Viotia or Boiotia in the days of Romans

From 146 BC to 336 AD, Viotia was under the Roman occupation. In the region of Achaia there were towns such as Athens and Levadia. This region did not suffer a lot from the Roman occupation since it was admired and respected for its culture,  arts,  philosophy and literature, hence the Pax Romana that was established. 

Levadia had assured some privileges and was not obliged to pay taxes to Romans.  The emperors of Rome kept the Greek laws and institutions, however, they adapted them to the administrative needs of their empire. Generally, in the final centuries BC to the early centuries AD, the times we know as late Hellenistic and early Roman era, Viotia goes into a general decline.

As a result of the conflict between the general of Rome Syllas and the king of Pontos Mithridatis, in 87 BC, the region was plagued by destructive lootings and a reduction of its population. After the orders of Kalligoulas, Jewish people were brought there so as to reverse the situation.

There are not many Roman archaiological remains saved till today in the area of Viotia, except for:

• replicas of ancient Greek statues and ground works of some houses and public baths 
•  ancient Greek sanctuary of the Muses of Mount Helicon in Thespies, which was restored by Andrianos (Handrian)
• a column with the speech of Neron in the sanctuary of Apollo the Ptoos
• statues of the philhellenic emperor Andrianos 
• irrigating works of Andriannos in the plain of Kopais
• grave stones of Christians of the 2nd century AD
• lists with names of Christians of the 3rd century AD written on a bronze column 

From 1384 to 1453, Viotia belonged to the  Dukat of Athens which was dominated by the Italians and specifically by the dynasty of Acciaiuoli. There are not many archaiological remains saved from that period apart from some reconstructed castles, monasteries and temples.

The Catalan castle of Levadia

This is the Catalan castle of Livadia. Levadia was part of the Byzantine Empire until the capture of Constantinople by the Franks in 1204. From 1311 to 1388 followed the Catalan rulers.n since the early Byzantine years, but it took its final form during the short period of Catalan rule in parts of Greece!

But, what were the Catalans doing in Greece?

Here's the story in very few words:

In the early 14th century some Catalans had formed a "War Company", called "Companyia Catalana d'Orient", under the leadership of Roger de Flor. They were hired by the Byzantine emperror Andronikos B' Palaiologos, as mercenaries to defend the collapsing Byzantine Empire against the Turks. The company departed in 1302 from Sicily with 32 boats and around 2.500 soldiers followed by about 4.000 women and children. The first battle of the "Company" was against the Genovese (about 3.000 of them died). Their first battle against the Turks was successful, causing about 18.000 dead in their enemies lines, starting a "series" of successful battles, mostly in Asia Minor. In 1304, Andronikos, announces Roger de Flor, "Caesar", something that Andronikos' son, Michael, didn't like at all! When it was time for pay off, he called Roger de Flor to Andrianoupolis, and killed him, hoping that this would dissolve the "War company".

The Catalans wanted revenge and started a fierce expedition in the grounds of the Byzantine Empire, that took the name "Venganza Catalana" (Catalan Revenge). They started killing and looting, almost across the whole region, that today is Greece, from Thrace and Macedonia to Thessaly and Central Greece. They formed a Ducat, called "Ducat of Neopatria", that later became part of the "Crown of Aragonia". Until today, the King of Spain, Juan Carlos A', among many other titles, carries also the typical title of "Duke of Athens and Neopatria" (nothing to do with his Greek wife, Queen Sofia). The Catalan rule was so brutal, that until today, the word "Catalanos" or "Catelanos" is an insult in many regions of Greece.

ROMAN WORKS OF ART THAT ILLUSTRATE FIGURES OF THE ANCIENT HISTORY OF VIOTIA

 Raphael, Parnassus . c. 1509-1510. Fresco. Vaticano, Stanza della Segnatura, Rome.

Musei Vaticani, State of the Vatican City 

 
Marble, Roman artworks  of the Muses from the 2nd century AD

     Thalia, Muse of comedy                                       Calliope, Muse of elegy                                   Terpsichore, Muse of the dance.

Palazzo Altemps (Museo Nazionale Romano), Rome, Italy

Front panel from a sarcophagus with the Labours of Heracles: from left to right, the Nemean Lion, the Lernaean Hydra, the Erymanthian Boar, the Ceryneian Hind, the Stymphalian birds, the Girdle of Hippolyte, the Augean stables, the Cretan Bull and the Mares of Diomedes.

Luni marble, Roman artwork from the middle 3rd century AD.

Hercules Fights the Nemean Lion. From a Roman Sarcophagus of the 2nd-3rd Century A.D.

 Narcissus, Roman fresco from Pompeii

1st B.C., Archaeological Museum of Naples

                                                             Narcissus, Caravaggio, 1598-99, 110 x 92 cm, Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica, Rome, Italy

NARKISSOS (or Narcissus) was a young man from the town of Thespiai in Viotia, a son of the river-god Kephisos and the fountain-nymph Liriope. He was celebrated for his beauty, and attracted many admirers but, in his arrogance, spurned them all. The suffering of two, however, brought down upon him a deadly curse. First there was the nymphe Ekho--a girl cursed by Hera to repeat only the last words of what was said before. When she was rejected by the boy, Ekho faded away in her despair leaving nothing behind but the haunting voice of her echo.

The other admirer was the youth Ameinias who became distraught when Narkissos cruelly spurned him and slew himself before his door, calling on the goddess Nemesis to avenge him. His prayer was quickly answered, when Narkissos fell in love with his own image reflected in a pool. Gazing endlessly at the reflection, he slowly pined away and was transformed by the nymphs into a narcissus flower. Others, however, say he was filled with despair and remorse and killed himself beside the pool. From his dying life's blood the flower was born.

Narkissos was the ancient Greek word for the narcissus flower or daffodil. The boy's mother Leiriope was named after another species of daffodil, the leirion, and his spurned love Ameinias for the ameinasis. According to Hesychius s.v. this was another name for the sweet-smelling herb duosmon--either dill, anise or cummin. Presumably these two were also transformed into their namesake plants. Such a clustered group of metamorphoses is quite common in Greek myth.

                                   NYMPHS 

Raphael 1483-1520 Italy

 A Wooded Italianate Landscape with Nymphs...