There is an element of the adventitious, not to say random, in the relation of the borders of the modern Greek state -to which the subject of this volume will be confined- to those of the Byzantine empire and of the foreign countries under which Hellenism subsequently lived for centuries. The modern borders have emerged as a result of the recent vicissitudes of Greece in the century that has recently expired, during which the dogma of nation states was asserted. It could be claimed, however, that these borders, in Old Greece -the Aegean and Ionian coasts, Macedonia and Epiros- enclose the axis around which the Greek-speaking descendants of the Greco-Roman world lived, worked and produced, as factors for continuity, while at the same time invariably setting the tone for a distinctive culture. Today, we Greeks feel and consider this culture to be our own, the ancestor of modern Greek culture. We are speaking of a very long period of time, the beginning of which is rather indeterminate, and usually described as "the end of the ancient world" while the end is considered to be the formation of the modern Greek state about 1830. During this interval the historical vicissitudes and fluctuations were very intense, sometimes and in some places disastrous, yet the inhabitants of the land not only survived, but assimilated foreign invaders and alien influences, achieved a civilized, urban way of life and, to the extent that their living conditions permitted, created architecture and art. [...] (από την εισαγωγή του βιβλίου)