I do not mean Athens by saying that we Greeks have a tendency to despise the laws. And unfortunately, this phenomenon characterizes the political life of the country over time, where very often and with great ease laws are passed that are then not implemented. As soon as the rulers face difficulties, they change the laws with the well-known method of "reforms" and with the only concern being the political cost. It is characteristic that, before a new law is implemented, it is flooded with presidential decrees, which change its philosophy and virtually abolish it.
But so are the Ancient Greek they did not have a different attitude towards the laws, as evidenced by the correspondence of two Roman officials during Roman rule in Greece. Specifically, these are letters addressed by the Roman elder Menenius Apios to his youngest friend, the viceroy Atilio Navios, in order to assist him in the administrative duties he had undertaken in Achaia, and to facilitate him, analyzing the political ethos of the Greeks with references and references. their shortcomings. There has been a lot of talk and debate on the internet about the descriptions given to the Greeks by the Roman conquerors, and whether they are true or a figment of a sick imagination. After all, abusive and inaccurate comments are often made about the unforgettable Constantino Tsatsos, who brought them to light, translating excerpts from these letters from Latin into Greek, and with the title "Stubborn Papyri" published them in the second series of his voluminous and inspiring work "Aphorisms and Meditations", bookstore of "Estia" , 1970.
Therefore, I considered it necessary to refer to the texts for the restoration of the truth through the book of the internationally recognized K. Tsatsos, a personality of the spirit and politics that honored Greece.
In the introduction to the chapter with the title I mentioned, K. Tsatsos tells the story of this endeavor, the main points of which I convey: found in Sturgeon, present-day Beneza, contain the relevant letters, of which neither the sender nor the recipient are known in history to this day. I really think that they are still relevant today and that is why I asked my friend for permission to try a translation, which of course I would not use for scientific purposes. That's done. I want to express my warm thanks to my old friend, who insists on not wanting to mention his name ".
The excerpts of the letters refer to many aspects of the character of the Greeks as well as to the behavior of the politicians with descriptions that, indeed, impress for their topicality.
In this article I will limit myself to referring to an excerpt of a letter, which expresses characterizations of the relationship of the Greeks with the laws, the observance of which is a condition for the functioning of the Republic and unfortunately this observance has reached our time to be considered a "luxury". I anthologize, then, the most characteristic points which highlight the topicality that they maintain even today, about half a century after their publication by K. Tsatsos.
In the third excerpt, Menenios Apios, addressing Atilio Navios, points out the following: "Fate has made us legislators of the world and the Greek person despises the law. He admits no other crisis than his individual one… Rarely are Greeks convinced of "those rhymes". They are convinced only in their own verbs and change the laws every now and then according to the mood of the moment, or when they can not change them, they treat them as hostile forces and then treat them with either violence or deceit… To judge whether a law is fair, they will measure it by the measure of their personal case, even when they responsibly judge it in the church or the court ρείς You wonder how the homeland of the greatest legislators has so little faith in the law ".
However, in the same letter, its author honestly and objectively expresses his admiration for the power of Greek culture in the following characteristic way: "We should scatter the gifts of both philosophy and poetry in the countries we govern. However, we deserve to do this great work only in the western provinces, because where you are, the Greeks are doing it even better today than us. Let us repeat the unpleasant confession of Horatio Flakko: Greece has been conquered, the savage winner has been conquered and the Arts have been brought to rural Latio ".
After the review we attempted, we can safely conclude that the description of the character of the Greeks by the Roman High could also apply to the modern Greeks of the 21st AD. century! This proves, at least, that we are true descendants of the Ancient Greeks!
photo https://pixabay.com/el/
