one of the largest islands in the Mediterranean, situated between the 35th and 36th degrees of east longitude, and between the 22d and 27th degrees of north latitude. The Cretan mythologists, quoted by Diodorus Siculus, relate that the first inhabitants of the island were the Dactyl Idaei, who dwelt around Mount Ida, and were regarded as magicians, because they possessed a variety of knowledge, and were particularly skilled in religious mysteries. Orpheus, who distinguished himself so highly in poetry and music, was their disciple. They discovered the use of fire, iron, and brass, and invented the art of working these metals in Berecynthus, a mountain near Apta. Those invaluable discoveries procured them divine honours. One of them, named Hercules, rendered himself famous by his courage and exploits, and instituted the Olympic games; though posterity, by a mistake, have ascribed that institution to the son of Alcmena, who, indeed, trod in the footsteps of his predecessor, and also raised himself to immortality.

The Dactyli Idaei were the ancestors of the Curetes. The latter originally inhabited the forests and caves of the mountains; but they afterwards entered into domestic life, and by their institutions contributed to the civilization of mankind. They taught men to collect flocks of sheep, to tame wild animals for domestic purposes, and to entice bees into hives, that they might rifle them of the fruit of their labours; they first prompted men to the chase, and taught the use of the bow; and they were the inventors of swords and of military dances. The noise which they made, by dancing in armour, prevented Saturn from hearing the cries of Jupiter, whose education Rhea had intrusted to them, and whom, with the assistance of the nymphs, they brought up in a cave in Mount Ida, feeding him with the milk of the goat Amalthea, and with honey.

To this period mythology assigns the origin of the Titans; their abode near Gnosiss, where stood the palace of Rhea; their travels over the whole earth; their war against Ammon, and his defence by Bacchus; the nuptials of Jupiter and Juno, celebrated near the river Threnus in Crete; and the gods, goddesses, and heroes who descended from them.

Of these heroes the most illustrious were Minos and Rhadamanthus. They are said to have been the sons of Jupiter and of Europa, who had been conveyed into the island on a bull. Minos having become king, built several cities; the most considerable of which were Gnosiss, on that side of the island which faces Asia, Phereust on the southern shore, and Cydon on the western side facing the Peloponnesus. He gave to his subjects a code of admirable laws, which he pretended to have received from his father Jupiter in the grotto of Mount Ida.

Rhadamanthus distinguished himself by the impartiality of his judgments, and by the inflexible severity with which he inflicted punishment on the impious and the wicked. His empire extended over the chief isles of the Archipelago; and the inhabitants of the adjacent coasts of Asia submitted to him on account of his high reputation for probity and justice. Mythologists have constituted him judge in the regions below, to determine the future state of the righteous and the wicked: they have conferred on him the same honours which were bestowed on Minos, the justest of kings.

Thus far have been followed the Cretan traditions as these are related by Diodorus; but historians differ as to the degree of truth or probability which they involve. There are a variety of opinions concerning the original inhabitants of Crete. Strabo, who has discussed the subject with great erudition, says, "I am not fond of fables; yet I have detailed these at some length, because they are connected with theology. Every discourse concerning the gods should examine the religious opinions of antiquity, and distinguish them from fable. The ancients were pleased to conceal their knowledge of nature under a veil. It is now impossible to unfold the meaning of their enigmas. But by exposing to light the numerous allegories which they have left us, and examining attentively their mutual relations and differences, genius may perhaps be able to unfold the truths which are couched under them."

But leaving mythology for the more certain records and monuments of history, we find that Crete received its name from Cres, the first of its monarchs, and the author of several useful inventions, which contributed to the happiness of his subjects. Prompted by gratitude, they endeavoured to perpetuate the memory of his favours, and to immortalize his name, by naming the island after him. In order to distinguish the true Cretans from strangers, they were named Eteocretes. A number of colonies, from different parts of Greece, settled in the island; the salubrity of the climate, and the fertility of the soil, having induced them to fix their habitation there. The Lacedemonians, Argives, and Athenians, were the principal people who sent colonies into Crete. "Crete," says Homer, "is an extensive island in the midst of the stormy main. The soil is rich and fertile. It contains an immense number of inhabitants. It is adorned with a hundred cities. Its inhabitants speak in various languages. We find there Achaeans, valiant Eteocretes, Cydonians, Dorians, and godlike Pelasgians." The Eteocretes inhabited the southern division of the island, where they built the city of Proclus, and erected a temple to the Dictean Jove.

Cres was not the only monarch who reigned in the island of Crete. He had a series of successors; but history affords little information concerning them. The names of a few of them only are preserved, and a small number of events which happened under the reign of others are related, but the latter are disguised with an intermixture of fable. Among these monarchs we find two of the name of Jupiter, and two of that of Minos. However, most writers confound them, and ascribe to one the transactions and exploits which should be shared between both.

This remark chiefly regards Minos, who was esteemed the wisest legislator of antiquity. The office assigned him in the regions below is a certain proof of his having gained an exalted reputation by his justice upon earth. Greece, says Plato, has with great propriety adopted the laws of Crete; for they are founded upon the solid basis of reason and equity, and have a natural tendency to render the people who live in subjection to them opulent and happy. One of these laws forbade the Cretans ever to carry their festivity so far as to intoxicate themselves with wine. Another contained the following eminently conservative provision: "Let young people not canvass the laws with an indiscreet curiosity; let them not examine whether the lawgiver has done right or wrong in promulgating them; but let them join unanimously in declaring them good, since they proceed from the gods. If any of the old men perceive something in them meriting amendment, let him mention it to the magistrate, or discuss it with his equals, but never in the presence of the young people." The Cretan code was engraven on tablets of brass; and Talos, chief minister to Minos, visited all the towns and cities in the island three times a year, to observe in what manner the laws were executed and obeyed. The king of Crete, aware that an infusion of the marvellous is useful in commanding the belief and enforcing the obedience of the multitude, pretended that he had received those laws from his father Jupiter, in the grotto of Mount Ida. In the same manner, Lycurgus, before promulgating his laws, repaired to Del- phi, and gave out that they had received the sanction of Apollo. A like reason induced Numa to pretend to an intimacy with the nymph Egeria, and Mahomed to ascribe his doctrines and institutions to the revelation of the angel Gabriel.

In contradiction of this account, however, others of the ancients describe Minos as a prince abandoned to the fury of his passions, and a barbarous conqueror. Having fallen furiously in love with the nymph Dictynna, who refused to gratify his wishes, he pursued her to the brink of the shore, and forced her to plunge into the sea, where she was saved by some fishermen, who received her in their nets. He was the first of the Greeks who appeared in the Mediterranean at the head of a naval armament. He conquered the Cyclades, expelled the Carianas, established Cretan colonies in those islands, and committed the government of them to his son.

Being informed, while he was at Paros, that his son Androgeus was slain at Athens, he declared war against Egeus, and imposed on him a disgraceful as well as cruel tribute, from the payment of which Theseus delivered his country. He took arms against Nissus, king of Megara; made him prisoner by the treachery of his daughter Scylla; and put him to death, together with Megarus, the son of Hippomenes, who had brought some forces to his assistance. Daedalus, who had by some means incurred his displeasure, despairing of pardon from so severe and inflexible a prince, employed the resources of his inventive genius in order to escape from his power. He fled to Sicily, gained the protection of King Cocalus, and obtained an asylum in his court. Valerius Flaccus has described his flight in a very lively and picturesque manner. "Thus Daedalus, with the wings of a bird, ascended from Mount Ida. Beside him soared the comrade of his flight, with shorter wings. They appeared like a cloud rising in the air. Minos, seeing his vengeance thus eluded, glowed with impotent rage. In vain he followed with his eyes the secure flight of his enemies through the wide expanse of heaven. His guards returned to Gortynia with their quivers filled with arrows." The Cretan monarch did not, however, give up his prey. He equipped a fleet, pursued the fugitive to Sicily, and fell before the walls of Camicum.

It is plain that these actions are unsuitable to the character of that just monarch, whose merits raised him to the office of determining, in the regions below, the unalterable fate of the righteous and the wicked. We may therefore reasonably conclude that Minos the legislator was a different person from Minos the conqueror; that it was the former who gained a lasting reputation by his wisdom and justice; that it was the latter who subdued most of the islands of the Archipelago, but, being enslaved by his passions, tarnished his glory by cruelty and a merciless thirst for vengeance.

The last king of Crete was Idomeneus. This prince, accompanied by Merion, conducted twenty-four ships to the assistance of Agamemnon. Homer informs us of the illustrious exploits by which he signalized himself before the walls of Troy. At his departure he committed the government of his kingdom to Leucus, his adopted son, promising him the hand of his daughter Clisithera if he governed wisely in his absence. But that ambitious young man forgot the favours which had been so lavishly bestowed on him; and having gained a number of partisans, he in a short time aspired to the immediate possession of the crown. His impatience would not wait till he should obtain it lawfully by marriage. Flattering himself, from the long absence of the king, that he had perhaps fallen before Troy, he determined to mount the throne. Mida, wife of Idomeneus, and the princess Clisithera, were however obstacles to the gratification of his wishes. But ambition knows no restraint, and tramples under foot the most sacred obligations. This base wretch having seduced the people from their allegiance, and captivated the affections of the nobles, sacrificed these unfortunate victims in the temple. When Idomeneus, crowned with laurels, landed on the coast of Crete, Leucus, who had now firmly established his power, attacked him with an armed force, and obliged him to reembark. But a different account is given of the banishment of Idomeneus. Servius says that he had vowed, in a storm, to sacrifice to the gods the first person whom his eyes should behold on the Cretan shore; that his son having met him first after his arrival, he fulfilled his vow by sacrificing him; and that the island, being soon afterwards depopulated by pestilence, the inhabitants looked upon that affliction as the effect of divine vengeance, and expelled the murderer, who, having retired to Italy, founded Salentum on the Messapian coast. But this opinion appears to be entirely groundless. History mentions no son of Idomeneus. If he had had a son of his own blood, why did he adopt Leucus? Why did he trust to the latter the government of the island, when he promised him his daughter in marriage? The more probable opinion is, that the plague was introduced into the island by his ships, when he returned from the siege of Troy; and that Leucus artfully made use of that pretext to expel his lawful sovereign. This is the statement of Herodotus. But it appears that the usurper did not long enjoy the fruit of his crimes. Soon after the departure of Idomeneus, monarchy was abolished, and the government of Crete became republican.

The Cretan government, soon after the expulsion of Idomeneus, became aristocratical. The power was divided between the nobles and the people; yet as the chief employments were occupied by the nobles, they directed the administration of affairs. Ten magistrates were annually elected, by a majority of voices, in the national assembly. They were named cosmoi, and their public office and character were nearly the same with those of the ephori at Sparta. They were the generals of the republic in time of war, and directed all affairs of importance. They had the right of choosing certain old men as counsellors. The latter, to the number of twenty-eight, composed the Cretan senate. They were chosen from among those who had discharged the office of cosmoi, or had distinguished themselves by extraordinary merit and blameless probity; and they continued in office during life, possessed a weighty influence, and were consulted in every affair of importance. This body formed a barrier which the wisdom of the legislator had opposed against the ambition of the ten chief rulers. Another restraint was imposed on their power, by limiting the period of their administration to one year; and as the suffrages of the people might be obtained by bribery or personal influence, and of consequence their choice might sometimes fall on a man unworthy of so honourable an office, it was provided that he who had been undeservedly advanced to the dignity of cosmos should be degraded, either in a national assembly, or simply by the voices of his colleagues. This, no doubt, is what Plato alludes to when he says, "Neither the commonwealth, which approaches too near to a monarchical constitution, nor that which affects a licentious liberty, is founded on the solid basis of a just medium between anarchy and despotism. The Cretans and Lacedemonians, by establishing theirs on firmer foundations, avoided those fatal extremes."

Such were the distribution of power and the administration of public affairs in the Cretan government. Its simplicity was admirable. A people who were blessed with the sacred enjoyment of liberty, but who possessed not sufficient knowledge and discernment to direct them- selves, elected magistrates, to whom they delegated their authority. These magistrates, thus clothed with sovereign authority, chose senators to assist and direct their deliberations. But these counsellors could neither enact nor decide of themselves; they held their office for life, and that circumstance contributed to strengthen their influence and to increase their experience. The magistrates were animated by the most powerful motives to distinguish themselves, when in office, by unwearied activity in the public service. On one side they were restrained by the fear of degradation; and on the other, actuated by the hope of becoming one day members of the national council.

All the Cretans were subjected to the power of the magistrates, and divided into two classes, the adults and the youth. Men arrived at maturity were admitted into the first class. The second consisted of all the young men who were not below the age of seventeen. The society of adults ate together in public halls. There rulers, magistrates, poor and rich, seated together, partook, without distinction, of the same simple fare. A large bowl, filled with wine and water, which went round the company from one to another, was the only drink which they were allowed. None but the old men had a right to call for more wine. A woman was appointed to preside at each table; a circumstance which of itself indicates a great advance in civilization; and in this capacity she openly distributed the most exquisite meats to those who had distinguished themselves by their valour or wisdom. This preference was so far from exciting envy or jealousy, that it only prompted every person to deserve it by brave and prudent conduct. Near where the citizens sat, two tables were laid, which they named Hospitable, and where all strangers and travellers were entertained; and there was also a particular house set apart by the public, in which they might spend the night.

To supply the public expenses, every citizen was obliged to bring a tenth part of his annual income into the treasury; and it was the duty of the chief magistrates to take care that every person contributed his proportion. In Crete, says Aristotle, one part of the fruits of the earth, of the produce of the flocks, of the revenues of the state, and of the taxes and customs, is sacred to the gods, and the other is distributed among the members of the community; so that men, women, and children, all subsist at the public expense.

After dinner, the magistrates and senators usually spent some time in deliberating on the affairs of the state; they next recounted the noble deeds which had been done in war, celebrated the courage of their most distinguished warriors, and animated the youth to heroic valour. These assemblies were the first school of the youth. At the age of seven, the boy was permitted to handle the bow; and from that time he was admitted into the society of the adults, where he continued till the age of seventeen. There, sitting on the ground, and clothed in a plain and coarse dress, he served the old men, and listened, with respectful silence, to their admonitions. His young heart was inflamed by the recital of noble deeds in arms, and glowed with ardour to imitate them; he acquired habits of sobriety and temperance; and being constantly witness of illustrious examples of moderation, wisdom, and patriotism, the seeds of virtue were thus sown and fostered in his heart before he attained the full use of reason.

He was early accustomed to arms and to fatigue, that he might learn to endure excessive heat or cold, to clamber and leap among hills and precipices, and to bear manfully the blows and wounds which he might receive amid the gymnastic exercises or in battle. But his education was not confined to the gymnastic exercises; he was also taught to sing the laws, which were written in verse, with a certain species of melody, in order that the charms of music might dispose him to learn them with more pleasure, and might impress them more deeply on his heart, and that, if he should ever transgress them, he might not have the excuse of ignorance to offer. He next learned hymns in honour of the gods, and poems composed in praise of heroes. When he reached his seventeenth year, he retired from the society of the adults, and became a member of that of the young men.

But here his education was still carried on. He exercised himself in hunting, wrestling, and fighting with his companions. Martial music was played on the lyre; and he learned to follow exactly the sounds and measure of the musician. Those sports and exercises were attended with danger, because arms of steel were sometimes used in them. One dance, in which the youth aspired most ardently to excel, was the Pyrrhic, originally invented in Crete. The performers in that dance were arrayed in complete armour; they wore a light short coat, which did not fall below the knee, and was bound with a girdle round the waist; on their feet and legs were buskins; in their hands they bore their arms, and performed various military evolutions to the sound of musical instruments. "The Lacedemonians and Cretans," says Libanius, "cultivated dancing with amazing ardour; they considered that their laws had directed them to practise it for the most important purposes; and it was scarcely less dishonourable for a Lacedemonian or Cretan to neglect the military dance, than to desert his post in battle."

Those Cretans who were opulent and high-born were permitted to form societies of young men of their own age; and they often strove with emulation who should form the most numerous ones. The father of the young man who formed one of those societies usually presided in it; and he had a right to educate the warlike youth, to exercise them in running and in hunting, and to confer rewards and inflict punishments.

Friendship was held in high estimation among the Cretans; but according to Strabo, the manner in which they conducted the intercourse of friendship was somewhat extraordinary. Instead of mild persuasion, they made use of violence to gain the objects of their affections. He who conceived an affection for a young man of his own age, and wished to attach him to himself by indissoluble bonds, formed a scheme for carrying him off by violence. Three days before putting it into execution he communicated it to his comrades. They could not then interfere to prevent it, because if they had, they would have appeared to think the young man unworthy of such an excessive attachment. At the appointed day they assembled to protect their companion. If the ravisher appeared to them not unworthy of the object of his affection, they made at first a faint resistance in obedience to the law; but at last joyfully favoured his enterprise; if, on the other hand, they thought him unworthy of the object of his choice, they made such resistance as to prevent him from executing his design. The feigned resistance continued till the ravisher had conducted his friend into the hall of that society to which he belonged. They did not regard him who possessed superior beauty and gracefulness of person as the most amiable, but him who had most distinguished himself by his modesty and valour.

When the youth had finished their exercises, and attained the legal age, they became members of the class of adults; being then considered as men, they were permitted to vote in the national assemblies, and were entitled to stand candidates for any public office. They were then obliged to marry, but did not take home their wives till such time as they were capable of managing their domestic concerns. "The legislator," says Strabo, "had considered liberty as the greatest blessing that cities can enjoy. Liberty alone can secure the property of the citizens of any state. Slavery either robs them of it, or renders it precarious. The first care of nations should therefore be to preserve their liberty. Concord strengthens and supports her empire; she flourishes wherever the seeds of dissension are extinguished. Almost all those hostilities which prevail among nations or individuals spring either from an inordinate desire of wealth or the love of luxury. Introduce, instead of those baneful principles, frugality, moderation, and equality of conditions; you will thus banish envy, hatred, injustice, and haughty disdain." This was what the Cretan lawgiver happily effected; and the community which was regulated by his wise institutions rose to glory, opulence, and power, and was honoured with the panegyrics of the most celebrated philosophers of Greece; but the highest honour it ever obtained was that of serving Lycurgus as a model for the admirable form of government which he established at Sparta.

Nations are effaced from the earth like the monuments of their power, and after the revolution of ages we can scarcely trace in their posterity any remains of their ancient character. Some of them exist longer, others shorter; but we may almost always calculate the period of their duration by the excellence of their laws, and the fidelity with which they support and obey them. The republic of Crete, being established on a solid basis, knew no foreign master for a period of ten centuries, and bravely repelled the attacks of those princes who attempted to enslave it. At length the time arrived when the warlike and victorious Romans aspired to the empire of the world, and would suffer none but subjects or slaves to exist within the reach of their arms. Florus does not scruple to acknowledge that the Romans had no other motive for invading Crete but the ambitious desire of subduing the renowned native country of Jupiter. If any person wished to know the reason which induced us to attack Crete, says he, the true reason was our desire to subdue so celebrated an island. The Cretans had appeared to favour Mithridates, and the Romans thought proper to declare war against them on that pretext. Marc Antony, father of the triumvir, attacked them with strong hopes of success, but was severely punished for his presumption and imprudence. The Cretans took a great part of his fleet, hung up his soldiers and sailors on the masts amid the sails and cordage, and returned in triumph into their harbours. But their triumph was of short duration. Quintus Metellus was sent against them with a powerful armament, but met with an obstinate and vigorous resistance, which, however, he completely overcame in three years. His first care was to abolish the laws of Minos, and to substitute those of Numa.

The island of Crete, united with the small kingdom of Cyrene, on the Libyan coast, formed a Roman province, which was at first governed by a proconsul; but a quaestor and an assistant were afterwards sent there, and at last, as Suetonius informs us, it was put under the government of a consul. This island was one of the first places in the world which were favoured with the light of the gospel. St Paul introduced the Christian faith into Crete; and his disciple Titus, whom he left there to cherish and cultivate that precious plant, became the first bishop of the island. In the reign of the emperor Leo it had twelve bishops, who were all subject to the patriarch of Constantinople. Constantine separated Crete from Cyrene in the new division which he made of his empire; and, in the distribution of territory among his three sons, this island, together with Africa and Illyria, fell to the share of Constans.

When Michael Balbus sat on the throne of Constantinople, the rebellion of Thomas, which lasted three years, caused him to neglect the other parts of the empire. Crete soon passed into the hands of the Saracens, who retained it for 127 years, at the end of which period it was recovered by Nicephorus Phocas. Crete then remained under the dominion of the Romans until the time when Baldwin count of Flanders, being raised to the throne, liberally rewarded the service of Boniface, marquis of Montferrat, by making him king of Thessalonica, and adding this island to his dominions. But that lord, being more covetous of gold than of glory, sold it in the year 1194 to the Venetians, under whom it assumed the name of Candia. See Candia.