Hellenistic Crete

  General Description   In the Greek world, the Hellenistic era goes from the death of Alexander in 323 BCE to the Roman conquest in 69 BCE. For much of this period, due to its enviable position in the Eastern Mediterranean, the island lay at the centre international conflicts between Alexander’s successors, most notably the Ptolemies (who managed to establish an autonomous republic at Itanos in the third century ^[1] ), the Seleucids, Macedonia, and Pergamon. ^[2] This in turn exacerbated conflicts between the island’s chief city-states, with few periods of respite, until Crete was conquered by the Romans ^[3] .
Population and political organization
In terms of the island’s population at this time, estimates vary for a minimum of 200,000 to a maximum of 1,000,000 people; however, the most likely estimate is of 450,000-500,000 people. ^[4] Political, military and religious control in Cretan city-states was exercised by the Kosmoi (Κόσμοι), a board of 3 to 10 nobles, annually elected by the Ecclesia, the body of free male citizens. One of the Kosmoi, known as protokosmos or stratagetas, was the president of the board. The council of elders, the Gerousia, whose members were chosen among the best Kosmoi, had legislative and juridical authority. ^{[5] [6]}

[1]: (Spyridakis 1970) Stylianos Spyridakis. 1970. Ptolemaic Itanos and Hellenistic Crete. Berkeley: University of California Press.

[2]: (Van Effenterre 1948, 114) Henri van Effenterre, H. 1948. La Crète et le mondes grec de Platon à Polybe. Paris: E. de Boccard.

[3]: (Chaniotis 1987, 236-246) Angelos Chaniotis. 1897. ’Κλασική και Ελληνιστική Κρήτη’, in Panagiotakis, N. (ed.), Κρήτη: Ιστορία και Πολιτισμός, edited by N. Panagiotakis. Heraklion: ΣΥΝΔΕΣΜΟΣ ΔΗΜΩΝ & ΚΟΙΝΟΤΗΤΩΝ ΚΡΗΤΗΣ.

[4]: (Chaniotis 1987, 194-195) Angelos Chaniotis. 1897. ’Κλασική και Ελληνιστική Κρήτη’, in Panagiotakis, N. (ed.), Κρήτη: Ιστορία και Πολιτισμός, edited by N. Panagiotakis. Heraklion: ΣΥΝΔΕΣΜΟΣ ΔΗΜΩΝ & ΚΟΙΝΟΤΗΤΩΝ ΚΡΗΤΗΣ.

[5]: (Willetts 1965, 56-75) Ronald F. Willetts. 1965. Ancient Crete. A Social History. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.

[6]: (Chaniotis 1987, 196-199) Angelos Chaniotis. 1897. ’Κλασική και Ελληνιστική Κρήτη’, in Panagiotakis, N. (ed.), Κρήτη: Ιστορία και Πολιτισμός, edited by N. Panagiotakis. Heraklion: ΣΥΝΔΕΣΜΟΣ ΔΗΜΩΝ & ΚΟΙΝΟΤΗΤΩΝ ΚΡΗΤΗΣ.