10/12/2026
āFreedom or Death!ā ā Theodoros Kolokotronisā Defiant Response to British Admiral William Hamiltonās Proposal for a Compromise with the Ottomans in 1822, Invoking the Memory of Constantine XI Palaiologos, the Last Byzantine Emperor
During the Greek War of Independence, Theodoros Kolokotronis emerged as one of the leading military commanders in the struggle against Ottoman rule. An episode recorded in his memoirs captures his determination to pursue independence and his connection to the historical memory of the Byzantine Empire.
According to Kolokotronisā account, after the Greeks captured Nafplio, British naval commander William Hamilton came to meet him. Hamilton reportedly suggested that the Greeks should seek a compromise with the Ottomans, with Britain acting as mediator.
Kolokotronisā response, as recorded in his memoirs, was unequivocal: āThis can never happen. Freedom or Death! We, Captain Hamilton, have never made a compromise with the Turks.ā
He continued by referring to the different fates of Greek communities under Ottoman rule, explaining that some had been killed, others enslaved, while others, like his own community, had maintained their freedom from generation to generation.
The Reference to Constantine XI Palaiologos
One of the most significant parts of the account concerns the king Kolokotronis invoked. He declared that their king had been killed without signing a treaty and that his guard had remained at war with the Turks.
The reference was to Constantine XI Palaiologos, the last Byzantine emperor, who died during the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople in 1453. Kolokotronis used the memory of the emperor to illustrate his argument that resistance had continued across generations and that surrender was not the only possible response to Ottoman power.
The passage does not establish that Kolokotronis and Constantine XI belonged to the same political era or that the Greek Revolution was a direct continuation of the Byzantine state. Rather, it shows how Kolokotronis invoked the Byzantine past as a symbol of resistance in explaining the Greek struggle for independence.
Mani, Souli and the Mountains as Strongholds of Resistance
According to the memoir, Hamilton then asked Kolokotronis who the emperorās guard had been and where his fortresses were.
Kolokotronis reportedly answered that the guard consisted of the klephtsāarmed mountain fighters who resisted Ottoman authorityāand that the strongholds were Mani, Souli and the mountains.
These references reflected the importance of local resistance traditions in Greek history. The mountainous terrain and the autonomy maintained by certain communities helped sustain armed resistance, while experienced fighters from these regions later contributed to the War of Independence.
The account concludes by stating that Hamilton did not continue the conversation.
A Story Preserved in Kolokotronisā Memoirs
The episode is recorded in Narration of Events of the Greek Nation from 1770 to 1836, the memoirs dictated by Kolokotronis to Georgios Tertsetis. The work is an important source for understanding the revolutionary leaderās recollections and perspective, although the conversation is known through this retrospective account rather than an independently verified contemporary transcript.
The story brings together two figures separated by nearly four centuries: Constantine XI Palaiologos, who died during the fall of Constantinople in 1453, and Theodoros Kolokotronis, who fought for Greek independence in the nineteenth century.
Its enduring significance lies in the way Kolokotronis connected the memory of the Byzantine emperor with the determination of the revolutionaries to resist Ottoman rule.
The message attributed to him was clear: āFreedom or Death.ā
