Messenia

There was a big one when there was a massive earthquake hit Sparta in the middle of the 5th century.

And when the Spartans were defeated by the Thebans in 371 and invaded the Peloponnese, they liberated the Messenians.

But...

For the most part, rebellions were kept under control through what you might call state terror, through brutal punishments, but also occasional incentives, offering helots freedom in return for military service.

Peloponnesus was utterly disorganized by the victories and anti-Spartan policy of Epaminondas.

Ellis and Sparta, on the one hand, Messenia and Arcadia on the other, were jealously on the watch, the former to regain lost power, the latter to keep hardly won liberties.

Argos at this epoch, a satellite of Thebes, was herself too weak to interfere.

Corinth was but just rid of a tyrant.

Sparta proper was tiny, maybe 40,000 citizens at the absolute outside, though it controlled a helot population.

These were the dispossessed population of Laconia and Messenia, and they may have been six or seven times that number.

Corinth, the wealthiest trading city of the era, hovered somewhere around 70,000.

Thebes, the dominant power in Boeotia, sat at maybe 60,000, including its surrounding villages.

All the olives are sourced in southern Greece.

So both in the Peloponnese region, which is where I'm from, and a province called Messinia and also Laconia.

And also in Crete, where you were and, you know, tasted that fresh olive oil.

Crete makes amazing olive oil.

They wanted a leader who was confident and powerful and experienced at questing.

I mean, who was this kid, Jason? "Great," said Idas, a prince from Messenia.

"This guy's gonna get us killed.

[laughs] Look at him.

I think I would really rock some, you know, some sort of leather and metal armor.

This is the ancient city of Messine in Messinia in the Peloponnese, which is where I've spent the last... four days talking macro with a really interesting and esoteric bunch.

But anyway, it's funny that you should bring up the whole Muse meta story because my pitch to this group was about the impact of agentic AI finance bots on the deposit franchises of global financial institutions.

And right now, that Dr.

The brother of Manuel was governor of the Byzantine-held Peloponnese, and the city that they stopped in was called Mephoni.

Mephoni is a small city on the very southwestern tip of the Peloponnese, southwest of Messenia, for those who know their classical Greek history, and also directly south of the island of Sphakteria, where all those Spartans were captured alive by the Athenians during the Peloponnesian War.

This is where Manuel stopped and unloaded his family from the ship, because this was the safest place for his wife and children while away from the capital.

Manuel's brother Theodore swore to look after his family.

Now winter was upon them, and the Adriatic seas were brutal this time of year, so the royal family spent the rough winter months in the Peloponnese, in a city called Mystra.

a mountain fortress between ancient Sparta and Messenia.

This place is still in good condition today, and if you Google it, you will see the Byzantine-style brick houses and their steep walls on the side of the mountaintops, surrounded by trees and bushes.

It's a really beautiful spot to visit.

So when you're talking about two and a half thousand here, you really are.

in the homes of a lot of people you know you mentioned Anastasia here since 2010 her sons are also working here one of them does seasonal work over in Mykonos where he gets probably treble the money but he has that nice season there but he always wants to come back and be close to mom and what we were saying building out this area of Messinia to be the home and heart there's some great projects in the planning for us to really keep evolving that for local people and for people to come here and learn about great hospitality.

There's a Greek word called philoxenia which means hospitality and they really get it.

So you can hire in and that part of it, that just being kind and nice and understanding that customer journey is instilled and then you've just got to train on that golf element really, you know, and that's a massive advantage.

Under two earlier kings, Leon and Hegesicles, the Spartans had won every war they fought except the one against Tigeia, the Arcadian town sitting just north of their border.

Sparta had already swallowed neighboring Messenia and reduced its people to helots, state-owned serfs who farmed the land for their masters, and the plan for Tigeia was essentially the same.

The Spartans asked the oracle at Delphi whether they could take all of Arcadia, and the priestess told them that was too much to ask, since Arcadia was full of tough men.

She would, however, give them tegea to walk upon, and its fine plane to measure out with a rope.

One being founder and director of the Animal Street Dance Group.

On top of that, I'm the vice president of the Messinian Brotherhood of British Columbia.

President of the Hellenic Canadian Congress of BC, which puts on the biggest street festival in Western Canada, as far as Greek events go.

Where we closed down 11 blocks and have entertainment and food, the works that day.