Cnossus in 218 B.C.

Cnossus — Spring 218 BC · Hegemon of Crete.

Knosos — the greatest and most aggressive power of Crete, heir to the ancient palace-city whose labyrinthine ruins still stand revered in its land, and hegemon of the island. With its old partner Gortyn it had reduced nearly all Crete under joint power, sparing only Lyttos; bent on making that last free city a terror to the rest, the Knossians fetched a thousand Aetolians in virtue of their alliance and, while the Lyttian army was abroad on campaign, seized the undefended town, carried its women and children back to Knossos, and threw it to the ground. The Cretans say their island is the cradle of Zeus and the birthplace of law, and Knossos counts itself first among the cities that make that claim — first in age, first in power, and now first in the war that is tearing Crete apart.

No city on Crete is feared as Knossos is. In league with Gortyn it had brought the whole island under its hand, and when Lyttos alone refused obedience the Knossians resolved to wipe it out as a warning to every other town. At first all Crete marched with them against Lyttos; then, as is the way with the Cretans, jealousy split the alliance — Polyrrhenia, Lappa, the Oreioi and the Arcades broke away to make common cause with the Lyttians, and even at Gortyn the elder men held to Knossos while the younger went over to Lyttos. Caught by this collapse of their allies, the Knossians brought a thousand Aetolians across the sea; the Gortynian elders seized their own citadel and let the Knossians and Aetolians in. Then, learning that the Lyttians had gone out in full force into enemy country, Knossos fell on the empty city, sent its women and children home as captives, fired the buildings and threw them down. It was the masterstroke of the war — and it has bound Knossos fast to Aetolia just as Aetolia goes to war with Philip V and the Achaean League.