Romaic Philotimo: Duties and Obligations in Romanity

Editor's Note: The following is a first English translation of an excerpt from Romanity by Protopresbyter John Romanides. Many contemporary Greek saints emphasize the virtue of philotimo (St. Paisios the Athonite was well known for emphasizing it). Fr. John Romanides gives a comprehensive look at this virtue as it related to many aspects of one's life for the traditional Roman citizen and the struggle for that ethos today. A very valuable analysis!

Protopresbyter John Romanides

Romaic Philotimo: Duties and Obligations in Romanity

The Christianized Roman citizens of Constantinople New Rome, having adopted the Orthodox perception of the freedom of man through baptism, did not have any static view concerning human nature, and therefore no doctrine of the natural rights of classes, nor even an idealistic view about the equal rights of men, which to this day still do not exist.

In contrast to the Franks, the Romans of Constantinople New Rome believed in the principle of duties and obligations, yet subordinated not to individual interests, selfishness, and self-love, but rather to the freedom of the friends of God.

The society of the Romans is an aristocracy of the spirit and not a deceptive laocracy of merely theoretical rights. From one perspective, it resembles the American idea of the right of equal opportunities for progress, but with the fundamental difference of the purpose of this progress. While the Americans are followers of the Frankish idea that progress consists in attaining happiness (eudaimonia) through the satisfaction of what are considered natural self-loving desires of man, the Romans understood progress as the transformation of self-love and selfishness into the heroic freedom of self-sacrifice for one’s religion, fatherland and family, which all together are called Romanity.

Heroes of the spirit are those who reach love through asceticism, a love which “seeketh not her own.” The saints are the prototype of this heroic spirit, who reached such heights in the uprooting of self-love, with the help of God, that they are willing to sacrifice even their salvation and endure the torments of hell themselves in order to save and help their brothers. Since these are friends of God, they have the boldness of a friend and even argue with God in order to save their brothers from God’s intention to abandon traitors of His will to their fate.

From this tradition of the boldness of the saints developed the tradition that allowed and even demanded as a duty of the Roman to speak with boldness even before the Emperor himself.

Yet these heroes do not do the surplus good works of the Frankish saints, which exceed the required amount by which man is entitled to salvation. On the contrary, the saints simply perform duties and obligations, since God formed man with this purpose, to acquire the love of God, which “seeketh not her own.”

Therefore, however perfect the Roman may become, he is simply doing his duty, because it is his obligation to do asceticism with good works and to become perfect.[1]

This perfection, then, does not have any relation to natural rights and natural states of human nature, which when anyone exceeds, he is doing something more than what is needed.

Apart from the friends of God, there are the mercenaries, who work for reward, and the slaves, working from fear. These, however, are not outcasts; on the contrary they are also perfect, but at lower states of perfection. God loves everyone without exception, without favoritism, with the love that “seeketh not her own.” God loves even the devil.

The duty and obligation of all Romans is to struggle to ascend through the stages of perfection and become members of the spiritual aristocracy of Romanity. The Roman does not believe in any static idea about classes or laocratic rights of man. The so-called rights of man, of the Europeans and the Americans, are for Romanity lower but not static stages which are secured for individuals by the much higher stage of the duties and obligations of Romanity.

All the above on heroism and perfection and on duties and obligations are the foundations of Romaic philotimo.

The neo-Greek spirit, however, with its servile attitude towards Francia and Francized Russia, has abandoned these Romaic qualities and thinks that it serves the nation when it contributes to the subordination of the Romans to the societal and political systems of foreigners.

Yet just as Romanity as a whole is an aristocracy of the spirit, so also the leadership of Romanity is drawn from the higher part of this aristocracy. This fact appears clearly from the title “friend of God.” The title θεοφιλέστατος (“most beloved of God”) was the highest title in the Church hierarchy, but it also belonged to the emperor of the Romans.

For this reason, some natural right of man is not sufficient to choose rulers. God assigns to His friends the leadership of His nation, but the people of God must know those criteria which will reveal to them who is that charismatic hero and brave-hearted[2] friend of God, whom they will choose as their ruler.

The Roman knows the criteria and will elect his leadership from Romanity. The neo-Greek does not know these criteria and is therefore a zealous supporter of the enslavement of Romanity to an ideology and leadership external to itself, and thus he accepts leadership that does not come from his Romanity.

When necessary, the Roman also plays Karagiozis,[3] because he is Karagiozsis the aristocrat of the spirit, even if he does not appear that way to the foreigner, who thinks that he has him as a slave! The neo-Greek thinks that he is better than Karagiozis, because he has become a humble and sincere child of foreigners and a bearer of the civilizations of the “advanced,” “civilized,” “enlightened,” and “developed” peoples of the world. The “Little Greece”[4] of the Greeklings is flooded with these slogans of slavery to “civilized peoples.”

Karagiozis

For this reason, when the neo-Greekling acquires a refrigerator from the foreigner, he thinks this means that he is acquiring civilization. When Karagiozis acquires a refrigerator from the foreigner, he knows that he is simply acquiring a fridge.

Before and after the Fall [of Constantinople], the neo-Greeks of those times became Franks and Turks. The former fled to Europe to live freely as Franks, while the latter became Turks to live free. These are the rights of man.

Karagiozis, however, remained the tough Roman in his land with his parents, because his Romaic spirit knew that much higher than his right to become an exalted, beautiful, rich and literate Turk or European was his duty and his obligation to remain a Roman, in his land—that is to say, free and unenslaved in spirit, like the golden double-headed eagle of his Romanity.

ENDNOTES

[1] Cf. Luke 17:20: “So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do.” —English editor

[2] λεβέντης: originally meant a warrior, and by extension a strong, courageous, and therefore admirable man of standup and handsome character. Since we have “hero” right next to it, that plus “brave-hearted” should be enough to convey the meaning. —English editor

[3] Καραγκιόζης or Karagiozis: a fictional shadow puppet of Greek folklore and an important part of Greek cultural heritage that influenced shadow puppet theatre in many other regions. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karagiozis —English editor

[4] Έλλαδίτσα: refers contemptuously to the Modern Greek state viewed as the revival of Classical Greece, limited mostly to Attica and the Peloponnese. This is in opposition to the “Great Idea” of a Greater Greece encompassing Constantinople and Asia Minor, as well as Macedonia and Thrace—in other words, a new Eastern Roman Empire, a new Romania. —English editor

SOURCE

Romanides, Protopresbyter John S., ΡΩΜΗΟCΥΝΗ ΡΩΜΑΝΙΑ ΡΟΥΜΕΛΗ, (Thessaloniki, Greece: Πουρναρα, 2002), pp. 211-216.