The Cretan League or Koinon of the Cretans (, originally ) was a federal league () of

ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

city-states A city-state is an independent sovereign city which serves as the center of political, economic, and cultural life over its contiguous territory. They have existed in many parts of the world throughout history, including cities such as Rome, ...

on the island of

Crete Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...

. It was established in the 3rd century BC to preserve its members' independence against the hegemonic aspirations of

Macedonia Macedonia (, , , ), most commonly refers to: * North Macedonia, a country in southeastern Europe, known until 2019 as the Republic of Macedonia * Macedonia (ancient kingdom), a kingdom in Greek antiquity * Macedonia (Greece), a former administr ...

, and did not originally include all cities on the island, whence a distinction was made between the (the members of the League) and the more generic (Cretans); the League did not acquire its final name until the entire island found itself under the rule of the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

in the late 1st century BC. In its original form, the League lacked common institutions apart from a federal council and a federal court (), and leadership was disputed between the cities of

Gortyn Gortyn, Gortys or Gortyna (, , or , ) is a municipality, and an archaeological site, on the Mediterranean island of Crete away from the island's capital, Heraklion. The seat of the municipality is the village Agioi Deka. Gortyn was the Roman c ...

and

Knossos Knossos (; , ; Linear B: ''Ko-no-so'') is a Bronze Age archaeological site in Crete. The site was a major centre of the Minoan civilization and is known for its association with the Greek myth of Theseus and the minotaur. It is located on th ...

. After the Roman conquest in 67 BC, the island became part of the province of

Crete and Cyrenaica Crete and Cyrenaica (, ) was a senatorial province of the Roman Republic and later the Roman Empire, established in 67 BC, which included the island of Crete and the region of Cyrenaica in modern-day Libya. These areas were settled by Greek colon ...

, and the League was re-established as a common union of all cities on the island. A League president () and later a chief priest () of the

Roman Imperial cult The Roman imperial cult () identified emperors and some members of their families with the divinely sanctioned authority ('' auctoritas'') of the Roman State. Its framework was based on Roman and Greek precedents, and was formulated during the ...

were created. Delegated to celebrating festivals and representing local grievances to the Roman imperial authorities, the League survived until the late 4th century AD.

Sources

* * * * * {{History of Crete, state=collapsed 3rd-century BC establishments 4th-century disestablishments in Greece Leagues in Greek Antiquity Hellenistic Crete Roman Crete