The Roman Legion, also known as the Vlach Legion in later bibliography, is the name used by the political and paramilitary organization active during the period 1941–1943, in Greece, in the regions of

Thessaly Thessaly ( el, Θεσσαλία, translit=Thessalía, ; ancient Thessalian: , ) is a traditional geographic and modern administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient region of the same name. Before the Greek Dark Ages, The ...

and

Macedonia Macedonia most commonly refers to: * North Macedonia, a country in southeastern Europe, known until 2019 as the Republic of Macedonia * Macedonia (ancient kingdom), a kingdom in Greek antiquity * Macedonia (Greece), a traditional geographic reg ...

, created by

Alcibiades Diamandi Alcibiades Diamandi (13 August 1893 – 9 July 1948, sometimes spelled ''Diamanti'' or ''Diamantis''; rup, Alcibiadi Diamandi; el, Αλκιβιάδης Διαμάντης) was an Aromanian political figure of Greece and Axis collaborator, act ...

, an Aromanian (Vlach) from

Samarina Samarina ( el, Σαμαρίνα, rup, Samarina, Xamarina, San Marina) is a village and a former municipality in Grevena regional unit, West Macedonia, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Grevena, of whic ...

(, or ) who served as an agent of Italy and Romania.Οι Κουτσόβλαχοι, Εθνολογική και λαογραφική μελέτη, Α. Κολτσίδας (Antones Mich Koltsidas), 1976, σελ. 115 "...στον πράκτορα των ιταλορουμανικών συμφερόντων Αλκιβιάδη Διαμάντη

/ref> The Roman Legion had around 2,000 members.

History

Diamandi was active in the Greek regions of

and

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, supporting the Italian and German

occupation forces Japan was occupied and administered by the victorious Allies of World War II from the 1945 surrender of the Empire of Japan at the end of the war until the Treaty of San Francisco took effect in 1952. The occupation, led by the United States wi ...

and promoting the creation of an autonomous Aromanian (Vlach) state, envisioned as the "

Principality of the Pindus The Principality of the Pindus ( rup, Printsipat di la Pind; el, Πριγκιπάτο της Πίνδου; it, Principato del Pindo; ro, Principatul de Pind) is the name used in literature to describe the attempt and proposal to create an auto ...

", a name also used for a similar attempt in 1917, in which Diamanti had also been involved. Calling himself a leader and a representative of the Aromanians of the Balkans, Diamanti established an organization named the Roman Legion and helped the Italian forces in the collection of weapons that the Greeks had hidden after the surrender of the Greek Army. Diamanti left Greece by the summer of 1942 for Romania and

Nicolaos Matussis Nicolaos Matussis, also spelled as Nicolae Matussi ( el, Νικόλαος Ματούσης; 1899–1991), was an Aromanian lawyer, politician and leader of the Roman Legion, a collaborationist, separatist Aromanian paramilitary unit active durin ...

, an Aromanian lawyer, already active as second-in-command, replaced him in the organization. Another important figure in the Roman Legion was the Aromanian Vassilis Rapotikas, who led the paramilitary units. After action from several resistance groups in 1942 and the dynamic response of the

ELAS The Greek People's Liberation Army ( el, Ελληνικός Λαϊκός Απελευθερωτικός Στρατός (ΕΛΑΣ), ''Ellinikós Laïkós Apeleftherotikós Stratós'' (ELAS) was the military arm of the left-wing National Liberat ...

against members of the Roman Legion, and the withdrawal of Italian forces, the Legion ceased to exist in September 1943, while Matussis fled to Athens. The fate of the leading figures and the members of the Roman Legion is the following: *

left for Romania in 1942, where he was later jailed when the Allies won and the new Communist government took power. He died in jail in Romania in 1948.Victimele terorii comuniste. Arestați, torturați, întemnițați, uciși. Dicționar D-E, Vol.3: Dicționar D-E
Lucrare revizuită de dr. Mihaela Andreiovici. Editura Mașina de scris, 2002, p. 73 In Greece he had been condemned to death from the Special Collaborationist Courts (Ειδικά Δικαστήρια Δοσιλόγων) set up in 1945–1947. *

also left Greece for Romania, one year later in 1943. He was also jailed and was handed over to the hands of the Greek authorities in 1964. In Greece, he started to serve his sentence, given to him ''in absentia'', from the Special Treason Court after the war, but asked for re-trial and was found not guilty (at the time, several people were given pardon for their crimes, if they could demonstrate that they were not communists, and as he had been jailed in a communist country, he had a certain good-faith testimony). He was released and in his civil rights were completely restored by a Greek court. Up to his death, in 1981, he lived in Athens. * Vassilis Rapotikas was captured by the ELAS and was killed on the way to the ELAS' headquarters in end of May or on the beginning of June 1943.Σταύρος Παπαγιάννης (Stavros Papayiannis), , 1999, 2004, p. 183 * The members of the Roman Legion who did not flee to Romania were tried in the Treason Courts set up in 1945–1947 and were sentenced. 617 people were accused, 152 were found guilty, 91 of which did not receive a sentence since they were already in prison sentenced for treason in other cases and for 55 there was no continuation due to their death (many of them killed by the Greek resistance). 319 were found innocent.Τα παιδιά της λύκαινας. Οι "επίγονοι" της 5ης Ρωμαϊκής Λεγεώνας κατά τη διάρκεια της Κατοχής (1941–1944), (The children of the she-wolf, the "descendants" of the 5th Roman Legion during the period of the Occupation of Greece) (1941–1944), Σταύρος Παπαγιάννης (Stavros Papayiannis), Εκδόσεις Σοκόλη. , 1999, 2004, p. 434

Leaders of the Roman Legion

* 1941–summer 1942:

* Summer 1942–1943:

History

Leaders of the Roman Legion

References

Further reading