The text cited consists of the opening lines of the famous poem “The Roman and the Arvanites” (or “The Bandits and the Arvanites”) by Antonios Matesis, written in 1831; it stands as one of the most characteristic examples of Greek-Albanian friendship and the shared destiny of the two peoples during the Revolution.

What is remarkable about this poem is that the poet from Zakynthos wrote the verses simultaneously in Greek and Albanian (using the Greek alphabet for Albanian, as was the custom among the Arvanites at the time).

Below is a loose translation of the verses into Modern Greek:

“Listen, my brave warriors (elders),
Let us leave behind all the (bad) things we know.
Let us live, then, in peace;
In peace, in peace, in peace let us spend our lives.”

The text you cite consists of the opening lines of the famous poem “The Roman and the Arvanites” (or “The Bandits and the Arvanites”) by Antonios Matesis, written in 1831; it stands as one of the most characteristic examples of Greek-Albanian friendship and the shared destiny of the two peoples during the Revolution.