20-24 septembrie 2009 - Biblioteca Metropolitana Bucuresti

750 Radu BĂltĂŞiu & Emil ŢîrcomnicuLikewise, Ion Arginteanu observed: “The privileges which theRomanians of Thessaly and Epirus enjoyed under Turkish rule and whichwere confirmed by sultans through hundreds of firmams were only a sequelto their previous state of freedom and independency. No other nation withinthe Balkan Peninsula has partaken in such privileges under sultan reign.”(Arginteanu, 1904: XV)A few words on the main “ferment” center – MoscopoleMoscopole was a veritable center for the Aromanian energies. Althoughit did not generate a state structure, Moscopole was a radiant center ofcommercial (hauling) and banking networks for Aromanians, until itsdestruction, at the end of the XVIII century, only a year before the start ofthe French Revolution of 1789. Unfortunately, Moscopole was destroyedat its most critical moment of ethno-political development, when it couldhave become the kernel of an Aromanian state.When Athens did not surpass 12,000 inhabitants, Moscopole housedover 40,000, it possessed an Academy and 40 monumental churches,all stone, it had a sewage system and paved streets. (Brezeanu, Zbuchea,2997: 146-148, apud F.Ch.L. Pouqeville, Voyage de la Grece, 1827,vol. III, 45-46).From the moment it was destroyed, Moscople began to irradiate withan indefatigable strength commergial, banking and cultural energies to itssurrounding countries, especially Greece, Serbia, Hungary and Austria.Likewise, the national reawakening of the Transylvanian Romaniansowes a lot to the Romanian intellectuals who emigrated from Moscopole.Andrei Şaguna and other important members of the Transylvanian Schoolhave their origins in this area, along with great bankers and merchants,such as Sina, Gojdu, Grabovsky, Mocioni, and so on, who have broughta significant contribution in the commercial development of Belgrade,Budapest, Vienna and Athens.Beyond this, there are modern nations who owe the founding of theirnational state to the dedication of Aromanians. Aromanians have sacrificedthemselves for Greece and Albany’s independence and have decisivelycontributed to Serbia and the Austro-Hungarian Empire’s teeming economy.From Moscopole and the adjacent area great Aromanian familieshave emigrated and have decisively contributed to the materialization ofcommercial and banking activities in Belgrade and Budapest and, lastly,to the reawakening of the Romanian national spirit within Romanians wholived in Austro-Hungary and Transylvania.