιδιά της λύκαινας. Οι ‘επίγονοι’ της 5ης Ρωμαϊκής Λεγεώνας κατά την διάρκεια της Κατοχής 1941-1944 [Wolf children. The ‘descendants’ of the 5th Roman Legion during the occupation 1941-1944], Athens 1998
• Anthemidis, Axilleas, The Vlachs of Greece. Thessaloniki: Malliaris 1998 (Greek).
• Tim Salmon, Unwritten Places, Athens Lycabettus Press, 1995 (see p.149 and 215)

External links

• Les Aroumains, by Université Laval Montreal
• Vlahoi.net: A Hellenovlachssite
• Objects of desire: Wrangling over the Vlachs in Bucharest and Athens