Gortyns
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A Greek polis in ancient Crete.
Establishment
January 849 BC: Gortyns was a polis from ca. 850 BC. Many artifacts have been found from the Minoan period (2600-1100 BC) as well as some from the Dorian (c. 1100 BC).
Chronology
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Was an internal conflict fought from around 220 BC to about 216 BC between two coalitions of Cretan city-states, led by Cnossus and Polyrrhenia respectively.
January 215 BC: In 220 BC Crete was tormented by a war between two coalitions of cities. As a result, the Macedonian king Philip V gained hegemony over the island.
Was fought by King Philip V of Macedon, the Aetolian League, many Cretan cities (of which Olous and Hierapytna were the most important) and Spartan pirates against the forces of Rhodes and later Attalus I of Pergamum, Byzantium, Cyzicus, Athens, and Knossos.
January 199 BC: The macedonian hegemenoy over Crete lasted to the end of the Cretan War (205-200 BC).
A three-year campaign under Quintus Caecilius Metellus that resulted in the Roman conquest of Crete.
January 68 BC: In 69 BC, the consul Quintus Caecilius Metellus was tasked by the Senate with the conquest of Crete. He captured one Cretan city after another, while Pompey fought against the pirates at sea. The defeated Cretans only wanted to submit to Pompey, and he accepted their submission, even though Quintus Caecilius Metellus was the actual conqueror who made Crete a Roman province.
January 479 BC: Aulon was a fortified city and dependent on Gortyn but probably it had a degree of autonomy.
January 219 BC: Around the end of the 3rd century BC, Phaestos was destroyed by the Gortynians and since then ceased to exist in the history of Crete.
Disestablishment
January 68 BC: In 69 BC, the consul Quintus Caecilius Metellus was tasked by the Senate with the conquest of Crete. He captured one Cretan city after another, while Pompey fought against the pirates at sea. The defeated Cretans only wanted to submit to Pompey, and he accepted their submission, even though Quintus Caecilius Metellus was the actual conqueror who made Crete a Roman province.
Selected Sources
Detorakis, T. (1994): History of Crete, Iraklion, p. 74
Detorakis, T. (1994): History of Crete, Iraklion, pp. 76-80
Polybius, The Histories, IV 53–55
Titus Livius: Ab Urbe Condita, 100
