Hellenes have been everywhere! From the shores of the Black Sea to Asia, you can find traces of ancient colonies, conquests, migration and great Hellenic and Byzantine empires. This talk provides a snapshot of those historic communities across the Mediterranean, from the ancient colonies to the modern era. A particular focus will be on Egypt,…
Icaria the Free State
It was 2004 and I was stumbling and hopping my way across the Aegean Sea and somehow, I ended up on this small island that has a long history. There are approximately nine thousand inhabitants here and every single one of them appeared welcoming. I ended up staying in Evdilos not exactly a haven for…
Exploring Greek communities around the world, lecture series
President of the Hellenic Studies Foundation at the University of New South Wales, Costa Vertzayias will be teaming up with writer Billy Cotsis to discuss a range of Greek communities around the world including those that became extinct in the last century. The pair will present information based on years of their own research and…
The Empire of Nicaea – undefeated Hellenic empire and its role as protector of Europe
The tragedy of the Hellenic Republic can best be encapsulated by an empire that for a brief period shone brightly, while fighting fellow Hellenes and circling vultures. The Hellenic world since the 1100s has seen many internal wars rather than concentrate on important matters such as the growing Seljuk/Ottoman power and the sustained Bulgarian threat….
Hellenic Colonies and Towns: Ten of the Best Ever
From the shores of the Black Sea to the Sub Continent in Asia, the Hellenes established or re-founded hundreds of cities and towns around the world. By my estimation, there are over forty countries where cities/towns were founded. These colonies and settlements happened in waves, with a significant period coming in the Eighth to Sixth…
1453: an interview with Constantine Paliologos, the last Byzantine Emperor
Billy Cotsis – the writer intents no offence by travelling back in time to interview the hero of 1453, the year the Ottoman Empire captured Constantinople. BC: Emperor, you have resisted the Ottomans with the bravery of a million souls. Tonight, being 28 May, 1453 must be a tough one as tomorrow could be your…
Gallipoli: what the Hellenic town means for Turkish, ANZAC, British and Greek people
Gallipoli means many things to many people, and countries. To the Turks it is considered a defining moment for Ataturk and modern Turkey; to the British, yet another example of running a war from a room/bunker in London. For the people of Lemnos, it is the hospital and base for the Allied campaign of 1915….
Phanariotes of Wallachia and Moldavia (Romania)
Under the Ottomans, there were areas of that empire that were either self governed or controlled outright by Greeks. In fact, the early Ottomans are more benign than many have given them credit for. Greeks prospered as they generally had a good handle on commerce and merchant trading. In Constantinople Greeks continued the level of…
Ten greatest Greek kingdoms and empires: from Alexander the Great, Ptolemy, Byzantium, Trebizond
In my new book, I explore 36 Hellenic kingdoms, territories, empires and a fiefdom to demonstrate the extent of the Greek world. From Pyrrhus to Cyprus covers the period following the end of the Alexandrian empire to the fall of the Byzantine Empire in 1453. Added to the mix are a number of independent Greek…
Greek speakers of Jordan: Ramadan and a Greek spirit
As I was planning my trip to Jordan, a representative of the Greek Youth innocently pointed out, “you do realise its Ramadan here in Jordan!” I had of course completely and utterly forgotten it was Ramadan.
From Pyrrhus to Cyprus: Forgotten and Remembered Hellenic Kingdoms, territories, entities and a fiefdom
From Pyrrhus to Cyprus: Forgotten and Remembered Hellenic Kingdoms, territories, entities and a fiefdom is the second book from freelance writer and short film director, Billy Cotsis.
The Kingdom of Commagene
As witnessed by an ancient traveller… Around 163 BCE I happened upon a mountainous kingdom located on the banks of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, in what is now Turkey, bordering Syria. This was the year when this kingdom was truly recognised, after breaking away from the Greek ruled Seleucid Kingdom. The name Commagene refers…
Pericles: an interview from 5th Century Athens
After years of being turned down by Pericles for an interview, finally he has taken the time out to speak me after he delivered the Funeral Oration. Here Pericles tells us about his childhood, his love of Athens, democracy and why Sparta must be defeated. BC: You are known as the First Citizen of Athens,…
Lesvos: fall in Love and the liberation of the island
Event held on November 9, 2016 delivered at Mytilene House with 200 people in attendance “Lesvos will continue to function as an island. That is what we are, an island. It is not a Dubai, it is a remote island.” Good evening, how is everyone? I’m here to talk you a little about a film…
Ten of the best Greek islands by a seasoned traveller
Billy Cotsis has travelled to 65 Greek islands and counting. Here he recalls HIS top ten favourite islands based on personal experiences, beauty, aura and history. They say that Greece has 227 inhabited and 6000 uninhabited islands. They also say that each one has a story to tell; I have been lucky enough to have…
The Republic of the Ionian Islands
When the Byzantine Empire came to an end in 1453, a number of small strongholds held out. These were eventually swept aside by the might of the Ottoman Empire; the Morea, Empire of Trebizond and the Principality of Theodosia in the Crimea circa 1475. The entire Greek world was either under the Sultan or Latin…
Battle of Crete commemorated in NSW: The Evzones from Greece honoured in Sydney
The Martin Place Cenotaph on Saturday 16 April played host to a thousand members of the Greek and broader community who came to pay their respects and to remember one of the legendary campaigns in modern history, 75 years ago.
HERO: How an American named Asa Jennings saved hundreds of thousands of Greeks in Asia Minor
The word hero comes in to play often in our society, yet do we really know what it means? Can a sports star for example truly embody the term? When a new footy season kicks off, we look to our “heroes” to lead our respective teams. The media and the public tend to use the…
The Hellenes, a fork and Germany, an open letter to the people of Deutschland
Guten Tag, Hallo Deutschland! What a wonderful country you are; football, beer, sausages, David Hasselhoff (ok he wasn’t born there, I know but his music was big in Germany). You also have great dance parties. Yet you are a country that refuses to pay Greece what is owed, a country that has been at the…
Back to the Future: the Hellenes of Armenia
Travelling through the picturesque mountains of Armenia, one can’t help be transformed to another time and place. This can’t be Europe! With little evidence of the hustle and bustle of a Rome and none of the pollution one would find in a big city, Armenia is a breath of fresh air. And with the absence…
