as slaves. The Venetians repopulated the town and region with Albanian settlers, granting them long-term agrarian tax exemptions. Together with the Greeks of Argos, they supplied stratioti troops to the armies of Venice. Some historians consider the French military term "argoulet" to derive from the Greek "argetes", or inhabitant of Argos, as a large number of French stratioti came from the plain of Argos.
Modern
At the beginning of the Greek War of Independence in 1821, when many petty local republics were formed in different parts of the country, the "Consulate of Argos" was proclaimed on 26 May 1821, under the Senate of the Peloponnese. It had a single head of state, Stamatellos Antonopoulos, styled Consul, between 28 March 1821 and 26 May 1821.
Later, Argos accepted the authority of the unified Provisional Government of the First National Assembly at Epidaurus, and eventually became part of the Kingdom of Greece. The city of Argos was the seat of the province of the same name, one of the three subdivisions of the former Argolis prefecture. According to the 2001 Greek census, the city has a population of 27,550. It is the largest city in Argolis, larger than the capital Nafplio.
Considerable remains of the city survive and are a popular tourist attraction. Agriculture, however, is the primary economic activity in the area, with citrus fruits the predominant crop. Olives are also popular here.
Argos has a railway station on the Kalamata - Tripoli - Corinth line of the Hellenic Railways Organisation, and a junior soccer team. The Archaeological Museum of Argos houses ancient artifacts recovered not only from the principal archaeological sites of the city, including the theater and agora but also from Lerna
