By the 14th century, the Byzantine Empire was, if not on the verge of actual collapse, at least seriously decadent and clearly on its last legs. The hungry wolves of Europe were preparing to dine on its corpse, and as a result the Byzantine army and its allies were constantly engaged in battles and skirmishes. In this story, a widow lives in the 14th-century Byzantine village of Doxobus with her son Xenos. She forms a relationship with a village elder, and when she gives birth to the elder’s son, her son from her previous marriage is sent to live in a monastery.
Alexander, a tribal warlord and former political prisoner, kidnaps British tourists, holding them for ransom until Britain and the Greek puppet government in Athens meet his demand for amnesty for his band of freedom fighters.
Metsos
Michalis returns to the tobacco growers of his rural village after having spent some time in the city and persuades them to form a collective, rather than suffer the poverty-inducing prices they are paid for their crops by tobacco brokers. They agree not to sell to any of the brokers and start to form a farmers' group. When one of the farmers breaks the agreement and is found dead, Michalis is accused. However, rather than expose the farmers' plight and give publicity to the brokers' greed, the motive the government gives for the killing is thi asimanton aformin, for unimportant reasons.
