Crete in the hellenistic period
Hey there,
I recently wrote an article about the history of Crete during hellenistic times and a friend said I should post it here. I wasn't sure if it really is creative writing but as he was convinced and as he's also a writer on TWC (and a very good one) I trusted it judgement to put it in here
Enjoy!
Historical Spotlight: Crete in Hellenistic Times
I want to write a few words on Crete in hellenistic times because I think it had a very special history during that era. The island of Crete, Κρήτη in Greek [Krete, today: Kriti] had once been the center of the ancient so called Minoan civilisation. In the 2nd millennium BC this wealthy people had a big influence on the affairs in the Eastern Mediterranean and lived in marvellous palaces. However, by the time of Alexander the Great, this splendid glamour had all but gone. Many Greeks from the mainland still had a high opinion of Crete in the 4th century BC, hailing it as a harmonic paradise in the Mediterranean with the fairest of societes and the greatest of rulers, like Aristotle did, but reality was quite different.
Indeed the Cretans still lived in an archaic society, that was extremely reluctant to modernize itself, favouring a number of old families and the old ways of life. As in Sparta, the male citizens met each other daily at the Syssitia, common dinners in big halls which were organised by each respective polis. The boys were only trained for lifes as warriors and shepherds, the demos was weak and men were only eligible to vote in assemblies when they were 30 or older. The Society was defined by the rule of a small elite over an extremely diverse population with a military mentality. Life on the island was hard, as the rocky hills did not allow extensive farming nor very active trade- the Cretans only produced for themselves.
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
Map of Crete with Latin names
But after the conquests of Alexandros, the political climate changed: Crete now found itself in the middle of an ever more connected Mediterranean world. This led to a constant state of war on the island, which shocked the other Greeks and lay at the heart of the saying '' Ho Kres ton Kreta'' (''The Cretan outfoxes the Cretan''). The various poleis on the island waged hundreds of wars against each other, lasting from the 330s to the late 2nd century BC.
There were two important reasons for this: First, the ancient, outdated structure of the society which was inept to handle the massive population increase because there was a growing number of Cretans without citizen rights whose only perspective was to become a mercenary or a pirate. Second, the big poleis of Knossos and Gortyn in central Crete pursued an aggressive policy either to become the dominant force on the island. The minor rivales in this struggle were Kydonia in the West and Lyttos, which was just east of Knossos.
These military conflicts had two sides: On the one hand various inter-poleis wars on the island, which started with a series of minor conflicts in the 3rd century. A short break to this came in the form of an alliance between Knossos and Gortyn in 222 BC, but this merely avoived war for 12 months until the outbreak of the Lyttian war. In this conflict, Gortyn and Knossos together attacked the wealthy city of Lyttos, which was defeated and devastated by the two more powerful cities. The Lyttians fled to Gortyn and started a civil war between pro- and anti- Knossos- parties. Those who favoured the alliance with Knossos were defeated and soon the next war between Gortyn and Knossos started.
Remains of the temple of Apollon at Gortyn
The biggest war set off in 206 BC, the so called ''Cretan War''. Motivated by Philip V of Macedon the Cretans started sea raids against Rhodos and other enemies of Macedon in Asia Minor and the Aegean. These actions lasted only 5 years, but they had long standing consequences, which brings us to the second point: Piracy. Many Cretans found this business ever more attractive and Cretan pirates became an annoyance for many peoples and traders in the Eastern Mediterranean.
But this did not end the wars on the island. In 170 BC, Kydonia turned against its own ally, Apollonia and provoked the reactions of Gortyn and Knossos. Together they attacked the Kydonians and expelled them from Apollonia. But that still wasn't the end, because now Gortyn wanted Apollonia for its own and after more bloody fights they were able to defeat the Knossians. Now you would have expected them to be happy, but Knossos and Gortyn formed another alliance to conquer the polis of Rhaukos and then parted the city in two halfes- like the Berlin wall between West and East Germany or the border on Cyprus today.
Crete and the Eastern Mediterranean around 200 BC
In 166 BC peace finally arrived on Crete due to the Ptolemaic occupation of Eastern Crete which guaranteed a stable political balance. But after the death of Ptolemaios VI his troops left Crete in 145 BC and it started again. Several other wars followed, especially between Knossos, Gortyn and Hierapytna in South East Crete. However, with Roman help they were able to negotiate a peace treaty and a formal alliance in 110 BC which ended the periods of wars. The inter- polis wars on the island were over- forever. Knossos and Gortyn had expanded as much as was possible and now founded a new Kretan Koinon , a league of all Cretan cities dominated by the victorious Knossians and of course Gortyn as well. A great number of poleis had by now become dependent vassal cities to both of the powerful towns.
The wars led to a mass exodus from Crete to towns like Milet and initiated a social change on the island. Many of the exiles- traders from Milet, mercenaries from Egypt and the Levante, pirates from all over the Mediterranean - would later return and bring the knowledge and attitudes of other cultures to Crete. They also helped in the rise of piracy, because many poleis used pirates to make some extra income and rejected Rhodian ideas of alliances against the buccaneers.
Piracy and Slave trade expanded even more because of the Fall or Weakening of Eastern naval powers like Rhodos, Pergamon and the Ptolemaic Empire. The new lords of those regions, the Romans, still lacked a great fleet and suffered massively from Cretan piracy. Therefore the Roman Senate tasked Marcus Antonius, father of Octavian's famous rival, with attacking Crete and defeating the Koinon te Kretaieon in 71 BC . But Antonius' expedition ended in disaster and the Cretans praised their military for a famous victory.
Despite their defeat, the senate, acknowledging Crete's enormous wealth and power it had amassed by piracy, put high demans on Crete the island could not accept. And this time the Romans took it more seriously: Gaius Caecilius Metellus launched a huge attack on Crete and started war which would take two years. The Cretans had been able to recruit 24 000 men for this was and fiercely fought up until the end, but Roman military power was just too much. And thus, in 67 BC Cretan Independence ended.
Despite the great destructions and the high number of deaths this war had caused, Crete would go on to flourish under Roman rule. Gortyn became the capital of the new province Creta et Cyrenarum (Crete and the Cyrenaica) while the Romans finally abolished the archaic structures on the island, which kickstarted the trade- the export of wine and herbs became the cornerstone of Cretan economy in Roman times.
THE END
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Originally Posted by Marvzilla
