| abstract
| - New Thessaly was a Member World of the Federacy. Like Alexander it was originally settled by people from Greece. New Thessaly was settled during the 7th Century of the Federacy Standard Years, and did not have many immigrants of a different background in the following two millennia. In 2686 it still had a dominant Greek culture and its population tended to be dark and slim. The Greek Orthodox Church had a strong position in the social and political life of New Thessaly, for example making sure that there would be no entertainment featuring bare-breasted women, as was common on many other planets of the Federacy. However, the Church did not try to impose too puritanical a way of life. For example, it did not interfere with young people having sex without marriage, as long as they did not flaunt it, taking the position that "private things should be kept private". Most New Thessalians had hand-carved icons hanging in their homes, and New Thessalian expatriates kept them also in homes on other planets, and even when their religious faith waned. On other Federacy planets, New Thessalian icons were moderately valued as works of art, though not fetching extremely high prices. New Thessalians kept much of the traditional Greek cuisine, such as dolmades - grape leaves stuffed with lamb and rice - or ouzo, a type of distilled spirit flavoured with anise . However, being made of locally available New Thessalian materials and seasonings, the taste of these as prepared on New Thessaly actually diverged considerably from what was produced in Greece from Earth materials. Educated New Thessalians were familiar with Greek history and culture, stretching many thousands of years back - for example the plays of Sophocles. They were, however, often ignorant of non-Greek aspects of distant human history, for example the atrocities perpetrated by Nazi Germany. While the planet had its own universities, New Thessalians seeking to study specialized subjects such as anthropology often went to more cosmopolitan planets such as Hyperion. The mountain areas of New Thessaly were known for the centuries-old bitter feuds among their inhabitants, some of them reported to have been brought from Greece by the original settlers. Outsiders tended to confuse Alexanderians and New Thessalians with each other, though the people of these two planets could easily tell the difference due to many subtle details. Most New Thessalians tended to go clean-shaven. Stavros Monemvasios, the anthropology student who eventually had a major role in uncovering the abuse of power by the Survey Service, was exceptional in growing a beard - one of several ways in which he was not a typical New Thessalian.
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