John Antonacos

Mani and the Maniates John Antonacos

Mani, Laconia, Greece has a unique position in the history of the Greek nation. Although a fewother regions of Greece at times opposed the Turks in their four hundred year occupation of Greece, Mani continually opposed them. This book covers the history ofMani from her pre-historical periodto her independence from Turkey in 1821. In prehistoric times Mani was inhabited by the Leleges, Achaeans, and Dorians. The Doriansevolved into the Spartans. Tradition says that the Spartans were given their highly-disciplinary lawsby Lycurgus. They developed a society composed of freemen, perioeci, and helots. Nabis's revoltdrove the oligarchic Spartans to neighboring Mani. Mani first became a distinctive region whenRome recognized her as the Commonwealth of the Lacedaemonians because she aided Augustusin the battle of Actium. Through the ages various people have immigrated to Mani: Albanians, Mardaltes, Slavs, andWallachians. Because of her isolation by the rugged mountain Taygetus, Mani was not generallyconverted to Christianity until the tenth century. After the Crusaders conquered Constantinople in1204, the Franks descended to Laconia, conquered her, and established themselves in three greatfortresses in Mani. After the Byzantine Empire fell to the Turks in 1453, the Maniates revolted eight different timesagainst the Turks. In 1685 the Venetians drove the Turks out of the Peloponnese, but in 1715 theyreturned. Two social classes developed in Mani: the Nyklians and achamnomeroi. The Nyklians were theupper class of merchant-landowners. The Nyklians built tower houses to protect themselves duringtheir family feuds. To maintain peace, the Maniates evolved the "unwritten laws"' ofMani. Theydeveloped the unique funeral dirge of revenge in which family dirge singers fanatically urgedrevenge whenever a person was killed. Each region of Mani was governed by a captain. From 1776-1821 the Maniates were ruled by abey, who was one of the captains of Mani. The Turks appointed this bey but had di