Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 6.djvu/605

Rh C R E T E ferent cities, they had the one glaring defect, that they made no provision for any federal bond or union among them, or for the government of the island as a whole. It was owing to the want of this that the Cretans scarcely figure in Creek history as a people, though tho island, as observed by Aristotle, would seem from its natural posi tion calculated to exerciso a preponderating influence over Greek affairs. Thus they took no part either in the Persian or the Peloponnesian war, or in any of the subse quent civil contests in which so many of the cities and islands of Greece were engaged. At the same they were so far from enjoying tranquillity on this account that the few notices we find of them in history always represent them as engaged in local wars among one another ; and Polybius tells us that the history of Crete was one con tinued series of civil wars, which were carried on with a bitterness of animosity exceeding all that was known in the rest of Greece. In these domestic contests the three cities that generally took the lead, and claimed to exercise a kind of hegemony or supremacy over the whole island, were Cnossus, Gor- tyna, and Cydonia. But besides these three, there were riany other independent cities, which, though they gene- r illy followed the lead of one or other of these more powerful rivals, enjoyed complete autonomy, and were able to shift at will from the alliance of one to the other. Among the most important of these were Lyttus or Lyctus, in the interior, south-east of Cnossus ; Ehaucus, between Cnossus and Gortyna ; Phoestus, in the plain of Messara, between Gortyna and the sea; Polyrrhenia, near the north-west angle of the island ; Aptera, a few miles inland from the P&amp;gt;ay of Sudha ; Eleutherna and Axus, on the northern slopes of Mount Ida ; and Lappa, between the White Moun tains and the sea. Phalasarna on the west coast, and Chersonesus on the north, seem to have been dependencies, and served as the ports of Polyrrhenia and Lyttus. Elyrus stood at the foot of the White Mountains, just above the south coast. In the eastern portion of the island were Proesus in the interior, and Itanus on the coast, facing the east, while Hierapytna on the south coast was the only place of importance on the side facing Africa, and on this account rose under the Romans to be one of the principal cities of the island. 1 Though it was continually torn by civil dissensions, the island maintained its independence of the various Macedonian monarchs by whom it was surrounded; but having incurred the enmity of Rome, first by an alliance with the great Mithridates, and afterwards by taking active part with their neighbours, the pirates of Cilicia, the Cretans were at length attacked by the Roman arms, and, after a resistance protracted for more than three years, were finally subdued by Q. Metellus, who earned by this success the surname of Creticus (G7 B.C.). The islatd was now reduced to a Roman province : tut by a very singular arrangement was united for administrative purposes with the district of Cyrenaica or the Fintapolis, on the opposite coast of Africa, a disposition which continued un changed till the time of Constantino. Thenceforth Crete 1 But besides these there were many small towns, which still enjoyed or claimed the privileges of autonomy. In the earliest times, indeed, Crete was said to have contained a hundred cities, and though this was doubtless a mere poetical exaggeration, the existing remains show that the whole island was studded with numerous fortified strongholds, each of which may at times have asserted its independence. Such petty fortresses were well suited to a people of the predatory habits which distinguished the Cretans in all ages, notwithstanding the boasted ex cellence of their government. Throughout the nourishing period of Greece, indeed, the Cretans were principally known as furnishing mercenary troops, who were distinguished for their skill in the use of the bow, so that a force of Cretan archers became almost a necessary addition to every Greek army. constituted a separate province under a governor of consular rank, and continued to form part of the Byzantine empire till the 9th century, when it fell into the hands of tho Saracens (823). It then became a formidable nest of pirates, but defied all the efforts of the Byzantine sovereigns to recover it till the year 960, when it was reconquered by Nicephorus Phocas. In clie partition of the Greek empire after the capture of Constantinople by the Latins in 1204, Crete fell to the lot of Boniface, marquis of Mont- ferrat, but was sold by him to the Venetians, and thus passed under the dominion of that great republic, to which it continued subject for more than four centuries. Under the Venetian Government Candia, a fortress origi- nally built by the Saracens, and called by them &quot; Khandax,&quot; became the seat of government, and not only rose to be the capital and chief city of the island, but actually gave name to it, so that it was called in the official language of Venice &quot; the island of Candia,&quot; a designation which from thence passed into modern maps, where it retained its position down to our own days. The ancient name of Krete or Kriti was, however, always retained in use among the Greeks, and is gradually resuming its place in the usage of literary Europe. The government of Crete by the Venetian aristo cracy was, like that of their other dependencies, very arbi trary and oppressive, and numerous insurrections were the consequence. But with all its defects their administration did much to promote the material prosperity of the country, and to encourage .commerce and industry ; and it is probable that the island enjoyed during this period a more prosperous condition than it has done at any subsequent time. Their Venetian masters at least secured to the islanders external tranquillity, and it is singular that the Turks were content to leave them in undisturbed posses sion of this opulent and important island for nearly two centuries after the fall of Constantinople. It was not till 1645 that the Turks made any serious attempt to effect its conquest; but in that year they landed with an army of 50,000 men, and speedily reduced the important city of Canea. Retimo fell the following year, and in 1648 they laid siege to the capital city of Candia. This was the longest siege on record, having been protracted for more than twenty years; but in 1667 it vas pressed with renewed vigour by the Turks under the grand vizier Achmet Kiuprili, and the city was at length compelled to surrender (September 1669). Its fall was followed by the submission of the whole island. (See Daru, Histoire de Venise, chap, xxxiii.) From this time the island continued subject to the Ottoman rule without interruption till the outbreak of the Greek revolution. After the conquest a large part of the inhabitants embraced Mahometanism, and thus secured to themselves the chief share in the administration of the island. But far from this having a favourable effect upon the condition of the population, the result was just the contrary, and according to the testimony of an intelligent traveller, Crete was the worst governed province of tho Turkish empire. The regular authorities sent from Con stantinople were wholly unable to control the excesses of the janissaries, who exercised without restraint every kind of violence and oppression. Hence, when in 1821 the revolution broke out in continental Greece, the Cretans, headed by the Sfakiot mountaineers, at once raised tho standard of insurrection, and carried on hostilities with such success that they soon made themselves masters of the whole of the open country, and drove the Turks and Mahometan population to take refuge in the fortified cities. These, however, defied all the efforts of the insur gents ; and the contest was prolonged without any decisive result, until in 1830 the allied powers (France, England, and Russia) who hod intervened in the contest between