~ Introduction~
~ Nikolaos Christodoulou Soliotis ~
Peter Jeffreys
Professor of English Literature
Suffolk University, Boston Massachusetts
1: The Family Origins in Solos
The life of Nikolaos Christodoulou Soliotis is very much connected to the village of Solos where his family resided and over which they presided as “προεστοί/proestoi” or overseers. Among the earliest and perhaps most interesting descriptions of this village is that penned by the British traveler William Martin Leake who passed through the region between the years 1805 and 1806 while composing his three-volume travelogue, Travels in the Morea, that he published in 18301. Leake was a British officer and classicist who wrote about the topographies of ancient cities. He offers some very illuminating details about both the village and the Christodoulou/Soliotis family:
The inhabitants of Solos, Mesorughi, and Peristera, are all masons, and are absent from November to Easter at their work on the large towns of the Morea or Rumeli. . . . Nevertheless I am very civilly received and lodged at the house of the Proestos Khristodoulos, whose wife does the honours, the president himself being absent on his affairs at Kalavryta, to which vilayeti the Klukines belong.2
The “proestos” mentioned here–Christodoulos3— is Nikolaos’ father, whose wife (most likely named Eleni) hosted the British travel writer. Leake goes on to give a very comprehensive description of the topography and lush vegetation surrounding the village:
Above and around Solos there is a wood of chestnuts. . . . The mountains exhibit a sublime but dismal scene. Their barren sides are furrowed by numberless torrents, contributing to form the rapid muddy stream which roars over the rocks below Solos.4
He notes that presence of the River Styx nearby with its legendary lethal properties (its immortal waters were known throughout antiquity for their poisonous effects and destructive powers5). He then records the following remarkable detail:
Not long since there was found in the bed of the river near that village, a small white marble figure, wanting the legs; and when complete, about four or five inches high. It is now in the possession of the son of Khristodhulos, whom I could not prevail upon to part with it. The head is perfect, the hair combed back, and on the top of the head there is something resembling the basket of the (so-called) Eleusinian Ceres, at Cambridge, the whole in the rudest style possible, and certainly very ancient. It was probably washed down by the rains from the site of Nonacris, whether that position was near Solos, or higher up the valley.⁶
It’s not clear which of Christodoulos’ sons possessed the ancient artifact in question or where it ultimately wound up. The peculiar presence of this small marble statue in possession of the Soliotis family is worth pondering as it speaks to the cultural predicament of the Greeks of Solos who, in 1806, were living amidst the glories of their ancient past but, like the truncated statue, were virtually legless–cut off from their inheritance and unable to even lay claim to it, owing to the cultural paralysis they suffered under the weight of Turkish oppression. It would take an insurrection and an armed uprising to remedy this paralysis, one that the owners of this exquisite marble sculpture knew they themselves would have to initiate.
The village of Solos is one of the so-called Κλουκινοχώρια/Κloukinochoria, otherwise known as the Κλουκίνες/Κloukines, a name that derives from the late medieval period (1204-1458) when the Peloponnese was ruled by crusader barons and the feudal prefecture of Achaia, in particular by Antelmos of Cluny who, consequent to the travesties of the Fourth Crusade of 1204, became the Latin Bishop of Patras (hence the term “the villages of Cluny.”)7 Solos is the most remote of these six villages, situated some 1050 meters above sea level. It is extremely isolated in terms of location and accessibility, proving a safe haven from brigand raids and a refuge from Turkish surveillance. As Leake points out, it was a region documented by the ancient Greek writer Pausanias and one that included the ancient city of Nonakris and the legendary River Styx.8 In terms of the village’s etymology, to contemporary ears the word Solos (ancient Σόλλιον) rather speaks for itself: a place on its own, solo, lost in its very solitude. Notwithstanding this obvious meaning, various theories about the source of the word have been proposed. One holds that it is an ancient Greek word originating from the Phoenician “Sollio” which means a city on the rocks; an Albanian etymology has also been put forth deriving from the word “sulli,” the term for a “sharp mountain peak.”9 A less linguistic and admittedly ahistorical way to interpret the word is to connect it post-facto to the solo action of the village’s leading “proestos”—the position Nikolaos would inherit from his father—who, in effect, went rogue in firing the first volley against the Turks on March 14, 1821. Any way one approaches the word Solos, its various iterations—mountainous solitude, defensive seclusion, a solo rebellion—all tally into the composite idea of something singular and independent. This was certainly true of the character of Nikolaos who was so passionately devoted to his village and its independence that he adopted its name as his surname, leaving behind the more traditional epithet “Christodoulou/the son of Christodoulos.”
ΙΙ. Soliotis’ Life Leading Up to the Revolution
Nikolaos Christodoulou Soliotis is a person about whom relatively little is known beyond his military activity in 1821. Remarkably, his singular role in launching the Greek Revolution, although irrefutable (see the section on the website with historical sources that document this fact), has not received sufficient acknowledgement. He was born in or around 1785 in Solos but very few facts exist about him prior to his emergence on the revolutionary stage. What we do know is that he served in the official Ottoman capacity of a “μεζιλντζής/mezilntzis,” one responsible for overseeing the safe transport of letters and the delivery of imperial messages from the Sublime Porte. This occupation allowed him to carry weapons and serve semi-officially in Ottoman governance. Local leaders like Soliotis who administered on behalf of the Ottomans functioned under the authoritarian rule and oversight of the region’s Greek “κοτζαμπάσηδες/ kotzambasides.”10 These were the powerful landowners who were responsible for administering and collecting taxes on behalf of the Ottoman government. Nikolaos, like so many of the presiding Greeks of the Morea, leveraged his position to benefit not only the village entrusted to him but also to procure personal gain and maintain administrative power in the region. The privileges held by these local chieftains however often proved to be a double-edged sword, as they lived fully beholden to the whims of their Turkish superiors. Soliotis would be among the region’s numerous “proestoi” who rose up against this tyranny and risked their lives and livelihood to topple the corrupt system under which they served. Having literally given all to the cause of freedom, he died practically destitute in 1841, leaving his widow and six children to fend for themselves in the precarious economy of the new Greek Kingdom.11
Nikolaos surely apprenticed as a stone mason in his youth, as this was the common profession of the local men of the “Kloukinochoria.” What does predate his role in 1821 is his creative initiative to endow a majestic church in the village; he was both the chief benefactor and master builder (πρωτομάστορας/protomastoras) of the Soliotis family church of Saint George that he erected across from his fortress house (πύργος/pyrgos) in Solos. No real historical documentation about the construction of this building exists other than what the stone masons left carved in the building itself. The church is both impressive and noteworthy, standing as it does as a material manifestation of life in Ottoman Greece the early 1800s. It functions as a stone document that conveys a great deal about the man who built it.
A remarkable set of stone carvings flank the central doors of the church: two decorative plaques (λιθανάγλυφα/lithanaglyfa) that were surely designed if not actually carved by Nikolaos himself, given that his name appears on both. Works of art in their own right, they speak volumes about their creator and his vision not only for the church but for his enslaved country. One is a wind chart that includes a centrally engraved nautical compass surrounded by the names of the winds in the Greek terminology of the period (Plate One). Additionally, carved at the base of this plaque are the names of the twelve zodiac signs along with that of “Νικολάου Χριστοδούλου.” The execution in stone of the names of the winds showcases a master-mason’s consummate skill. They appear as follows arranged in circular fashion around the central compass under the heading “ΤΥΠΟΣ ΤΩΝ ΑΝΕΜΩΝ ΚΑΤΑ ΤΟΥΣ ΠΑΛΑΙΟΥΣ/Imprint of the Winds According to Ancients”: Φηνικίας, Νότιος, Λικέοντος, Λιψ, Ζέφυρος, Αργέστης, Θρασκίας, Απρακτίας, Μέσης, Ελλησποντίας, Απηλιώτης, Αγος /Εύρος. The zodiac signs that accompany the winds are arranged beneath in linear fashion and read as follows: Ζώδια: Κριός, Ταύρος, Δίδυμοι, Καρκίνος, Λέων, Παρθένος, Ζυγός, Σκορπιός, Τοξότης, Αιγόκερως, Υδροχόος, Ιχθύες.
Plate One: The Compass with the Winds and Zodiac Signs
The second carved panel (Plate Two) features a double-headed Byzantine eagle around which appear the ancient Greek equivalents of the Roman names of the twelve months of the year: “ΑΙ ΜΗΝΑΙ ΚΑΤΑ ΤΟΥΣ ΠΑΛΑΙΟΥΣ/The Months According to the Ancients”: Ι-Γαμηλιών, Φ-Ελαφηβολιών, Μ-Μουνιχιών, Α-Θαργηλιών, Μ-Σκιροφοριών, Ι-Εκατομβαιών, Ι-Μεταγειτνιών, Α-Βοηδρομιών, Σ-Μαιμακτηριών, Ο-Πυανεψιών, Ν-Ανθεστηριών, Δ– Ποσειδεών.12 At the base of the plaque is engraved the name “Νικολάου Χριστοδούλου.”13
Plate Two: Byzantine Eagle with the Months According to the Ancients
What prompted Soliotis to position these two plaques with the ancient nomenclature on either side of the church entrance? There are no religious motifs included here except for the Byzantine eagle which itself was a rather bold cultural statement to make during the era of the Turkish occupation. Inspired by the Byzantine tradition of including ancient artifacts (spolia) in the construction of churches, Soliotis created his own archaizing spolia to suit his immediate interests. The months and winds foreground two very important concepts: time and air. The carvings seem to challenge the faithful who encounter when entering the church by silently posing a series of questions: How are you spending the brief time you’ve been allotted here on this earth? In which direction are you navigating your life? What are you doing with the air you breathe—with the words you speak? What inspires you to act, to build, to live?
Behind all of these questions lies something unmistakable: a plea for freedom. The freedom to worship in one’s own tradition; to set out and live life in the direction one chooses; to claim one’s rightful heritage, speak one’s native language, and connect with one’s ancient roots, vestiges of which lie scattered throughout the mountainous terrain of Solos. Nikolaos had his own solutions for these dilemmas which he addressed most decisively: He constructed a church, established a family, and then set out to liberate a nation. He neither squandered his time, wasted his words, nor let himself be tossed about by fate. A mason of stones but also of deeds, he would go down in Greek history as the “πρωτεπαναστάτης/protepanastatis”—the revolutionary fighter who fired the first shots of 1821, as recorded in his biographical memoir titled “The Historical Essay” (see the “Memoirs” section of the website). All of these factors tally into the subtly coded messages of these two profoundly meaningful stone charts. Thus the church building he painstakingly erected was clearly meant to be more than a place of worship: it would serve as the central compass that oriented the village and subsequently the Greek nation: a place of faith, resistance and renewal. Its benefactor meant for it to inspire those who worshiped under its dome to seek life and liberty, to pursue and explore their ancient Greek and medieval Byzantine inheritance, and to summon the confidence to think and act as free people.15
ΙΙΙ. Family and Military Life
Nikolaos had three brothers—Sotiris, Argyris, and Dimitris– and one sister whose name has not been passed down likely owing to the indignity attending to her abduction in 1826 by Ibrahim who carried her off to the slave bazaars of Alexandria along with hundreds of Greek women and children following the infamous events of Kastraki.16 She was subsequently ransomed by her family a few years later at what would have been an exorbitant price.
Nikolaos married Basiliki Megari in 1816 who was born in Kerpini, Kalavryta but migrated with her family to Trieste in order to escape the crippling tax burden levied by the Ottomans. Legend has it that Soliotis sought her there and brought her back to Solos to live in the family “pyrgos” and raise their six children: Yiorgos, Charalambos, Nikitas, Ioannis, Eleni and Christos. The family was also involved in the area’s production of currants and owned extensive vineyards in the coastal town of Temeni. Nikolaos’ older sons would also take part in the battles of the revolution. The sons would go on to establish careers in politics, commerce, medicine, the military, and academia (see the section on Family). Among Soliotis’ most significant alliances were those made with the members of the Petimezas family alongside whom he fought during the revolution; his son and grandson would marry into this prominent family and thus solidify its 1821 legacy (see the “Marriages” section of the website).
Nikolaos developed and exhibited his military skills early on in the Greek Revolution. Owing to his bravery and prowess, he was promoted to χιλίαρχος/ chiliarchos (see the relevant letter in the “Manuscripts” section of the website). An overview of his military activity and participation in significant battles is provided in the essay by Christos Soliotis (see the “Biography” section of the website) as well as in his own two versions of his memoirs. His interaction with many notable figures both military and political may be explored in the Manuscripts section of this website. Beyond being a revolutionary fighter, Nikolaos established a family whose offshoots took root and spread in many directions. This website is a gesture of appreciation from his progeny who wish him to be remembered not only for firing the first shots of the Greek Revolution at Portes on March 14th, 1821, but for creating a family whose lineage continues some two centuries after his bold acts of liberation.
¹“William Martin Leake (1777-1860) was a British military officer and classical scholar specialising in reconstructing the topography of ancient cities. He was a founding member of the Royal Geographical Society and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1815. After his retirement in 1815, he devoted the rest of his life to topographical and classical studies. These volumes [Travels in the Morea], first published in 1830, contain Leake’s authoritative topographical survey of the Peloponnese. . . . Leake was the first scholar to identify many ancient sites in the Peloponnese, and his precise observations led to these volumes becoming authoritative for the classical archaeological sites of the region.” [Cambridge University Press blurb—google books]
²Leake, 159.
³In pre-Revolutionary Greece, it was a common Greek custom to refer to a person by the last name of his/her father. Thus, Nikolaos was “του Χριστοδούλου,” i.e., the son of Christodoulos.
⁴Leake, 160-161. “I have no doubt that the cascade is the κατειβόμενον Στυγός ύδωρ, or down-distilling water of Styx,–the Στυγός ύδατος αιπά ρέεθρα, or lofty torrents of Styx which Homer has by these epithets more correctly described than any subsequent author, probably because no other, except Pausanias, had ever seen the place.” (161)
⁵In Greek mythology, Styx was the river connecting the earth to the underworld (Hades) into which the goddess Thetis immersed her son Achilles, granting him immortality save for the heel by which she held him. Leake cites Pausanias regarding this “terrible fluid”: “Another wonderful property attached to the water of Styx is, that vessels, whether of glass or crystal, or murrhine, or earthen or of stone, are broken by this water; and that vessels of horn, bone, iron, brass, lead, tin, silver, electrum, and even of gold, are dissolved by it. But it cannot injure the hoof of the horse; this material alone is not destroyed by the water.” (Leake, 166) Water from the river Styx was sold in Athens in 1909 as a beauty aid purporting to “curl hair without the need of a curling iron” (Fotopoulos 1982, 369).
⁶Leake, 169-170. Leake, it should be noted, was a notorious collector of antiquities who belonged to a generation of plunderers who helped themselves to the spoils of Greece. His marble acquisitions were given to the British Museum where they keep company with Lord Elgin’s wrongfully acquired Parthenon marbles. His other ancient artifacts were eventually purchased by the Fitzwilliam Museum at Cambridge University after his death.
⁷“Η ονομασία “Κλουκινοχώρια” (“Κλουκίνες”) προέρχεται από την εποχή της Φραγκοκρατίας, όπου η περιοχή και τα χωριά γύρω από την Ακράτα και στον δρόμο προς τα Καλάβρυτα που είναι κτισμένα στους πρόποδες του Χελμού ήταν φέουδο του Λατίνου αρχιεπίσκοπου Πάτρας. Πρώτος αρχιεπίσκοπος της Βαρωνίας της Πάτρας ήταν ο Αντέλμος του Κλουνύ και του δόθηκαν φέουδο το 1204 αυτός έπειτα παραχώρησε τα χωριά στο Αβαείο του Κλουνύ όπου από το όνομά της ονομάστηκαν Κλουκινοχώρια.” (Wikipedia: Κλουκινοχώρια – Βικιπαίδεια (wikipedia.org)
⁸As Athanasios Fotopoulos notes, the antiquities surrounding Solos once included the site of a temple of Artemis (Pyronias) near Nonakris (1982, 65).
⁹Fotopoulos (in Tzortzis, 705).
¹⁰For Soliotis’ connection to this ruling class, see A. Fotopoulos, Οι Κοτζαμπάσηδες της Πελοποννήσου κατά τη Δεύτερη Τουρκοκρατία (1715-1821), (2005), pp. 131, 321-327, and Dimitris Palaiologopoulos, Οι Κοτζαμπάσηδες των Καλαβρύτων και ο Ρόλος τους στην επανάσταση του 1821.
¹¹This was true of so many of the “Heroes of 1821” who would seek indemnities for their economic sacrifices during the revolution from the newly established Greek state, most often with little success.
¹²The ancient Greek months are preceded by the first letter of their equivalent of the Roman months.
¹³The first name is semi-obliterated: Aphrodite Agoropoulou-Birbili (p. 113) reads it as Nikolaos while Athanasios Fotopoulos reads it as Argyris (Nikolaos’ Brother) (1982: 139).
¹⁴See Maria Tsoupi, Διά Χείρος Τέκτονος: Λιθανάγλυφα προεπαναστατικών εκκλησιών της Αρκαδίας for examples of stone carvings in the neighboring municipality of Arcadia. The master builders of Arcadian Langhadia featured in this book were the chief rivals of the Achaian Kloukines master builders.
¹⁵Agoropoulou-Birbili notes the influence of Enlightenment ideas on the contents of these stone plaques (126).
¹⁶For the details of this battle, see the relevant section in the “Historic Essay.”
Agoropoulou-Birbili, Aphrodite. “Η Εκκλησία του Αγίου Γεωργίου στον Σόλο Καλαβρύτων” in Εκκλησίες στην Ελλάδα μετά την Αλλωση, Vol.
VI. Πανεπιστημιακές Εκδόσεις ΕΜΠ, 2002: pp. 111-126.
Fotopoulos, Athanasios. Ιστορικά και Λαογραφικά της Ανατολικής Περιοχής Αιγιαλείας και Καλαβρύτων. Athens: 1982.
——- Οι Κοτζαμπάσηδες της Πελοποννήσου κατά τη Δεύτερη Τουρκοκρατία (1715-1821). Athens: Herodotos, 2005.
Leake, William Martin. Travels in the Morea. Volume Three. London: John Murray, 1830.
Palaiologopoulos, Dimitris. Οι Κοτζαμπάσηδες των Καλαβρύτων και ο Ρόλος τους στην επανάσταση του 1821. Athens: Paraskinio, 2008. Tsoupi, Maria. Διά Χείρος Τέκτονος: Λιθανάγλυφα προεπαναστατικών εκκλησιών της Αρκαδίας. Anthi tis Petras, 2021.
Tzortzis, Athanasios. Ιστορικό Λεξικό της επαρχίας Καλαβρύτων. Τόμος Ε’. Athens: 2014.