Giacobbe Giusti, Classical Greece

Giacobbe Giusti, Classical Greece

 

Giacobbe Giusti, Classical Greece

 

Giacobbe Giusti, Classical Greece

 

Giacobbe Giusti, Classical Greece

 

Giacobbe Giusti, Classical Greece

 

Giacobbe Giusti, Classical Greece

 

Giacobbe Giusti, Classical Greece

 

Giacobbe Giusti, Classical Greece

 

Giacobbe Giusti, Classical Greece

The Parthenon, in Athens, a temple to Athena

Classical Greece was a period of around 200 years (5th and 4th centuries BCE) in Greek culture.

^[1]This Classicalperiod saw the annexation of much of modern-day Greece by the Persian Empire^[2]and its subsequent independence. Classical Greece had a powerful influence on the Roman Empire and on the foundations of western civilization. Much of modern Western politics, artistic thought (architecture, sculpture), scientific thought, theatre, literature, and philosophy derives from this period of Greek history. In the context of the art, architecture, and culture of Ancient Greece, the Classical period^[3] corresponds to most of the 5th and 4th centuries BCE (the most common dates being the fall of the last Athenian tyrant in 510 BCE and the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BCE). The Classical period in this sense follows the Archaic period and is in turn succeeded by the Hellenistic period.

5th century BC

Greece in 5th century BC

 Archaic Greece

Part of a series on the
History of Greece
Neolithic Greece[show]
Greek Bronze Age[show]
Ancient Greece[show]
Medieval Greece[show]
Early modern Greece[show]
Modern Greece[show]
History by topic[show]
Greece portal
v t e

This century is essentially studied from the Athenian outlook because Athens has left us more narratives, plays, and other written works than the other ancient Greek states. From the perspective of Athenian culture in Classical Greece, the period generally referred to as the 5th century BCE extends slightly into the 4th century BCE. In this context, one might consider that the first significant event of this century occurs in 508 BCE, with the fall of the last Athenian tyrant and Cleisthenes’ reforms. However, a broader view of the whole Greek world might place its beginning at the Ionian Revoltof 500 BCE, the event that provoked the Persian invasion of 492 BCE.The Persians were defeated in 490 BCE. A second Persian attempt, in 481–479 BCE, failed as well, despite having overrun much of modern-day Greece (north of the Isthmus of Corinth) at a crucial point during the war following the Battle of Thermopylae and the Battle of Artemisium.^[2][4] The Delian League then formed, under Athenian hegemony and as Athens’ instrument. Athens’ excesses caused several revolts among the allied cities, all of which were put down by force, but Athenian dynamism finally awoke Sparta and brought about the Peloponnesian War in 431 BCE. After both forces were spent, a brief peace came about; then the war resumed to Sparta’s advantage. Athens was definitively defeated in 404 BCE, and internal Athenian agitations mark the end of the 5th century BCE in Greece.

Since its beginning, Sparta had been ruled by a diarchy. This meant that Sparta had two kings ruling concurrently throughout its entire history. The two kingships were both hereditary, vested in the Agiad dynasty and the Eurypontid dynasty. According to legend, the respective hereditary lines of these two dynasties sprang from Eurysthenes and Procles, twin descendants of Hercules. They were said to have conquered Sparta two generations after the Trojan War.

Athens under Cleisthenes

Main article: Cleisthenes

In 510 BC, Spartan troops helped the Athenians overthrow their king, the tyrant Hippias, son of Peisistratos. Cleomenes I, king of Sparta, put in place a pro-Spartan oligarchy headed by Isagoras. But his rival Cleisthenes, with the support of the middle class and aided by democrats, took over. Cleomenes intervened in 508 and 506 BC, but could not stop Cleisthenes, now supported by the Athenians. Through Cleisthenes’ reforms, the people endowed their city with isonomicinstitutions — equal rights for all citizens (though only men were citizens)—and established ostracism.

The isonomic and isegoric (equal freedom of speech)^[5] democracy was first organized into about 130 demes, which became the basic civic element. The 10,000 citizens exercised their power as members of the assembly (ἐκκλησία, ekklesia), headed by a council of 500 citizens chosen at random.

The city’s administrative geography was reworked, in order to create mixed political groups: not federated by local interests linked to the sea, to the city, or to farming, whose decisions (e.g. a declaration of war) would depend on their geographical position. The territory of the city was also divided into thirty trittyes as follows:

• ten trittyes in the coastal region (παρᾰλία, paralia)
• ten trittyes in the ἄστυ (astu), the urban centre
• ten trittyes in the rural interior, (μεσογεία, mesogia).

A tribe consisted of three trittyes, selected at random, one from each of the three groups. Each tribe therefore always acted in the interest of all three sectors.

It was this corpus of reforms that allowed the emergence of a wider democracy in the 460s and 450s BC.

The Persian wars

Main article: Greco-Persian Wars

In Ionia (the modern Aegean coast of Turkey), the Greek cities, which included great centres such as Miletus and Halicarnassus, were unable to maintain their independence and came under the rule of the Persian Empire in the mid-6th century BC. In 499 BC that region’s Greeks rose in the Ionian Revolt, and Athens and some other Greek cities sent aid, but were quickly forced to back down after defeat in 494 BC at the Battle of Lade. Asia Minor returned to Persian control.

In 492 BC, the Persian general Mardonius led a campaign through Thrace and Macedonia. He was victorious and again subjugated the former and conquered the latter,^[6] but he was wounded and forced to retreat back into Asia Minor. In addition, a fleet of around 1,200 ships that accompanied Mardonius on the expedition was wrecked by a storm off the coast of Mount Athos. Later, the generals Artaphernesand Datis led a successful naval expedition against the Aegean islands.

In 490 BC, Darius the Great, having suppressed the Ionian cities, sent a Persian fleet to punish the Greeks. (Historians are uncertain about their number of men; accounts vary from 18,000 to 100,000.) They landed in Attica intending to take Athens, but were defeated at the Battle of Marathon by a Greek army of 9,000 Athenian hoplites and 1,000 Plataeans led by the Athenian general Miltiades. The Persian fleet continued to Athens but, seeing it garrisoned, decided not to attempt an assault.

In 480 BC, Darius’ successor Xerxes I sent a much more powerful force of 300,000 by land, with 1,207 ships in support, across a double pontoon bridge over the Hellespont. This army took Thrace, before descending on Thessaly and Boeotia, whilst the Persian navy skirted the coast and resupplied the ground troops. The Greek fleet, meanwhile, dashed to block Cape Artemision. After being delayed by Leonidas I, the Spartan king of the Agiad Dynasty, at the Battle of Thermopylae (a battle made famous by the 300 Spartans who faced the entire Persian army), Xerxes advanced into Attica, and captured and burned Athens. The subsequent Battle of Artemisium resulted in the capture of Euboea, bringing most of mainland Greece north of the Isthmus of Corinth under Persian control.^[2][4] However, the Athenians had evacuated the city of Athens by sea before Thermopylae, and under the command of Themistocles, they defeated the Persian fleet at the Battle of Salamis.

Map of the first phases of the Greco-Persian Wars (500–479 BC)

In 483 BC, during the period of peace between the two Persian invasions, a vein of silver ore had been discovered in the Laurion (a small mountain range near Athens), and the hundreds of talents mined there were used to build 200 warships to combat Aeginetan piracy. A year later, the Greeks, under the Spartan Pausanias, defeated the Persian army at Plataea. The Persians then began to withdraw from Greece, and never attempted an invasion again.

The Athenian fleet then turned to chasing the Persians from the Aegean Sea, defeating their fleet decisively in the Battle of Mycale; then in 478 BC the fleet captured Byzantium. At that time Athens enrolled all the island states and some mainland ones into an alliance called the Delian League, so named because its treasury was kept on the sacred island of Delos. The Spartans, although they had taken part in the war, withdrew into isolation afterwards, allowing Athens to establish unchallenged naval and commercial power.

The Peloponnesian war

Peloponnesian War

Cities at the beginning of the Peloponnesian War

In 431 BC war broke out between Athens and Sparta. The war was a struggle not merely between two city-states but rather between two coalitions, or leagues of city-states:^[7] the Delian League, led by Athens, and the Peloponnesian League, led by Sparta.

Delian league

The Delian League grew out of the need to present a unified front of all Greek city-states against Persian aggression. In 481 BC, Greek city-states, including Sparta, met in the first of a series of « congresses » that strove to unify all the Greek city-states against the danger of another Persian invasion.^[8] The coalition that emerged from the first congress was named the « Hellenic League » and included Sparta. Persia, under Xerxes, invaded Greece in September 481 BC, but the Athenian navy defeated the Persian navy. The Persian land forces were delayed in 480 BC by a much smaller force of 300 Spartans, 400 Thebans and 700 men from Boeotian Thespiae at the Battle of Thermopylae.^[9] The Persians left Greece in 479 BC after their defeat at Plataea.^[10]

Plataea was the final battle of Xerxes’ invasion of Greece. After this, the Persians never again tried to invade Greece. With the disappearance of this external threat, cracks appeared in the united front of the Hellenic League.^[11] In 477, Athens became the recognised leader of a coalition of city-states that did not include Sparta. This coalition met and formalized their relationship at the holy city of Delos.^[12] Thus, the League took the name « Delian League ». Its formal purpose was to liberate Greek cities still under Persian control.^[13]However, it became increasingly apparent that the Delian League was really a front for Athenian hegemony throughout the Aegean.^[14]

Peloponnesian (or Spartan) league

A competing coalition of Greek city-states centred around Sparta arose, and became more important as the external Persian threat subsided. This coalition is known as the Peloponnesian League. However, unlike the Hellenic League and the Delian League, this league was not a response to any external threat, Persian or otherwise: it was unabashedly an instrument of Spartan policy aimed at Sparta’s security and Spartan dominance over the Peloponnesepeninsula.^[15] The term « Peloponnesian League » is a misnomer. It was not really a « league » at all. Nor was it really « Peloponnesian ».^[15] There was no equality at all between the members, as might be implied by the term « league ». Furthermore, most of its members were located outside the Peloponnese Peninsula.^[15] The terms « Spartan League » and « Peloponnesian League » are modern terms. Contemporaries instead referred to « Lacedaemonians and their Allies » to describe the « league ».^[15]

The league had its origins in Sparta’s conflict with Argos, another city on the Peloponnese Peninsula. In the 7th century BC, Argos dominated the peninsula. Even in the early 6th century, the Argives attempted to control the northeastern part of the peninsula. The rise of Sparta in the 6th century brought Sparta into conflict with Argos. However, with the conquest of the Peloponnesian city-state of Tegea in 550 BC and the defeat of the Argives in 546 BC, the Spartans’ control began to reach well beyond the borders of Laconia.

The thirty years peace

Athenian empire.

As the two coalitions grew, their separate interests kept coming into conflict. Under the influence of King Archidamus II (the Eurypontid king of Sparta from 476 BC through 427 BC), Sparta, in the late summer or early autumn of 446 BC, concluded the Thirty Years Peace with Athens. This treaty took effect the next winter in 445 BC^[16] Under the terms of this treaty, Greece was formally divided into two large power zones.^[17] Sparta and Athens agreed to stay within their own power zone and not to interfere in the other’s. Despite the Thirty Years Peace, it was clear that war was inevitable.^[18] As noted above, at all times during its history down to 221 BC, Sparta was a « diarchy » with two kings ruling the city-state concurrently. One line of hereditary kings was from the Eurypontid Dynasty while the other king was from the Agiad Dynasty. With the signing of the Thirty Years Peace treaty Archidamus II felt he had successfully prevented Sparta from entering into a war with its neighbours.^[19] However, the strong war party in Sparta soon won out and in 431 BC Archidamus was forced to go to war with the Delian League. However, in 427 BC, Archidamus II died and his son, Agis II succeeded to the Eurypontid throne of Sparta.^[20]

Causes of the Peloponnesian war

The immediate causes of the Peloponnesian War vary from account to account. However three causes are fairly consistent among the ancient historians, namely Thucydides and Plutarch. Prior to the war, Corinth and one of its colonies, Corcyra (modern-day Corfu), went to war in 435 BC over the new Corcyran colony of Epidamnus.^[21] Sparta refused to become involved in the conflict and urged an arbitrated settlement of the struggle.^[22] In 433 BC, Corcyra sought Athenian assistance in the war. Corinth was known to be a traditional enemy of Athens. However, to further encourage Athens to enter the conflict, Corcyra pointed out how useful a friendly relationship with Corcyra would be, given the strategic locations of Corcyra itself and the colony of Epidamnus on the east shore of the Adriatic Sea.^[23] Furthermore, Corcyra promised that Athens would have the use of Corcyra’s navy, the third-largest in Greece. This was too good of an offer for Athens to refuse. Accordingly, Athens signed a defensive alliance with Corcyra.

The next year, in 432 BC, Corinth and Athens argued over control of Potidaea (near modern-day Nea Potidaia), eventually leading to an Athenian siege of Potidaea.^[24] In 434–433 BC Athens issued the « Megarian Decrees« , a series of decrees that placed economic sanctions on the Megarian people.^[25] The Peloponnesian League accused Athens of violating the Thirty Years Peace through all of the aforementioned actions, and, accordingly, Sparta formally declared war on Athens.

Many historians consider these to be merely the immediate causes of the war. They would argue that the underlying cause was the growing resentment on the part of Sparta and its allies at the dominance of Athens over Greek affairs. The war lasted 27 years, partly because Athens (a naval power) and Sparta (a land-based military power) found it difficult to come to grips with each other.

The Peloponnesian war: Opening stages (431–421 BCE)

Sparta’s initial strategy was to invade Attica, but the Athenians were able to retreat behind their walls. An outbreak of plague in the city during the siege caused many deaths, including that of Pericles. At the same time the Athenian fleet landed troops in the Peloponnesus, winning battles at Naupactus (429) and Pylos (425). However, these tactics could bring neither side a decisive victory. After several years of inconclusive campaigning, the moderate Athenian leader Niciasconcluded the Peace of Nicias (421).

A soldier’s helmet on black-figure pottery

The Peloponnesian war: Second phase (418–404 BCE)

In 418 BC, however, conflict between Sparta and the Athenian ally Argos led to a resumption of hostilities. Alcibiades was one of the most influential voices in persuading the Athenians to ally with Argos against the Spartans.^[26] At the MantineaSparta defeated the combined armies of Athens and her allies. Accordingly, Argos and the rest of the Peloponnesus was brought back under the control of Sparta.^[26] The return of peace allowed Athens to be diverted from meddling in the affairs of the Peloponnesus and to concentrate on building up the empire and putting their finances in order. Soon trade recovered and tribute began, once again, rolling into Athens.^[26] A strong « peace party » arose, which promoted avoidance of war and continued concentration on the economic growth of the Athenian Empire. Concentration on the Athenian Empire, however, brought Athens into conflict with another Greek state.

The Melian expedition (416 BCE)[edit]

Ever since the formation of the Delian League in 477 BC, the island of Melos had refused to join. By refusing to join the League, however, Melos reaped the benefits of the League without bearing any of the burdens.^[27] In 425 BC, an Athenian army under Cleon attacked Melos to force the island to join the Delian League. However, Melos fought off the attack and was able to maintain its neutrality.^[27] Further conflict was inevitable and in the spring of 416 BC the mood of the people in Athens was inclined toward military adventure. The island of Melos provided an outlet for this energy and frustration for the military party. Furthermore, there appeared to be no real opposition to this military expedition from the peace party. Enforcement of the economic obligations of the Delian League upon rebellious city-states and islands was a means by which continuing trade and prosperity of Athens could be assured. Melos alone among all the Cycladic Islands located in the south-west Aegean Sea had resisted joining the Delian League.^[27] This continued rebellion provided a bad example to the rest of the members of the Delian League.

The debate between Athens and Melos over the issue of joining the Delian League is presented by Thucydides in his Melian Dialogue.^[28]The debate did not in the end resolve any of the differences between Melos and Athens and Melos was invaded in 416 BC, and soon occupied by Athens. This success on the part of Athens whetted the appetite of the people of Athens for further expansion of the Athenian Empire.^[29] Accordingly, the people of Athens were ready for military action and tended to support the military party, led by Alcibiades.

The Sicilian expedition (415–413 BCE)

The greek theater in Taormina

Thus, in 415 BC, Alcibiades found support within the Athenian Assembly for his position when he urged that Athens launch a major expedition against Syracuse, a Peloponnesian ally in Sicily.^[30] Segesta, a town in Sicily, had requested Athenian assistance in their war with another Sicilian town — the town of Selinus. Although Nicias was a sceptic about the Sicilian Expedition, he was appointed along with Alcibiades to lead the expedition.^[31]

Artemision Bronze, thought to be either Poseidon or Zeus, c. 460 BCE, National Archaeological Museum, Athens. Found by fishermen off the coast of Cape Artemisium in 1928. The figure is more than 2 m in height.

However, unlike the expedition against Melos, the citizens of Athens were deeply divided over Alcibiades’ proposal for an expedition to far-off Sicily. In June 415 BC, on the very eve of the departure of the Athenian fleet for Sicily, a band of vandals in Athens defaced the many statues of the god Hermes that were scattered throughout the city of Athens.^[32] This action was blamed on Alcibiades and was seen as a bad omen for the coming campaign.^[33] In all likelihood, the coordinated action against the statues of Hermes was the action of the peace party.^[34] Having lost the debate on the issue, the peace party was desperate to weaken Alcibiades’ hold on the people of Athens. Successfully blaming Alcibiades for the action of the vandals would have weakened Alcibiades and the war party in Athens. Furthermore, it is unlikely that Alcibiades would have deliberately defaced the statues of Hermes on the very eve of his departure with the fleet. Such defacement could only have been interpreted as a bad omen for the expedition that he had long advocated.

Even before the fleet reached Sicily, word arrived to the fleet that Alcibiades was to be arrested and charged with sacrilege of the statues of Hermes, prompting Alcibiades to flee to Sparta.^[35] When the fleet later landed in Sicily and the battle was joined, the expedition was a complete disaster. The entire expeditionary force was lost and Nicias was captured and executed. This was one of the most crushing defeats in the history of Athens.

Alcibiades in Sparta

Meanwhile, Alcibiades betrayed Athens and became a chief advisor to the Spartans and began to counsel them on the best way to defeat his native land. Alcibiades persuaded the Spartans to begin building a real navy for the first time — large enough to challenge the Athenian superiority at sea. Additionally, Alcibiades persuaded the Spartans to ally themselves with their traditional foes — the Persians. As noted below, Alcibiades soon found himself in controversy in Sparta when he was accused of having seduced Timaea, the wife of Agis II, the Eurypontid king of Sparta.^[20] Accordingly, Alcibiades was required to flee from Sparta and seek the protection of the Persian Court.

Persia intervenes

In the Persian court, Alcibiades now betrayed both^{[clarification needed]} by helping Sparta build a navy commensurate with the Athenian navy. Alcibiades advised that a victory of Sparta over Athens was not in the best interest of the Persian Empire. Rather, long and continuous warfare between Sparta and Athens would weaken both city-states and allow the Persians to dominate the Greek peninsula.

Among the war party in Athens, a belief arose that the catastrophic defeat of the military expedition to Sicily in 415–413 could have been avoided if Alcibiades had been allowed to lead the expedition. Thus, despite his treacherous flight to Sparta and his collaboration with Sparta and later with the Persian court, there arose a demand among the war party that Alcibiades be allowed to return to Athens without being arrested. Alcibiades negotiated with his supporters on the Athenian-controlled island of Samos. Alcibiades felt that « radical democracy » was his worst enemy. Accordingly, he asked his supporters to initiate a coup to establish an oligarchy in Athens. If the coup were successful Alcibiades promised to return to Athens In 411, a successful oligarchic coup was mounted in Athens, by a group which became known as « the 400 ». However, a parallel attempt by the 400 to overthrow democracy in Samos failed. Alcibiades was immediately made an admiral (navarch) in the Athenian navy. Later, due to democratic pressures, the 400 were replaced by a broader oligarchy called « the 5000 ». Alcibiades did not immediately return to Athens. In early 410, Alcibiades led an Athenian fleet of 18 triremes against the Persian-financed Spartan fleet at Abydos near the Hellespont. The Battle of Abydos had actually begun before the arrival of Alcibiades, and had been inclining slightly toward the Athenians. However, with the arrival of Alcibiades, the Athenian victory over the Spartans became a rout. Only the approach of nightfall and the movement of Persian troops to the coast where the Spartans had beached their ships saved the Spartan navy from total destruction.

Following Alcibiades’ advice, the Persian Empire had been playing Sparta and Athens off against each other. However, as weak as the Spartan navy was after the Battle of Abydos, the Persian navy directly assisted the Spartans. Alcibiades then pursued and met the combined Spartan and Persian fleets at the Battle of Cyzicus later in the spring of 410, achieving a significant victory.

Lysander and the end of the war

Sparta then built a fleet, with the financial help of the Persians, to challenge Athenian naval supremacy, and found a new military leader in Lysander, who attacked Abydos and seized the strategic initiative by occupying the Hellespont, the source^{[clarification needed]} of Athens’ grain imports.^[36] Threatened with starvation, Athens sent its last remaining fleet to confront Lysander, but he decisively defeated it at Aegospotami(405 BC). The loss of her fleet threatened Athens with bankruptcy. In 404 BC Athens sued for peace, and Sparta dictated a predictably stern settlement: Athens lost her city walls, her fleet, and all of her overseas possessions. Lysander abolished the democracy and appointed in its place an oligarchy called the « Thirty Tyrants » to govern Athens.

Meanwhile, in Sparta, Timaea gave birth to a child. The child was given the name Leotychidas, after the great grandfather of Agis II — King Leotychidas of Sparta. However, because of Timaea’s alleged affair with Alcibiades, it was widely rumoured that the young Leotychidas was fathered by Alcibiades.^[20] Indeed, Agis II refused to acknowledge Leotychidas as his son until he relented, in front of witnesses, on his deathbed in 400 BC.^[37]

Upon the death of Agis II, Leotychidas attempted to claim the Eurypontid throne for himself, but this was met with an outcry, led by Lysander, who was at the height of his influence in Sparta.^[37]Lysander argued that Leotychidas was a bastard and could not inherit the Eurypontid throne;^[37] instead he backed the hereditary claim of Agesilaus, son of Agis by another wife. With Lysander’s support, Agesilaus became the Eurypontid king as Agesilaus II, expelled Leotychidas from the country, and took over all of Agis’ estates and property.

4th century BC

 Spartan hegemony and Theban hegemony

Grave relief of Thraseas and Euandria from Athens, 375–350 BC, Pergamon Museum (Berlin)

The end of the Peloponnesian War left Spartathe master of Greece, but the narrow outlook of the Spartan warrior elite did not suit them to this role.^[38]Within a few years the democratic party regained power in Athens and in other cities. In 395 BC the Spartan rulers removed Lysander from office, and Sparta lost her naval supremacy. Athens, Argos, Thebes, and Corinth, the latter two former Spartan allies, challenged Sparta’s dominance in the Corinthian War, which ended inconclusively in 387 BC. That same year Sparta shocked the Greeks by concluding the Treaty of Antalcidas with Persia. The agreement turned over the Greek cities of Ionia and Cyprus, reversing a hundred years of Greek victories against Persia. Sparta then tried to further weaken the power of Thebes, which led to a war in which Thebes allied with its old enemy Athens.

Then the Theban generals Epaminondas and Pelopidas won a decisive victory at Leuctra (371 BC). The result of this battle was the end of Spartan supremacy and the establishment of Theban dominance, but Athens herself recovered much of her former power because the supremacy of Thebes was short-lived. With the death of Epaminondas at Mantinea (362 BC) the city lost its greatest leader and his successors blundered into an ineffectual ten-year war with Phocis. In 346 BC the Thebans appealed to Philip II of Macedon to help them against the Phocians, thus drawing Macedon into Greek affairs for the first time.^[39]

The Peloponnesian War was a radical turning point for the Greek world. Before 403 BC, the situation was more defined, with Athens and its allies (a zone of domination and stability, with a number of island cities benefiting from Athens’ maritime protection), and other states outside this Athenian Empire. The sources denounce this Athenian supremacy (or hegemony) as smothering and disadvantageous.^[40]

After 403 BC, things became more complicated, with a number of cities trying to create similar empires over others, all of which proved short-lived. The first of these turnarounds was managed by Athens as early as 390 BC, allowing it to re-establish itself as a major power without regaining its former glory.

The fall of Sparta

This empire was powerful but short-lived. In 405 BC, the Spartans were masters of all – of Athens’ allies and of Athens itself – and their power was undivided. By the end of the century, they could not even defend their own city. As noted above, in 400 BC, Agesilaus became king of Sparta.^[41]

Foundation of a Spartan empire

The subject of how to reorganize the Athenian Empire as part of the Spartan Empire provoked much heated debate among Sparta’s full citizens. The admiral Lysander felt that the Spartans should rebuild the Athenian empire in such a way that Sparta profited from it. Lysander tended to be too proud to take advice from others.^[42] Prior to this, Spartan law forbade the use of all precious metals by private citizens, with transactions being carried out with cumbersome iron ingots (which generally discouraged their accumulation) and all precious metals obtained by the city becoming state property. Without the Spartans’ support, Lysander’s innovations came into effect and brought a great deal of profit for him – on Samos, for example, festivals known as Lysandreia were organized in his honour. He was recalled to Sparta, and once there did not attend to any important matters.

A Kylix (drinking cup) from Attica showing a goddess performing a libation, 470 BC, white ground technique pottery

Sparta refused to see Lysander or his successors dominate. Not wanting to establish a hegemony, they decided after 403 BC not to support the directives that he had made.

Agesilaus came to power by accident at the start of the 4th century BC. This accidental accession meant that, unlike the other Spartan kings, he had the advantage of a Spartan education. The Spartans at this date discovered a conspiracy against the laws of the city conducted by Cinadon and as a result concluded there were too many dangerous worldly elements at work in the Spartan state.

Agesilaus employed a political dynamic that played on a feeling of pan-Hellenic sentiment and launched a successful campaign against the Persian empire.^[43] Once again, the Persian empire played both sides against each other. The Persian Court supported Sparta in the rebuilding of their navy while simultaneously funding the Athenians, who used Persian subsidies to rebuild their long walls (destroyed in 404 BC) as well as to reconstruct their fleet and win a number of victories.

For most of the first years of his reign, Agesilaus had been engaged in a war against Persia in the Aegean Sea and in Asia Minor.^[44] In 394 BC, the Spartan authorities ordered Agesilaus to return to mainland Greece. While Agesilaus had a large part of the Spartan Army in Asia Minor, the Spartan forces protecting the homeland had been attacked by a coalition of forces led by Corinth.^[45] At the Battle of Haliartus the Spartans had been defeated by the Theban forces. Worse yet, Lysander, Sparta’s chief military leader, had been killed during the battle.^[46] This was the start of what became known as the « Corinthian War » (395 BCE – 387 BCE).^[43] Upon hearing of the Spartan loss at Haliartus and of the death of Lysander, Agesilaus headed out of Asia Minor, back across the Hellespont, across Thrace and back towards Greece. At the Battle of Coronea, Agesilaus and his Spartan Army defeated a Theban force. During the war, Corinth drew support from a coalition of traditional Spartan enemies — Argos, Athens and Thebes.^[47] However, when the war descended into guerilla tactics, Sparta decided that it could not fight on two fronts and so chose to ally with Persia.^[47] The long Corinthian War finally ended with the Peace of Antalcidas or the King’s Peace, in which the « Great King » of Persia, Artaxerxes II, pronounced a « treaty » of peace between the various city-states of Greece which broke up all « leagues » of city-states on Greek mainland and in the islands of the Aegean Sea. Although this was looked upon as « independence » for some city-states, the effect of the unilateral « treaty » was highly favourable to the interests of the Persian Empire.

The Corinthian War revealed a significant dynamic that was occurring in Greece. While Athens and Sparta fought each other to exhaustion, Thebes was rising to a position of dominance among the various Greek city-states.

The peace of Antalcidas

In 387 BC, an edict was promulgated by the Persian king, preserving the Greek cities of Asia Minor and Cyprus as well as the independence of the Greek Aegean cities, except for Lymnos, Imbros and Skyros, which were given over to Athens.^[48] It dissolved existing alliances and federations and forbade the formation of new ones. This is an ultimatum that benefited Athens only to the extent that Athens held onto three islands. While the « Great King, » Artaxerxes, was the guarantor of the peace, Sparta was to act as Persia’s agent in enforcing the Peace.^[49] To the Persians this document is known as the « King’s Peace. » To the Greeks, this document is known as the Peace of Antalcidas, after the Antalcidas who was sent to Persia as negotiator. Sparta had been worried about the developing closer ties between Athens and Persia. Accordingly, Antalcidas was directed to get whatever agreement he could from the « Great King ». Accordingly, the « Peace of Antalcidas » is not a negotiated peace at all. Rather it is a surrender to the interests of Persia, drafted entirely for its benefit.^[49]

Spartan interventionism

On the other hand, this peace had unexpected consequences. In accordance with it, the Boeotian League, or Boeotian confederacy, was dissolved in 386 BC.^[50] This confederacy was dominated by Thebes, a city hostile to the Spartan hegemony. Sparta carried out large-scale operations and peripheral interventions in Epirus and in the north of Greece, resulting in the capture of the fortress of Thebes, the Cadmea, after an expedition in the Chalcidice and the capture of Olynthos. It was a Theban politician who suggested to the Spartan general Phoibidas that Sparta should seize Thebes itself. This act was sharply condemned, though Sparta eagerly ratified this unilateral move by Phoibidas. The Spartan attack was successful and Thebes was placed under Spartan control.^[51]

Clash with Thebes

In 378 BC, the reaction to Spartan control over Thebes was broken by a popular uprising within Thebes. Elsewhere in Greece, the reaction against Spartan hegemony began when Sphodrias, another Spartan general, tried to carry out a surprise attack on Piraeus.^[52] Although the gates of Piraeus were no longer fortified, Sphodrias was driven off before Piraeus. Back in Sparta, Sphodrias was put on trial for the failed attack, but was acquitted by the Spartan court. Nonetheless, the attempted attack triggered an alliance between Athens and Thebes.^[52]Sparta would now have to fight them both together. Athens was trying to recover from its defeat in the Peloponnesian War at the hands of Sparta’s « navarch » Lysander in the disaster of 404 BC. The rising spirit of rebellion against Sparta also fueled Thebes’ attempt to restore the former Boeotian confederacy.^[53] In Boeotia, the Theban leaders Pelopidas and Epaminondas reorganized the Theban army and began to free the towns of Boeotia from their Spartan garrisons, one by one, and incorporated these towns into the revived Boeotian League.^[49]Pelopidas won a great victory for Thebes over a much larger Spartan force in the Battle of Tegyra in 375 BC.^[54]

Theban authority grew so spectacularly in such a short time that Athens came to mistrust the growing Theban power. Athens began to consolidate its position again through the formation of a second Athenian League.^[55] Attention was drawn to growing power of Thebes when it began interfering in the political affairs of its neighbor, Phocis, and, particularly, after Thebes razed the city of Plataea, a long-standing ally of Athens, in 375 BC.^[56] The destruction of Plataea caused Athens to negotiate an alliance with Sparta against Thebes, in that same year.^[56] In 371, the Theban army, led by Epaminondas, inflicted a bloody defeat on Spartan forces at Battle of Leuctra. Sparta lost a large part of its army and 400 of its 2,000 citizen-troops. The Battle of Leuctra was a watershed in Greek history.^[56] Epaminondas’ victory ended a long history of Spartan military prestige and dominance over Greece and the period of Spartan hegemony was over. However, Spartan hegemony was not replaced by Theban, but rather by Athenian hegemony.

The rise of Athens

The Temple of Hephaestus at the Agora of Athens, built 449–415 BC

Financing the league

It was important to erase the bad memories of the former league. Its financial system was not adopted, with no tribute being paid. Instead, syntaxeis were used, irregular contributions as and when Athens and its allies needed troops, collected for a precise reason and spent as quickly as possible. These contributions were not taken to Athens — unlike the 5th century BC system, there was no central exchequer for the league — but to the Athenian generals themselves.

The Athenians had to make their own contribution to the alliance, the eisphora. They reformed how this tax was paid, creating a system in advance, the Proseiphora, in which the richest individuals had to pay the whole sum of the tax then be reimbursed by other contributors. This system was quickly assimilated into a liturgy.

Athenian hegemony halted

This league responded to a real and present need. On the ground, however, the situation within the league proved to have changed little from that of the 5th century BC, with Athenian generals doing what they wanted and able to extort funds from the league. Alliance with Athens again looked unattractive and the allies complained.

The main reasons for the eventual failure were structural. This alliance was only valued out of fear of Sparta, which evaporated after Sparta’s fall in 371 BC, losing the alliance its sole ‘raison d’etre’. The Athenians no longer had the means to fulfill their ambitions, and found it difficult merely to finance their own navy, let alone that of an entire alliance, and so could not properly defend their allies. Thus, the tyrant of Pherae was able to destroy a number of cities with impunity. From 360 BC, Athens lost its reputation for invincibility and a number of allies (such as Byzantium and Naxos in 364 BC) decided to secede.

In 357 BC the revolt against the league spread, and between 357 BC and 355 BC, Athens had to face war against its allies—a war whose issue was marked by a decisive intervention by the king of Persia in the form of an ultimatum to Athens, demanding that Athens recognise its allies’ independence under threat of Persia’s sending 200 triremesagainst Athens. Athens had to renounce the war and leave the confederacy, thereby weakening itself more and more, and signaling the end of Athenian hegemony.

Theban hegemony – tentative and with no future

5th century BC Boeotian confederacy (447–386 BCE)

This was not Thebes’ first attempt at hegemony. It had been the most important city of Boeotia and the centre of the previous Boeotian confederacy of 447, resurrected since 386.

The 5th-century confederacy is well known to us from a papyrus found at Oxyrhynchus and known as « the Anonyme of Thebes ». Thebes headed it and set up a system under which charges were divided up between the different cities of the confederacy. Citizenship was defined according to wealth, and Thebes counted 11,000 active citizens.

The confederacy was divided up into 11 districts, each providing a federal magistrate called a « boeotarch », a certain number of council members, 1,000 hoplites and 100 horsemen. From the 5th century BC the alliance could field an infantry force of 11,000 men, in addition to an elite corps and a light infantry numbering 10,000; but its real power derived from its cavalry force of 1,100, commanded by a federal magistrate independent of local commanders. It also had a small fleet that played a part in the Peloponnesian War by providing 25 triremes for the Spartans. At the end of the conflict, the fleet consisted of 50 triremes and was commanded by a « navarch ».

All this constituted a significant enough force that the Spartans were happy to see the Boeotian confederacy dissolved by the king’s peace. This dissolution, however, did not last, and in the 370s there was nothing to stop the Thebans (who had lost the Cadmea to Sparta in 382 BC) from reforming this confederacy.

Theban reconstruction

Pelopidas and Epaminondas endowed Thebes with democratic institutions similar to those of Athens, the Thebans revived the title of « Boeotarch » lost in the Persian King’s Peace and – with victory at Leuctra and the destruction of Spartan power – the pair achieved their stated objective of renewing the confederacy. Epaminondas rid the Peloponnesus of pro-Spartan oligarchies, replacing them with pro-Theban democracies, constructed cities, and rebuilt a number of those destroyed by Sparta. He equally supported the reconstruction of the city of Messene thanks to an invasion of Laconia that also allowed him to liberate the helots and give them Messene as a capital.

He decided in the end to constitute small confederacies all round the Peloponnessus, forming an Arcadian confederacy (the King’s Peace had destroyed a previous Arcadian confederacy and put Messene under Spartan control).

Confrontation between Athens and Thebes

The strength of the Boeotian League explains Athens’ problems with her allies in the second Athenian League. Epaminondas succeeded in convincing his countrymen to build a fleet of 100 triremes to pressure cities into leaving the Athenian league and joining a Boeotian maritime league. Epaminondas and Pelopidas also reformed the army of Thebes to introduce new and more effective means of fighting. Thus, the Theban army was able to carry the day against the coalition of other Greek states at the battle of Leuctra in 371 BC and the battle of Mantinea in 362 BC.

Sparta also remained an important power in the face of Theban strength. However, some of the cities allied with Sparta turned against her, because of Thebes. In 367 BC, both Sparta and Athens sent delegates to Artaxerxes II, the Great King of Persia. These delegates sought to have the Artaxerxes, once again, declare Greek independence and a unilateral common peace, just as he had done in twenty years earlier in 387 BC. As noted above, this had meant the destruction of the Boeotian League in 387 BC. Sparta and Athens now hoped the same thing would happen with a new declaration of a similar « Kings Peace ». Thebes sent Pelopidas to argue against them.^[57] The Great King was convinced by Pelopidas and the Theban diplomats that Thebes and the Boeotian League would be the best agents of Persian interests in Greece, and, accordingly, did not issue a new « King’s Peace. »^[50] Thus, to deal with Thebes, Athens and Sparta were thrown back on their own resources. Thebes, meanwhile, expanded its influence beyond the bounds of Boeotia. In 364 BC, Pelopidas defeated the Alexander of Pherae in the Battle of Cynoscephalae, located in south-eastern Thessaly in northern Greece. However, during the battle, Pelopides was killed.^[58]

The confederational framework of Sparta’s relationship with her allies was really an artificial one, since it attempted to bring together cities that had never been able to agree on much at all in the past. Such was the case with the cities of Tegea and Mantinea, which re-allied in the Arcadian confederacy. The Mantineans received the support of the Athenians, and the Tegeans that of the Thebans. In 362 BC, Epaminondas led a Theban army against a coalition of Athenian, Spartan, Elisian, Mantinean and Achean forces. Battle was joined at Mantinea.^[50] The Thebans prevailed, but this triumph was short-lived, for Epaminondas died in the battle, stating that « I bequeath to Thebes two daughters, the victory of Leuctra and the victory at Mantinea ».

Despite the victory at Mantinea, in the end, the Thebans abandoned their policy of intervention in the Peloponnesus. This event is looked upon as a watershed in Greek history. Thus, Xenophon concludes his history of the Greek world at this point, in 362 BC. The end of this period was even more confused than its beginning. Greece had failed and, according to Xenophon, the history of the Greek world was no longer intelligible.

The idea of hegemony disappeared. From 362 BC onward, there was no longer a single city that could exert hegemonic power in Greece. The Spartans were greatly weakened; the Athenians were in no condition to operate their navy, and after 365 no longer had any allies; Thebes could only exert an ephemeral dominance, and had the means to defeat Sparta and Athens but not to be a major power in Asia Minor.

Other forces also intervened, such as the Persian king, who appointed himself arbitrator among the Greek cities, with their tacit agreement. This situation reinforced the conflicts and there was a proliferation of civil wars, with the confederal framework a repeated trigger for them. One war led to another, each longer and more bloody than the last, and the cycle could not be broken. Hostilities even took place during winter for the first time, with the invasion of Laconia in 370 BC.

Rise of Macedon

Rise of Macedon

Thessalian cavalryman on the Alexander Sarcophagus, late 4th century BC (Istanbul Archaeological Museum)

A wall mural of a charioteerfrom the Macedonian royal tombs at Vergina, late 6th century BC

Thebes sought to maintain its position until finally eclipsed by the rising power of Macedon in 346 BC. The energetic leadership within Macedon began in 359 BC when Philip of Macedon was made regent for his nephew, Amyntas. Within a short time, Philip was acclaimed king as Philip II of Macedonia in his own right, with succession of the throne established on his own heirs.^[59] During his lifetime, Philip II consolidated his rule over Macedonia. This was done by 359 BC and Philip began to look toward expanding Macedonia’s influence abroad. The dream of restoring Greece to its grandeur by liberating all Greek lands from Persian dominion was alive even in this early stage. This dream even included conquering Persia itself.^[60]

Under Philip II, (359–336 BC), Macedon expanded into the territory of the Paeonians, Thracians, and Illyrians.^[61] In 358 BC, Philip allied with Epirus in its campaign against Illyria. In 357 BC, Philip came into direct conflict with Athens when he conquered the Thracian port city of Amphipolis, a city located at the mouth of the Strymon River to the east of Macedonia, and a major Athenian trading port. Conquering this city allowed Philip to subjugate all of Thrace. A year later in 356 BC, the Macedonians attacked and conquered the Athenian-controlled port city of Pydna. This brought the Macedonian threat to Athens closer to home to the Athenians. With the start of the Phocian War in 356 BC, the great Athenian orator and political leader of the « war party », Demosthenes, became increasingly active in encouraging Athens to fight vigorously against Philip’s expansionist aims.^[62] In 352 BC, Demosthenes gave many speeches against the Macedonian threat, declaring Philip II Athens’ greatest enemy. The leader of the Athenian « peace party » was Phocion, who wished to avoid a confrontation that, Phocion felt, would be catastrophic for Athens. Despite Phocion’s attempts to restrain the war party, Athens remained at war with Macedonia for years following the original declaration of war.^[63] Negotiations between Athens and Philip II started only in 346 BC.^[64] The Athenians successfully halted Philip’s invasion of Attica at Thermopylae that same year in 352 BC. However, Philip defeated the Phocians at the Battle of the Crocus Field. The conflict between Macedonia and all the city-states of Greece came to a head in 338 BC,^[65] at the Battle of Chaeronea.

The Macedonians became more politically involved with the south-central city-states of Greece, but also retained more archaic aspects harking back to the palace culture, first at Aegae (modern Vergina) then at Pella, resembling Mycenaean culture more than that of the Classical city-states. Militarily, Philip recognized the new phalanx style of fighting that had been employed by Epaminondas and Phielopidas in Thebes. Accordingly, he incorporated this new system into the Macedonian army. Philip II also brought a Theban military tutor to Macedon to instruct the future Alexander the Great in the Theban method of fighting.^[66]

Philip’s son Alexander the Great was born in Pella, Macedonia (356–323 BC). Philip II brought Aristotle to Pella to teach the young Alexander.^[67] Besides Alexander’s mother, Olympias, Philip took another wife by the name of Cleopatra Eurydice.^[68] Cleopatra had a daughter, Europa, and a son, Caranus. Caranus posed a threat to the succession of Alexander.^[69] Cleopatra Eurydice was a Macedonian and, thus, Caranus was all Macedonian in blood. Olympias, on the other hand, was from Epicurus and, thus, Alexander was regarded as being only half-Macedonian (Cleopatra Eurydice should not be confused with Cleopatra of Macedon, who was Alexander’s full-sister and thus daughter of Philip and Olympias).

Philip II was assassinated at the wedding of his daughter Cleopatra of Macedon with King Alexander I of Epirus in 336 BC.^[70] Philip’s son, the future Alexander the Great, immediately claimed the throne of Macedonia by eliminating all the other claimants to the throne, including Caranus and his cousin Amytas.^[71] Alexander was only twenty (20) years of age when he assumed the throne.^[72]

Thereafter, Alexander continued his father’s plans to conquer all of Greece. He did this by both military might and persuasion. After his victory over Thebes, Alexander traveled to Athens to meet the public directly. Despite Demosthenes‘ speeches against the Macedonian threat on behalf of the war party of Athens, the public in Athens was still very much divided between the « peace party » and Demosthenes’ « war party. » However, the arrival of Alexander charmed the Athenian public.^[73] The peace party was strengthened and then a peace between Athens and Macedonia was agreed.^[74] This allowed Alexander to move on his and the Greeks’ long-held dream of conquest in the east, with a unified and secure Greek state at his back.

In 334 BC, Alexander with about 30,000 infantry soldiers and 5,000 cavalry crossed the Hellespont into Asia. He never returned.^[75]Alexander managed to briefly extend Macedonian power not only over the central Greek city-states, but also to the Persian empire, including Egypt and lands as far east as the fringes of India.^[61] He managed to spread Greek culture throughout the known world.^[76] Alexander the Great died in 323 BC in Babylon during his Asian campaign of conquest.^[77]

The Classical period conventionally ends at the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the fragmentation of his empire, divided among the Diadochi,^[78] which, in the minds of most scholars, marks the beginning of the Hellenistic period.

Legacy of classical Greece

The legacy of Greece was strongly felt by post-Renaissance European elite, who saw themselves as the spiritual heirs of Greece. Will Durantwrote in 1939 that « excepting machinery, there is hardly anything secular in our culture that does not come from Greece, » and conversely « there is nothing in Greek civilization that doesn’t illuminate our own ».^[79] Noted commentator Marianna de Marzi has also observed the extent to which Classical Greek thought has influenced the progression of Western civilization, writing: « The profundity of the knowledge gained through this period in history; in art, mathematics, music and more, is incomparable to almost any other chapter in human inquiry. »

• Classical antiquity
• Classics
• Art in ancient Greece

References

1. Jump up^ The « Classical Age » is « the modern designation of the period from about 500 B.C. to the death of Alexander the Great in 323 B.C. » (Thomas R. Martin, Ancient Greece, Yale University Press, 1996, p. 94).
2. ^ Jump up to:^a b c Brian Todd Carey, Joshua Allfree, John Cairns. Warfare in the Ancient World Pen and Sword, 19 jan. 2006 ISBN 1848846304
3. Jump up^ AA.VV., Art: Perception and Appreciation, University of the East, p. 169.
4. ^ Jump up to:^a b Aeschylus,; Peter Burian; Alan Shapiro (17 February 2009). The Complete Aeschylus: Volume II: Persians and Other Plays. Oxford University Press. p. 18. ISBN 978-0-19-045183-7.
5. Jump up^ isegoria: equal freedom of speech
6. Jump up^ Joseph Roisman,Ian Worthington. « A companion to Ancient Macedonia » John Wiley & Sons, 2011. ISBN 144435163X pp 135–138
7. Jump up^ Donald Kagan, The Outbreak of the Peloponnesian War (Cornell University Press: Ithaca, New York, 1969) p. 9.
8. Jump up^ Donald Kagan, The Outbreak of the Peloponnesian War, p. 31.
9. Jump up^ Carl Roebuck, The World of Ancient Times (Charles Scribner’s Sons: New York, 1966) pp. 244–248.
10. Jump up^ Carl Roebuck, The World of Ancient Times, p. 249.
11. Jump up^ Carl Roebuck, The World of Ancient Times, p. 254.
12. Jump up^ Carl Roebuck, The World of Ancient Times, p. 256.
13. Jump up^ Carl Roebuck, The World of Ancient Times, p. 255.
14. Jump up^ Donald Kagan, The Outbreak of the Peloponnesian War, p. 44.
15. ^ Jump up to:^a b c d Donald Kagan, The Outbreak of the Peloponnesian War, p. 10.
16. Jump up^ Donald Kagan, The Outbreak of the Peloponnesian War, p. 128.
17. Jump up^ Carl Roebuck, The World of Ancient Times, p. 261.
18. Jump up^ Donald Kagan, The Outbreak of the Peloponnesian War, pp. 2–3.
19. Jump up^ Plutarch, The Age of Alexander: Nine Greek Lives (Penguin Books: New York, 1980) p. 25.
20. ^ Jump up to:^a b c Plutarch, The Age of Alexander: Nine Greek Lives, p. 26.
21. Jump up^ Donald Kagan, The Outbreak of the Peloponnesian War, pp. 206–216.
22. Jump up^ Carl Roebuck, The World of Ancient Times, p. 278.
23. Jump up^ Carl Roebuck, The Outbreak of the Peloponnesian War, p. 278.
24. Jump up^ Carl Roebuck, The World of Ancient Times, pp. 278–279.
25. Jump up^ Donald Kagan, The Outbreak of the Peloponnesian War, pp.252.
26. ^ Jump up to:^a b c Carl Roebuck, The World of Ancient Times (Charles Scribner’s Sons: New York, 1966) p. 287.
27. ^ Jump up to:^a b c Donald Kagan, The Peace of Nicias and the Sicilian ExpeditionCornell University Press: New York, 1981) p. 148.
28. Jump up^ Thucydides, The Peloponnesian War: Book 5 (Penguin Books: New York, 1980) pp. 400–408.
29. Jump up^ Carl Roebuck, The World of Ancient Times p. 288.
30. Jump up^ Donald Kagan, The Peace of Nicias and the Sicilian Expedition, p. 171.
31. Jump up^ Donald Kagan, The Peace of Nicias and the Sicialian Expedition, p. 169.
32. Jump up^ Donald Kagan,The Peace of Nicias and the Sicilian Expedition, pp. 193–194.
33. Jump up^ Carl Roebuck, The world of Ancient Times, pp. 288–289.
34. Jump up^ Donald Kagan, The Peace of Nicias and the Sicilian Expedition, pp. 207–209.
35. Jump up^ Carl Roebuck, The World of Ancient Times, p. 289.
36. Jump up^ Donald Kagan, The Fall of the Athenian Empire (Cornell University Press: New York, 1987) p. 385.
37. ^ Jump up to:^a b c Plutarch, The Age of Alexander: Nine Greek Lives, p. 27.
38. Jump up^ Carl Roebuck, The World of Ancient Times, p. 305.
39. Jump up^ Carl Roebuck, The World of Ancient Times, pp. 319–320
40. Jump up^ These sources include Xenophon’s continuation of Thucydides’ work in his Hellenica, which provided a continuous narrative of Greek history up to 362 BC but has defects, such as bias towards Sparta, with whose king Agesilas Xenophon lived for a while. We also have Plutarch, a 2nd-century Boeotian, whose Life of Pelopidas gives a Theban version of events and Diodorus Siculus. This is also the era where the epigraphic evidence develops, a source of the highest importance for this period, both for Athens and for a number of continental Greek cities that also issued decrees.
41. Jump up^ Plutarch, The Age of Alexander, p. 28.
42. Jump up^ Carl Roebuck, The World of Ancient Times (Charles Scribner’s Sons: New York, 1966) p. 305.
43. ^ Jump up to:^a b Carl Roebuck, The World of Ancient Times, p. 306.
44. Jump up^ Plutarch, The Age of Alexander: Nine Greek Lives, pp. 33 to 38.
45. Jump up^ Plutarch, The Age of Alexander: Nine Greek Lives, p. 39.
46. Jump up^ Plutarch, The Age of Alexander: Nine Greek Lives, p. 45.
47. ^ Jump up to:^a b Carl Roebuck, The World of Ancient Times, p. 307.
48. Jump up^ Carl Roebuck, The World of Ancient Times, pp. 307–308.
49. ^ Jump up to:^a b c Carl Roebuck, The World of Ancient Times, p. 308.
50. ^ Jump up to:^a b c Carl Roebuck, The World of Ancient Times, p. 311.
51. Jump up^ Plutarch, The Age of Alexander: Nine Greek Lives, p. 81.
52. ^ Jump up to:^a b Plutarch, The Age of Alexander: Nine Greek Lives, p. 82.
53. Jump up^ Carl Roebuck, The World of Ancient Times, pp. 308–309.
54. Jump up^ Plutarch, The Age of Alexander: Nine Greek Lives, p. 83.
55. Jump up^ Carl Roebuck, The World of Ancient Times, p. 309.
56. ^ Jump up to:^a b c Carl Roebuck, The World of Ancient Times, p. 310.
57. Jump up^ Plutarch, The Age of Alexander: Nine Greek Lives, p. 97.
58. Jump up^ Plutarch, The Age of Alexander: Nine Greek Lives, p. 99.
59. Jump up^ Carl Roebuck, The World of Ancient Times (Charles Scribner’s Sons: New York, 1966) p. 317.
60. Jump up^ Harold Lamb, Alexander of Macedon, p. 76.
61. ^ Jump up to:^a b Carl Roebuck, The World of Ancient Times, p. 317.
62. Jump up^ Plutarch, The Age of Alexander: Nine Greek Lives, p. 198.
63. Jump up^ Plutarch, The Age of Alexander: Nine Greek Lives, p. 231.
64. Jump up^ Carl Roebuck, The World of Ancient Times, p. 319.
65. Jump up^ Harold Lamb, Alexander of Macedon, p. 65.
66. Jump up^ Harold Lamb, Alexander of Macedon (Pinnacle Books: New York, 1946) p. 9.
67. Jump up^ Harold Lamb, Alexander of Macedon, p. 30.
68. Jump up^ Harold Lamb, Alexander of Macedon, p. 55.
69. Jump up^ Harold Lamb, Alexander of Macedon, p. 83.
70. Jump up^ Harold Lamb, Alexander of Macedon, p. 82.
71. Jump up^ Harold Lamb, Alexander of Macedon, p. 86.
72. Jump up^ Arrian, The Campaigns of Alexander (Penguin books: New York, 1979) pp. 41–42.
73. Jump up^ Harold Lamb, Alexander of Macedon, p. 96.
74. Jump up^ Arrian, The Campaigns of Alexander, p. 64.
75. Jump up^ Arrian, The Campaigns of Alexander, p. 65.
76. Jump up^ Carl Roebuck, The World of Ancient Times, p. 349.
77. Jump up^ Arrian, The Campaigns of Alexander, p. 395.
78. Jump up^ Carl Roebuck, The World of Ancient Times, p. 362.
79. Jump up^ Will Durant, The Life of Greece (The Story of Civilization, Part II) (New York: Simon & Schuster) 1939: Introduction, pp. vii and viii.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_Greece

http://www.giacobbegiusti.com

Giacobbe Giusti, Minoan civilization

Giacobbe Giusti, Minoan civilization

Golden cup from a LH IIA Mycenaean grave at Vapheio, one of a pair known as the « Vapheio Cups« . This cup is believed to be of Minoan manufacture while its twin is thought to be Mycenaean. National Archaeological Museum, Athens.

Giacobbe Giusti, Minoan civilization

Fresco of children boxing, recovered from the island of Santorini

 

Minoan civilization

Period	Bronze Age Europe
Dates	c. 2600 – c. 1100 BC
Major sites	Knossos, Phaistos, Malia, Zakros
Preceded by	Cycladic culture
Followed by	Mycenaean Greece

Ancient history
Preceded by prehistory
Ancient Near East
Sumer · Egypt · Elam · Akkad Babylonia · Canaan Hittite Empire · Crete · Syro-Hittite states Neo-Assyrian Empire · Urartu ·
Classical antiquity
Greece · Persia Hellenism · Rome · Africa · Late Antiquity
East Asia
China · Korea · Japan
South Asia
Indus Valley Civilization · Vedic India ·Maha Janapadas Mauryan India · Chola India Satavahana India · Gupta India
Mesoamerica
Andes
See also
History of the world · Ancient maritime history Protohistory · Axial Age · Iron Age Historiography · Ancient literature Ancient warfare · Cradle of civilization
Followed by the Middle Ages
v t e

Bronze Age v t e

↑ Chalcolithic

Near East (c. 3300–1200 BC) Anatolia, Caucasus, Elam, Egypt, Levant, Mesopotamia, Sistan, Canaan Late Bronze Age collapse South Asia (c. 3300–1200 BC) Indus Valley Civilization Bronze Age South Asia Ochre Coloured Pottery Cemetery H Europe (c. 3200–600 BC) Aegean (Cycladic, Minoan, Mycenaean),Caucasus, Catacomb culture, Srubna culture, Beaker culture, Unetice culture, Tumulus culture, Urnfield culture, Hallstatt culture, Apennine culture, Canegrate culture, Golasecca culture, Atlantic Bronze Age, Bronze Age Britain, Nordic Bronze Age East Asia (c. 2000–300 BC) Erlitou, Erligang, Gojoseon, Jomon, Majiayao, Mumun, Qijia, Siwa, Wucheng, Xindian, Yueshi

arsenical bronze writing literature sword chariot

↓Iron Age

The Minoan civilization was an Aegean Bronze Age civilization on the island of Crete and other Aegean islands which flourished from about 2600 to 1100 BC. It preceded the Mycenaean civilization of Ancient Greece.^[1] The civilization was rediscovered at the beginning of the 20th century through the work of British archaeologist Arthur Evans. It has been described as the earliest of its kind in Europe,^[2] with historian Will Durantcalling the Minoans « the first link in the European chain ».^[3]

The term « Minoan », which refers to the mythical King Minos, originally described in the pottery of the period. Minos was associated in Greek mythology with the labyrinth and the Minotaur, which Evans identified with the site at Knossos (the largest Minoan site). According to Homer, Crete once had 90 cities.^[4]

The Minoan period saw trade between Crete and Aegean and Mediterranean settlements, particularly the Near East. Through their traders and artists, the Minoan cultural influence reached beyond Crete to the Cyclades, Egypt‘s Old Kingdom, copper-bearing Cyprus, Canaan and the Levantine coast, and Anatolia. Some of its best art is preserved in the city of Akrotiri on the island of Santorini, which was destroyed by the Thera eruption.

Although the Minoan language and writing systems (Linear A) remain undeciphered, and are the subject of academic dispute, they apparently conveyed a language entirely different from the later Greek. The reason for the end of the Minoan period (around 1400 BC) is unclear; theories include Mycenaean invasions from mainland Greece and a volcanic eruption of Thera.

Etymology

The term « Minoan » refers to the mythical King Minos of Knossos. Its origin is debated, but it is commonly attributed to archeologist Arthur Evans (1851–1941).^[5]Minos was associated in Greek mythology with the labyrinth, which Evans identified with the site at Knossos.

However, Karl Hoeck had already used the title Das Minoische Kreta in 1825 for volume two of his Kreta; this appears to be the first known use of the word « Minoan » to mean « ancient Cretan ».

Evans probably read Hoeck’s book, and continued using the term in his writings and findings:^[6] « To this early civilization of Crete as a whole I have proposed—and the suggestion has been generally adopted by the archaeologists of this and other countries—to apply the name ‘Minoan’. »^[7] Evans said that he applied it, not invented it.

Hoeck, with no idea that the archaeological Crete had existed, had in mind the Crete of mythology. Although Evans’ 1931 claim that the term was « unminted » before he used it was called a « brazen suggestion » by Karadimas and Momigliano,^[6] he coined its archaeological meaning.

Chronology and history

Minoan chronology, Minoan pottery, and Dating the Thera eruption

Minoan chronology

2500–2400 BC[8]	EMI	Prepalatial
2300–2100 BC	EMII
2100–2000 BC	EMIII
2000–1900 BC	MMIA
1900–1850 BC	MMIB	Protopalatial (Old Palace Period)
1850–? BC	MMIIA
?–1750 BC	MMIIB	Neopalatial (New Palace Period)
1700/1750–1600 BC	MMIIIA
1600–1550 BC	MMIIIB
1550–1500 BC	LMIA
1500–1450 BC	LMIB	Postpalatial (at Knossos; Final Palace Period)
1450–1400 BC	LMII
1400–1300 BC	LMIIIA
1300–1200 BC	LMIIIB

Instead of dating the Minoan period, archaeologists use two systems of relative chronology. The first, created by Evans and modified by later archaeologists, is based on pottery styles and imported Egyptian artifacts (which can be correlated with the chronology of Ancient Egypt). Evans’ system divides the Minoan period into three major eras: early (EM), middle (MM) and late (LM). These eras are subdivided—for example, Early Minoan I, II and III (EMI, EMII, EMIII).

Another dating system, proposed by Greek archaeologist Nicolas Platon, is based on the development of architectural complexes known as « palaces » at Knossos, Phaistos, Malia and Kato Zakros. Platon divides the Minoan period into pre-, proto-, neo- and post-palatial sub-periods. The relationship between the systems in the table includes approximate calendar dates from Warren and Hankey (1989).

The Thera eruption occurred during a mature phase of the LM IA period. Efforts to establish the volcanic eruption’s date have been controversial. Radiocarbon datinghas indicated a date in the late 17th century BC;^[9][10] this conflicts with estimates by archaeologists, who synchronize the eruption with conventional Egyptian chronology for a date of 1525–1500 BC.^[11][12][13]

Overview

History of Crete

Although stone-tool evidence exists that hominins may have reached Crete as early as 130,000 years ago, evidence for the first anatomically-modern human presence dates to 10,000–12,000 YBP.^[14][15] The oldest evidence of modern human habitation on Crete are pre-ceramic Neolithic farming-community remains which date to about 7000 BC.^[16] A comparative study of DNA haplogroups of modern Cretan men showed that a male founder group, from Anatolia or the Levant, is shared with the Greeks.^[17] The Neolithic population lived in open villages. Fishermen’s huts were found on the shores, and the fertile Mesara Plain was used for agriculture.^[18]

Early Minoan

The Early Bronze Age (3500 to 2600 BC) has been described as indicating a « promise of greatness »^[19] in light of later developments on the island. The Bronze Age began on Crete around 2700 BC.^[20] In the late third millennium BC, several locations on the island developed into centers of commerce and handiwork; this enabled the upper classes to exercise leadership and expand their influence. It is likely that the original hierarchies of the local elites were replaced by monarchies, a precondition for the palaces.^[21]

Middle Minoan

At the end of the MMII period (1700 BC) there was a large disturbance on Crete—probably an earthquake, but possibly an invasion from Anatolia.^[22] The palaces at Knossos, Phaistos, Malia and Kato Zakros were destroyed.

At the beginning of the neopalatial period the population increased again,^[23] the palaces were rebuilt on a larger scale and new settlements were built across the island. This period (the 17th and 16th centuries BC, MM III-Neopalatial) was the apex of Minoan civilization. After around 1700 BC, material culture on the Greek mainland reached a new high due to Minoan influence.^[21]

Late Minoan

Another natural catastrophe occurred around 1600 BC, possibly an eruption of the Thera volcano. The Minoans rebuilt the palaces with several major differences in function.^[24][21][25]

Around 1450 BC, Minoan culture reached a turning point due to a natural catastrophe (possibly an earthquake). Although another eruption of the Thera volcano has been linked to this downfall, its dating and implications are disputed. Several important palaces, in locations such as Mallia, Tylissos, Phaistos and Hagia Triada, and the living quarters of Knossos were destroyed. The palace in Knossos seems to have remained largely intact, resulting in its dynasty’s ability to spread its influence over large parts of Crete until it was overrun by the Mycenaean Greeks.^[21]

Foreign influence

The influence of Minoan civilization is seen in Minoan handicrafts on the Greek mainland. The shaft graves of Mycenae had several Cretan imports (such as a bull’s-head rhyton), which suggests a prominent role for Minoan symbolism. Connections between Egypt and Crete are prominent; Minoan ceramics are found in Egyptian cities, and the Minoans imported items (particularly papyrus) and architectural and artistic ideas from Egypt. Egyptian hieroglyphs were models for Minoan pictographic writing, from which the Linear A and Linear B writing systems developed.^[18]Archaeologist Hermann Bengtson has also found a Minoan influence in Canaaniteartifacts.

Minoan palace sites were occupied by the Mycenaeans (who adapted Linear A Minoan script for their own language) around 1420–1375 BC.^[26][21] Their language, a form of Greek, was written in Linear B. The Mycenaeans tended to adapt (rather than supplant) Minoan culture, religion and art,^[27] continuing the Minoan economic system and bureaucracy.^[21]

During LMIIIA (1400–1300 BC), Amenhotep III noted k-f-t-w (Kaftor) as one of the « Secret Lands of the North of Asia » at Kom el-Hatan.^[28] Also mentioned are Cretan cities (such as Amnisos, Phaistos, Kydonia and Knossos) and toponymsreconstructed as in the Cyclades or the Greek mainland. If the values of these Egyptian names are accurate, the pharaoh did not value LMIII Knossos more than other states in the region.^[29]

After about a century of partial recovery, most Cretan cities and palaces declined during the 13th century BC (LHIIIB-LMIIIB). The last Linear A archives date to LMIIIA, contemporary with LHIIIA.

Knossos remained an administrative center until 1200 BC. The last Minoan site was the defensive mountain site of Karfi, a refuge which had vestiges of Minoan civilization nearly into the Iron Age.^[30]

Geography

Knossos

Gortyn

Clickable map of Greece, with major Minoan sites

Crete is a mountainous island with natural harbors. There are signs of earthquake damage at many Minoan sites, and clear signs of land uplifting and submersion of coastal sites due to tectonic processes along its coast.^[31]

According to Homer, Crete had 90 cities.^[4] Judging by the palace sites, the island was probably divided into at least eight political units at the height of the Minoan period. The north is thought to have been governed from Knossos, the south from Phaistos, the central-eastern region from Malia, the eastern tip from Kato Zakros and the west from Chania. Smaller palaces have been found elsewhere on the island.

Major Minoan archaeological sites include:

• Palaces:
  • Knossos – the largest^[32] Bronze Age archaeological site on Crete; was purchased for excavations by Evans on March 16, 1900.
  • Phaistos – the second-largest^[32] palatial building on the island, excavated by the Italian school shortly after Knossos
  • Malia – the subject of French excavations, a palatial center which provides a look into the proto-palatial period
  • Kato Zakros – palatial site excavated by Greek archaeologists in the far east of the island, also known as « Zakro » in archaeological literature
  • Galatas – confirmed as a palatial site during the early 1990s
• Agia Triada – administrative center near Phaistos
• Gournia – town site excavated in the first quarter of the 20th century
• Pyrgos – early Minoan site in southern Crete
• Vasiliki – early eastern Minoan site which gives its name to distinctive ceramic ware
• Fournou Korfi – southern site
• Pseira – island town with ritual sites
• Mount Juktas – the greatest Minoan peak sanctuary, associated with the palace of Knossos^[33]
• Arkalochori – site of the Arkalochori Axe
• Karfi – refuge site, one of the last Minoan sites
• Akrotiri – settlement on the island of Santorini (Thera), near the site of the Thera Eruption
• Zominthos – mountainous city in the northern foothills of Mount Ida

Settlements

Giacobbe Giusti, Minoan civilization

Minoan fresco, showing a fleet and settlement

See also: Historical urban community sizes and List of largest cities throughout history

Knossos had an estimated population of 1,300 to 2,000 in 2500 BC, 18,000 in 2000 BC, 20,000 to 100,000 in 1600 BC and 30,000 in 1360 BC. Gortyn was also a noted Minoan settlement.^[34][35][36]

Beyond Crete

Giacobbe Giusti, Minoan civilization

Minoan copper ingot

The Minoans were traders, and their cultural contacts reached Egypt’s Old Kingdom, copper-containing Cyprus, Canaan and the Levantine coast and Anatolia. In late 2009 Minoan-style frescoes and other artifacts were discovered during excavations of the Canaanite palace at Tel Kabri, Israel, leading archaeologists to conclude that the Minoan influence was the strongest on the Canaanite city-state. These are the only Minoan artifacts which have been found in Israel.^[37]

Minoan techniques and ceramic styles had varying degrees of influence on Helladic Greece. Along with Santorini, Minoan settlements are found^[38] at Kastri on Cythera, an island near the Greek mainland influenced by the Minoans from the mid-third millennium BC (EMII) to its Mycenaean occupation in the 13th century.^[39][40][41]Minoan strata replaced a mainland-derived early Bronze Age culture, the earliest Minoan settlement outside Crete.^[42]

The Cyclades were in the Minoan cultural orbit, and (closer to Crete) the islands of Karpathos, Saria and Kasos also contained middle-Bronze Age (MMI-II) Minoan colonies or settlements of Minoan traders. Most were abandoned in LMI, but Karpathos recovered and continued its Minoan culture until the end of the Bronze Age.^[43] Other supposed Minoan colonies, such as that hypothesized by Adolf Furtwängler on Aegina, were later dismissed by scholars.^[44] However, there was a Minoan colony at Ialysos on Rhodes.^[45]

Minoan cultural influence indicates an orbit extending through the Cyclades to Egypt and Cyprus. Fifteenth-century BC paintings in Thebes, Egypt depict Minoan-appearing individuals bearing gifts. Inscriptions describing them as coming from keftiu (« islands in the middle of the sea ») may refer to gift-bringing merchants or officials from Crete.^[46]

Some locations on Crete indicate that the Minoans were an « outward-looking » society.^[47] The neo-palatial site of Kato Zakros is located within 100 meters of the modern shoreline in a bay. Its large number of workshops and wealth of site materials indicate a possible entrepôt for trade. Such activities are seen in artistic representations of the sea, including the « Flotilla » fresco in room five of the West House at Akrotiri.^{[citation needed]}

Agriculture and cuisine

Giacobbe Giusti, Minoan civilization

The partially-restored « campstool fresco » from Knossos

See also: Cretan cuisine

The Minoans raised cattle, sheep, pigs and goats, and grew wheat, barley, vetch and chickpeas. They also cultivated grapes, figs and olives, and grew poppies for seed and (perhaps) opium. The Minoans also domesticated bees.^[48]

Crops, including lettuce, celery, asparagus and carrots, grew wild on Crete. Pear, quince, and olive trees were also native. Date palmtrees and cats (for hunting) were imported from Egypt.^[49] The Minoans adopted pomegranates from the Near East, but not lemons and oranges.

They may have practiced polyculture,^[50] and their varied, healthy diet resulted in a population increase. Polyculture theoretically maintains soil fertility and protects against losses due to crop failure. Linear B tablets indicate the importance of orchards (figs, olives and grapes) in processing crops for « secondary products ».^[51]Olive oil in Cretan (or Mediterranean) cuisine is comparable to butter in northern European cuisine.^[52] The process of fermenting wine from grapes was probably a factor of the « Palace » economies; wine would have been a trade commodity and an item of domestic consumption.^[53] Farmers used wooden plows, bound with leather to wooden handles and pulled by pairs of donkeys or oxen.

Seafood was also important in Cretan cuisine. The prevalence of edible molluscs in site material^[54] and artistic representations of marine fish and animals (including the distinctive LM IIIC « Octopus » stirrup jar), indicate appreciation (and occasional use) of fish by the economy. However, scholars believe that these resources were not as significant as grain, olives and animal produce. « Fishing was one of the major activities…but there is as yet no evidence for the way in which they organized their fishing. »^[55] An intensification of agricultural activity is indicated by the construction of terraces and dams at Pseira in the Late Minoan period.

Cretan cuisine included wild game; Cretans ate wild deer and boar and meat from livestock. Wild game is now extinct on Crete.^[56]

Not all plants and flora were purely functional, and arts depict scenes of lily-gathering in green spaces. The fresco known as the Sacred Grove at Knossos depicts women facing left, flanked by trees. Some scholars have suggested that it is a harvest festival, or ceremony, to honor the fertility of the soil. Artistic depictions of farming scenes also appear on the Second Palace Period « Harvester Vase » (an egg-shaped rhyton), on which 27 men led by another carry hoes. This demonstrates the importance of farming as an artistic motif.

The discovery of storage areas in the palace compounds has prompted debate. At the second « palace » at Phaistos, rooms on the west side of the structure have been identified as a storage area. Jars, jugs and vessels have been recovered in the area, indicating the complex’s possible role as a re-distribution center for agricultural produce. At larger sites such as Knossos, there is evidence of craft specialization (workshops). The palace at Kato Zakro indicates that workshops were integrated into palace structure. The Minoan palatial system may have developed through economic intensification, where an agricultural surplus could support a population of administrators, craftsmen and religious practitioners. The number of sleeping rooms in the palaces indicates that they could have supported a sizable population which was removed from manual labor.

Tools

Tools, originally made of wood or bone, were bound to handles with leather straps. During the Bronze Age, they were made of bronze with wooden handles. Due to its round hole, the tool head would spin on the handle. The Minoans developed oval-shaped holes in their tools to fit oval-shaped handles, which prevented spinning.^[48]Tools included double adzes, double- and single-bladed axes, axe-adzes, sickles and chisels.

Society and culture

Giacobbe Giusti, Minoan civilization

The « saffron-gatherers »

The Minoans were primarily a mercantilepeople who engaged in overseas trade. After 1700 BC, their culture indicates a high degree of organization. Minoan-manufactured goods suggest a network of trade with mainland Greece (notably Mycenae), Cyprus, Syria, Anatolia, Egypt, Mesopotamia and westward as far as the Iberian peninsula. Minoan religion apparently focused on female deities, with women officiants.^[57] While historians and archaeologists have long been skeptical of an outright matriarchy, the predominance of female figures in authoritative roles over male ones seems to indicate that Minoan society was matriarchal, and among the most well-supported examples known.^[58]

Saffron trade

A fresco of saffron-gatherers at Santorini is well-known. The Minoan trade in saffron, the stigma of a naturally-mutated crocus which originated in the Aegean basin, has left few material remains. According to Evans, the saffron (a sizable Minoan industry) was used for dye.^[59] Other archaeologists emphasize durable trade items: ceramics, copper, tin, gold and silver.^[59] The saffron may have had a religious significance.^[60]The saffron trade, which predated Minoan civilization, was comparable in value to that of frankincense or black pepper.

Fashion

Minoan men wore loincloths and kilts. Women wore robes with short sleeves and layered, flounced skirts. The robes were open to the navel, exposing their breasts.^[61]Women could also wear a strapless, fitted bodice, and clothing patterns had symmetrical, geometric designs.

Language and writing

Giacobbe Giusti, Minoan civilization

One side of the Phaistos Disc

Main article: Minoan language

Knowledge of the spoken and written language of the Minoans is scant due to the small number of records found. Clay tablets, dating to around 3000 BC, were found with Aegean scripts.^[62] Clay tablets were apparently in use around 3000 BC or earlier. Two clay cups from Knossos had remnants of ink, and inkwells similar to animal-shaped Mesopotamian inkstands have been found.^[63] The Eteocretan language, written with a Euboean-derived alphabet after the Greek Dark Ages, is believed to be a descendant of Minoan; however, there is not enough source material in either language to allow a firm conclusion.

The earliest dated writings found on Crete are Cretan hieroglyphs. It is unknown whether the language is Minoan, and its origin is debated. Although the hieroglyphs are often associated with the Egyptians, they also indicate a relationship to Mesopotamian writings.^[63] They came into use during MMI, and were used at the same time as Linear A (18th century BC; MM II). The hieroglyphs disappeared during the 17th century BC (MM III).

Linear A served as the foundation for Linear B, which recorded the earliest attestedform of the Greek language: Mycenaean Greek. Although Linear B was deciphered by Michael Ventris in 1952, the earlier scripts remain a mystery. Nearly all the tablets, written in the Linear B script, seem to be inventories of goods or resources. Others are inscriptions on religious objects associated with a cult. Because most of the inscriptions are economic records rather than dedicatory inscriptions, the translation of Minoan remains a challenge. Unless Eteocretan is its descendant, the Minoan language may have become extinct during the Greek Dark Ages (a period of economic and sociopolitical collapse).^[64]

Religion

Minoan religion

The smaller of two Minoan snake goddess figurines

The Minoans seem to have primarily worshiped a Great Goddess, and their society has been described as matriarchal.^{[65][66][67][68][69][70]} Some scholars see in the Minoan Goddess a female divine solar figure.^[71][72] Some evidence of male gods exists, but depictions of Minoan goddesses vastly outnumber those of gods.^[73] Although some depictions of women may be images of worshipers and priestesses officiating at religious ceremonies (as opposed to deities), goddesses seem to include a mother goddess of fertility, a goddess of animals and female protectors of cities, the household, the harvest and the underworld. They are often represented by serpents, birds, poppies or an animal on the head.

According to Nanno Marinatos, « The hierarchy and relationship of gods within the pantheon is difficult to decode from the images alone. »^[74] Marinatos disagrees with earlier descriptions of Minoan religion as primitive, saying that it « was the religion of a sophisticated and urbanized palatial culture with a complex social hierarchy. It was not dominated by fertility any more than any religion of the past or present has been, and it addressed gender identity, rites of passage, and death. It is reasonable to assume that both the organization and the rituals, even the mythology, resembled the religions of Near Eastern palatial civilizations. »^[74] It even seems that the later Greek pantheon would synthesize the Minoan female deity and Hittite goddess from the Near East.^[75]

Symbolism

Minoan horn-topped altars, which Arthur Evans called Horns of Consecration, are represented in seal impressions and have been found as far afield as Cyprus. Minoan sacred symbols include the bull (and its horns of consecration), the labrys(double-headed axe), the pillar, the serpent, the sun-disc and the tree.

The Bull Leaper, from Knossos (Heraklion Archaeological Museum)

Haralampos V. Harissis and Anastasios V. Harissis posit a different interpretation of these symbols, saying that they were based on apiculturerather than religion.^[76] A major festival was exemplified in bull-leaping, represented in the frescoes of Knossos^[77] and inscribed in miniature seals.^[78]

Burial practices

Similar to other Bronze Age archaeological finds, burial remains constitute much of the material and archaeological evidence for the period. By the end of the Second Palace Period, Minoan burial was dominated by two forms: circular tombs (tholoi) in southern Crete and house tombs in the north and the east. However, much Minoan mortuary practice does not conform to this pattern. Burialwas more popular than cremation.^[79] Individual burial was the rule, except for the Chrysolakkos complex in Malia. Here, a number of buildings form a complex in the center of Mallia’s burial area and may have been the focus for burial rituals or a crypt for a notable family.^{[citation needed]} Evidence of possible human sacrifice by the Minoans has been found at three sites: at Anemospilia, in a MMII building near Mt. Juktas considered a temple; an EMII sanctuary complex at Fournou Korifi in south-central Crete, and in an LMIB building known as the North House in Knossos(explanation of abbreviations).

Architecture

Restored model of a Minoan house found in Archanes

Minoan cities were connected by roads paved with blocks cut with bronze saws. Streets were drained, and water and sewagefacilities were available to the upper class through clay pipes.^[80]

Minoan buildings often had flat, tiled roofs; plaster, wood or flagstone floors, and stood two to three stories high. Lower walls were typically constructed of stone and rubble, and the upper walls of mudbrick. Ceiling timbers held up the roofs.

Construction materials for villas and palaces varied, and included sandstone, gypsumand limestone. Building techniques also varied, with some palaces using ashlarmasonry and others roughly-hewn, megalithic blocks.

Palaces

Giacobbe Giusti, Minoan civilization

Storage jars at Knossos

Giacobbe Giusti, Minoan civilization

Ruins of the palace at Knossos

Palaces (anaktora) are the best-known Minoan building types excavated on Crete. They are monumental buildings with administrativepurposes, as evidenced by large archivesunearthed by archaeologists. Each palace excavated to date has unique features, but they also share aspects which set them apart from other structures. Palaces are often multi-story, with interior and exterior staircases, lightwells, massive columns, storage areas and courtyards.

The first palaces were constructed at the end of the Early Minoan period in the third millennium BC at Malia. Although it was formerly believed that the foundation of the first palaces was synchronous and dated to the Middle Minoan period (around 2000 BC, the date of the first palace at Knossos), scholars now think that the palaces were built over a longer period in response to local developments. The main older palaces are Knossos, Malia and Phaistos. Elements of the Middle Minoan palaces (at Knossos, Phaistos and Malia, for example) have precedents in Early Minoan construction styles.^[81] These include an indented western court and special treatment of the western façade. One example is the House on the Hill at Vasiliki, dated to the Early Minoan II period.^[82] The palaces were centers of government, administrative offices, shrines, workshops and storage spaces.^{[83][self-published source][84]}

Giacobbe Giusti, Minoan civilization

Bull-Leaping Fresco found at Knossos

The Middle Minoan palaces are characteristically aligned with their surrounding topography. The MM palace of Phaistos appears to align with Mount Idaand Knossos is aligned with Mount Juktas,^[85] both on a north-south axis. Scholars suggest that the alignment was related to the mountains’ ritual significance; a number of peak sanctuaries (spaces for public ritual) have been excavated, including one at Petsofas. These sites have yielded clusters of clay figurines and evidence of animal sacrifice.

Late palaces are characterized by multi-story buildings with west facades of sandstone ashlar masonry; Knossos is the best-known example. Other building conventions included storage areas, north-south orientation, a pillar room and a western court. Architecture during the First Palace Period is identified by a square-within-a-square style; Second Palace Period construction has more internal divisions and corridors.^[86] Furthermore, the palace of Knossos was not just a regular palace that the Minoans built. The Palace of Knossos was the biggest palace that the Minoan people had ever constructed. The palace is about 150 meters across and it spreads over an area of some 20,000 square meters, with its original upper levels possibly having a thousand chambers. The palace is connected to the mythological story of The Bull of Minos, since it is in this palace where it was written that the labyrinth existed. Focusing on the architectural aspects of the Palace of Knossos, it was a combination of foundations that depended on the aspects of its walls for; the dimensions of the rooms, staircases, porticos, and chambers. The palace was designed in such a fashion that the structure was laid out to surround the central court of the Minoans. Aesthetically speaking, the pillars along with the stone paved northern entrance gave the palace a look and feel that was unique to the Palace of Knossos. The space surrounding the court was covered with rooms and hallways, some of which were stacked on top of the lower levels of the palace being linked through multiple ramps and staircases.^[87] Others were built into a hill, as described by the site’s excavator Arthur John Evans, « …The palace of Knossos is the most extensive and occupies several hills. »^[88] On the east side of the court there was a grand staircase passing through the many levels of the palace, added for the royal residents. On the west side of the court, the throne room, a modest room with a ceiling some two meters high,^[34] can be found along with the frescoes that were decorating the walls of the hallways and storage rooms.

Plumbing

During the Minoan Era extensive waterways were built in order to protect the growing population. These system had two primary functions, first providing and distributing water, and secondly relocating sewage and stormwater.^[89] One of the defining aspects of the Minoan Era was the architectural feats of their waste management. The Minoans used technologies such as wells, cisterns, and aqueducts to manage their water supplies. Structural aspects of their buildings even played a part. Flat roofs and plentiful open courtyards were used for collecting water to be stored in cisterns.^[90] Significantly, the Minoans had water treatments devices. One such device seems to have been a porous clay pipe through which water was allowed to flow until clean.

Columns

Columns at Knossos

One of the most notable Minoan contributions to architecture is their inverted column, wider at the top than the base (unlike most Greek columns, which are wider at the bottom to give an impression of height). The columns were made of wood (not stone) and were generally painted red. Mounted on a simple stone base, they were topped with a pillow-like, round capital.^[91][92]

Villas

A number of compounds known as « villas » have been excavated on Crete. These structures share features of neopalatial palaces: a conspicuous western facade, storage facilities and a three-part Minoan Hall.^[93] These features may indicate a similar role or that the structures were artistic imitations, suggesting that their occupants were familiar with palatial culture. The villas were often richly decorated, as evidenced by the frescos of Haghia Triadha Villa A.

Art

 Minoan art

Giacobbe Giusti, Minoan civilization

Fresco from the Palace of Minos at Knossos

The largest collection of Minoan art is in the museum at Heraklion, near Knossos, on the northern coast of Crete. Minoan art and other remnants of material culture, especially the sequence of ceramic styles, have been used by archaeologists to define the three phases of Minoan culture (EM, MM, LM).

Since wood and textiles have decomposed, the best-preserved (and most instructive) surviving examples of Minoan art are its pottery, palace architecture (with frescos which include landscapes), stone carvings and intricately-carved seal stones.

Frescoes were the primary art form of Minoan culture.^{[citation needed]} They include many depictions of people, with sexes distinguished by color; the men’s skin is reddish-brown, and the women’s white.^[94] Several frescoes at Knossos and Santorini survive. In contrast to Egyptian frescoes, Crete had true frescoes. Probably the most famous fresco is the bull-leaping fresco.^[95]

Pottery

 Minoan pottery

Giacobbe Giusti, Minoan civilization

Marine style Minoan decorated jug, 1575–1500 BC (Brooklyn Museum)

A variety of wares were produced in Crete. Early Minoan ceramics were characterized by patterns of spirals, triangles, curved lines, crosses, fish bones, and beak-spouts. During the Middle Minoan period, naturalistic designs (such as fish, squid, birds and lilies) were common. In the Late Minoan period, flowers and animals were still characteristic but more variety existed.

The palace style of the region around Knossos is characterized by geometric simplicity and monochromatic painting. Late Minoan art resembles that of Mycenae. Minoan knowledge of the sea was continued by the Mycenaeans in their frequent use of marine forms as artistic motifs. The so-called « marine style », perhaps inspired by frescoes, has the entire surface of a pot covered with sea creatures, octopus, fish and dolphins, against a background of rocks, seaweed and sponges.

Jewelry

The Minoans created elaborate metalwork with imported gold and copper.^[96] Bead necklaces, bracelets and hair ornaments appear in the frescoes,^[97] and many labrys pins survive. The Minoans apparently mastered faience and granulation, as indicated by a gold bee pendant. Minoan metalworking included intense, precise temperature, to bond gold to itself without burning it.^{[citation needed]}

Metal vessels

Giacobbe Giusti, Minoan civilization

Golden cup from a LH IIA Mycenaean grave at Vapheio, one of a pair known as the « Vapheio Cups« . This cup is believed to be of Minoan manufacture while its twin is thought to be Mycenaean. National Archaeological Museum, Athens.

Metal vessels were produced in Crete from at least as early as EM II (c. 2500) in the Prepalatial period through to LM IA (c. 1450) in the Postpalatial period and perhaps as late as LM IIIB/C (c. 1200),^[98] although it is likely that many of the vessels from these later periods were heirlooms from earlier periods.^[99] The earliest were probably made exclusively from precious metals, but from the Protopalatial period (MM IB – MM IIA) they were also produced in arsenical bronze and, subsequently, tin bronze.^[100] The archaeological record suggests that mostly cup-type forms were created in precious metals,^[101] but the corpus of bronze vessels was diverse, including cauldrons, pans, hydrias, bowls, pitchers, basins, cups, ladles and lamps.^[102] The Minoan metal vessel tradition influenced that of the Mycenaean culture on mainland Greece, and they are often regarded as the same tradition.^[103]Many precious metal vessels found on mainland Greece exhibit Minoan characteristics, and it is thought that these were either imported from Crete or made on the mainland by Minoan metalsmiths working for Mycenaean patrons or by Mycenaean smiths who had trained under Minoan masters.^[104]

Warfare and the « Minoan peace »

According to Arthur Evans, a « Minoan peace » (Pax Minoica) existed; there was little internal armed conflict in Minoan Crete until the Mycenaean period.^[105] However, it is difficult to draw hard-and-fast conclusions from the evidence^[106] and Evans’ idealistic view has been questioned.^[107]

No evidence has been found of a Minoan army or the Minoan domination of peoples beyond Crete, and few signs of warfare appear in Minoan art: « Although a few archaeologists see war scenes in a few pieces of Minoan art, others interpret even these scenes as festivals, sacred dance, or sports events » (Studebaker, 2004, p. 27). Although armed warriors are depicted as stabbed in the throat with swords, the violence may be part of a ritual or blood sport.^{[citation needed]}

On mainland Greece during the shaft-grave era at Mycenae, there is little evidence for major Mycenaean fortifications; the citadels follow the destruction of nearly all neopalatial Cretan sites. Warfare by other contemporaries of the ancient Minoans, such as the Egyptians and the Hittites, is well-documented.

Skepticism and weaponry

Giacobbe Giusti, Minoan civilization

Fresco of children boxing, recovered from the island of Santorini

Despite finding ruined watchtowers and fortification walls,^[108] Evans said that there was little evidence of ancient Minoan fortifications. According to Stylianos Alexiou (in Kretologia 8), a number of sites (especially early and middle Minoan sites such as Aghia Photia) are built on hilltops or otherwise fortified.^{[full citation needed]} Lucia Nixon wrote, « We may have been over-influenced by the lack of what we might think of as solid fortifications to assess the archaeological evidence properly. As in so many other instances, we may not have been looking for evidence in the right places, and therefore we may not end with a correct assessment of the Minoans and their ability to avoid war. »^[109]

Chester Starr said in « Minoan Flower Lovers » (Hagg-Marinatos, eds. Minoan Thalassocracy) that since Shang China and the Maya had unfortified centers and engaged in frontier struggles, a lack of fortifications alone does not prove that the Minoans were a peaceful civilization unparalleled in history.^{[full citation needed]} In 1998, when Minoan archaeologists met in a Belgian conference to discuss the possibility that the Pax Minoica was outdated, evidence of Minoan war was still scanty. According to Jan Driessen, the Minoans frequently depicted « weapons » in their art in a ritual context:

The construction of fortified sites is often assumed to reflect a threat of warfare, but such fortified centres were multifunctional; they were also often the embodiment or material expression of the central places of the territories at the same time as being monuments glorifying and merging leading power.^[110]

Stella Chryssoulaki’s work on small outposts (or guardhouses) in eastern Crete indicates a possible defensive system; type A (high-quality) Minoan swords were found in the palaces of Mallia and Zarkos (see Sanders, AJA 65, 67, Hoeckmann, JRGZM 27, or Rehak and Younger, AJA 102).^{[full citation needed]} Keith Branigan estimated that 95 percent of Minoan « weapons » had hafting (hilts or handles) which would have prevented their use as such.^[111] However, tests of replicas indicated that the weapons could cut flesh down to the bone (and score the bone’s surface) without damaging the weapons themselves.^[112] According to Paul Rehak, Minoan figure-eight shields could not have been used for fighting or hunting, since they were too cumbersome.^[113] Although Cheryl Floyd concluded that Minoan « weapons » were tools used for mundane tasks such as meat processing,^[114] Middle Minoan « rapiersnearly three feet in length » have been found.^[115]

About Minoan warfare, Branigan concluded:

The quantity of weaponry, the impressive fortifications, and the aggressive looking long-boats all suggested an era of intensified hostilities. But on closer inspection there are grounds for thinking that all three key elements are bound up as much with status statements, display, and fashion as with aggression;… Warfare such as there was in the southern Aegean early Bronze Age was either personalized and perhaps ritualized (in Crete) or small-scale, intermittent and essentially an economic activity (in the Cyclades and the Argolid/Attica).^[116]

Archaeologist Olga Krzyszkowska agreed: « The stark fact is that for the prehistoric Aegean we have no direct evidence for war and warfare per se. »^[117]

Collapse

Between 1935 and 1939, Greek archaeologist Spyridon Marinatos posited the Minoan eruption theory. An eruption on the island of Thera (present-day Santorini), about 100 kilometres (62 mi) from Crete, occurred during the LM IA period (1550 – 1500 BC). One of the largest volcanic explosions in recorded history, it ejected about 60 to 100 cubic kilometres (14 to 24 cu mi) of material and was measured at 7 on the Volcanic Explosivity Index.^{[118][119][120]} The eruption devastated the nearby Minoan settlement at Akrotiri on Santorini, which was entombed in a layer of pumice.^[121]Although it is believed to have severely affected the Minoan culture of Crete, the extent of its effects has been debated. Early theories proposed that volcanic ash from Thera choked off plant life on the eastern half of Crete, starving the local population;^[122] however, more-thorough field examinations have determined that no more than 5 millimetres (0.20 in) of ash fell anywhere on Crete.^[123] Based on archaeological evidence, studies indicate that a massive tsunami generated by the Thera eruption devastated the coast of Crete and destroyed many Minoan settlements.^{[124][125][126]} Although the LM IIIA (late Minoan) period is characterized by affluence (wealthy tombs, burials and art) and ubiquitous Knossian ceramic styles,^[127] by LM IIIB Knossos’ wealth and importance as a regional center apparently declined.

Significant remains have been found above the late Minoan I-era Thera ash layer, implying that the Thera eruption did not cause the immediate collapse of Minoan civilization.^[128] The Minoans were a sea power, however, and the Thera eruption probably caused significant economic hardship. Whether this was enough to trigger a Minoan downfall is debated. Mycenaean Greece conquered the Minoans during the late Minoan II period, and Mycenaean weaponry has been found in burials on Crete soon after the eruption.^[129]

Many archaeologists believe that the eruption triggered a crisis, making the Minoans vulnerable to conquest by the Mycenaeans.^[124] According to Sinclair Hood, the Minoans were most likely conquered by an invading force. Although the civilization’s collapse was aided by the Thera eruption, its ultimate end came from conquest. Archaeological evidence suggests that the island was destroyed by fire, with the palace at Knossos receiving less damage than other sites on Crete. Since natural disasters are not selective, the uneven destruction was probably caused by invaders who would have seen the usefulness of preserving a palace like Knossos for their own use.^[130] Several authors have noted evidence that Minoan civilization had exceeded its environmental carrying capacity, with archaeological recovery at Knossos indicating deforestation in the region near the civilization’s later stages.^[131][132]

Genetic studies

A genetic study published in the journal Nature in August 2017 concluded that the Minoans were genetically closely related with the Mycenaean Greeks. Their genomes were similar though not identical. The same study also stated that at least three-quarters of DNA of both the Minoans and the Myceneans came from the first Neolithic-era farmers that lived in Western Anatolia and the Aegean Sea.^[133]

A 2013 mtDNA genetic study was conducted by a research team that analyzed some DNA from ancient Minoan skeletons that were sealed in a cave in Crete’s Lassithi Plateau between 3,700 and 4,400 years ago, as well as other Greek, Anatolian, western and northern European samples, and North African and Egyptian samples.^[134][135] They then compared the skeletal mitochondrial DNA, which is passed on through the maternal line, with that found in a sample of 135 modern and ancient populations from around Europe and Africa. The researchers found that the Minoan skeletons were genetically very similar to modern-day Europeans — and especially close to modern-day Cretans, particularly those from the Lassithi Plateau. They were also genetically similar to Neolithic Europeans, but distinct from Egyptian or Libyan populations.^[136] « We now know that the founders of the first advanced European civilization were European, » said study co-author George Stamatoyannopoulos, a human geneticist at the University of Washington. « They were very similar to Neolithic Europeans and very similar to present day-Cretans. »^[135]

Other genetic studies have also found that the ancient Minoans exhibited many Middle Eastern maternal genetic lineages, from populations in contemporary Iraq, Syria, and Turkey, and that « the female [Minoan genetic] component is influenced by Asia and the Middle East as well as Europe. »^{[137][138][139]} Additionally, the study carried out by Stamatoyannopoulos’s team did not analyze paternal DNA, and acknowledged that previous research found Middle Eastern genetic influences for both the ancient Minoans paternal and maternal lineages.^[134]

See also

Minoan civilization.

• Atlantis
• Caucasus
• Hyksos
• Minoa
• Philistines
• Sacred caves of Crete

Notes

1. Jump up^ « Ancient Crete – Classics – Oxford Bibliographies ».
2. Jump up^ Sakoulas, Thomas. « History of Minoan Crete ».
3. Jump up^ Durant, Will (1939). « The Life of Greece ». The Story of Civilization. II. New York: Simon & Schuster. p. 21. ISBN 9781451647587.
4. ^ Jump up to:^a b Homer, Odyssey xix.
5. Jump up^ John Bennet, « Minoan civilization », Oxford Classical Dictionary, 3rd ed., p. 985.
6. ^ Jump up to:^a b Karadimas, Nektarios; Momigliano, Nicoletta (2004). « On the Term ‘Minoan’ before Evans’s Work in Crete (1894) » (PDF). Studi micenei ed egeo-anatolici. Roma: Edizione del ‘Ateneo. 46 (2): 243–258.
7. Jump up^ Evans 1921, p. 1.
8. Jump up^ R W Hutchinson (1965). Prehistoric Crete. Pelican.
9. Jump up^ Manning, Sturt W; Ramsey, CB; Kutschera, W; Higham, T; Kromer, B; Steier, P; Wild, EM (2006). « Chronology for the Aegean Late Bronze Age 1700–1400 BC ». Science. American Association for the Advancement of Science. 312 (5773): 565–569. Bibcode:2006Sci…312..565M. doi:10.1126/science.1125682. PMID 16645092. Retrieved 2007-03-10.
10. Jump up^ Friedrich, Walter L; Kromer, B; Friedrich, M; Heinemeier, J; Pfeiffer, T; Talamo, S (2006). « Santorini Eruption Radiocarbon Dated to 1627–1600 B.C ». Science. American Association for the Advancement of Science. 312 (5773): 548. doi:10.1126/science.1125087. PMID 16645088. Retrieved 2007-03-10.
11. Jump up^ « Chronology ». Thera Foundation. Retrieved 2009-01-03.
12. Jump up^ Balter, M (2006). « New Carbon Dates Support Revised History of Ancient Mediterranean ». Science. 312 (5773): 508–509. doi:10.1126/science.312.5773.508. PMID 16645054.
13. Jump up^ Warren PM (2006). Czerny E, Hein I, Hunger H, Melman D, Schwab A, eds. Timelines: Studies in Honour of Manfred Bietak (Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta 149). Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium: Peeters. pp. 2: 305–321. ISBN 90-429-1730-X.
14. Jump up^ Wilford, J.N., « On Crete, New Evidence of Very Ancient Mariners », The New York Times, Feb 2010
15. Jump up^ Bowner, B., « Hominids Went Out of Africa on Rafts », Wired, Jan 2010
16. Jump up^ Broodbank, C.; Strasser, T. (1991). « Migrant farmers and the Neolithic colonisation of Crete ». Antiquity. 65 (247): 233–245. doi:10.1017/s0003598x00079680.
17. Jump up^ R.J. King, S.S. Ozcan et al., « Differential Y-chromosome Anatolian influences on the Greek and Cretan Neolithic » Archived 2009-03-05 at the Wayback Machine.
18. ^ Jump up to:^a b Hermann Bengtson: Griechische Geschichte, C.H. Beck, München, 2002. 9th Edition. ISBN 340602503X. pp.8–15
19. Jump up^ Hermann Kinder & Werner Hilgemann, Anchor Atlas of World History, (Anchor Press: New York, 1974) p. 33.
20. Jump up^ Carl Roebuck, The World of Ancient Times (Charles Scribner’s Sons: New York, 1966) p. 101.
21. ^ Jump up to:^{a b c d e f} Karl-Wilhelm Welwei: Die Griechische Frühzeit, C.H. Beck, München, 2002. ISBN 3406479855. pp.12–18
22. Jump up^ Beck, Roger B.; Linda Black; Larry S. Krieger; Phillip C. Naylor; Dahia Ibo Shabaka (1999). World History: Patterns of Interaction. Evanston, IL: McDougal Littell. ISBN 0-395-87274-X.
23. Jump up^ All estimates have been revised downward by Todd Whitelaw, “Estimating the Population of Neopalatial Knossos,” in G. Cadogan, E. Hatzaki, and A. Vasilakis (eds.), Knossos: Palace, City, State (British School at Athens Studies 12) (London 2004); at Moschlos in eastern Crete, the population expansion was at the end of the Neoplalatial period (Jeffrey S. Soles and Davaras, Moschlos IA 2002: Preface p. xvii).
24. Jump up^ McEnroe, John C. (1 May 2010). « Architecture of Minoan Crete: Constructing Identity in the Aegean Bronze Age ». University of Texas Press – via Google Books.
25. Jump up^ (Driesson, Jan, and MacDonald, Colin F. 2000)
26. Jump up^ Carl Roebuck, The World of Ancient Times p. 77.
27. Jump up^ Roebuck, p. 107.
28. Jump up^ Kozloff, Arielle P. (20 February 2012). « Amenhotep III: Egypt’s Radiant Pharaoh ». Cambridge University Press – via Google Books.
29. Jump up^ « Minos ». Universidad de Salamanca. 1 January 1999 – via Google Books.
30. Jump up^ BBC « The Minoan Civilisation of Crete »: « The later Minoan towns are in more and more inaccessible places, the last one being at Karfi, high in the Dikti Mountains. From that time onward, there are no traces of the Minoans ».
31. Jump up^ For instance, the uplift as much as 9 metres in western Crete linked with the earthquake of 365 is discussed in L. Stathis, C. Stiros, « The 8.5+ magnitude, AD365 earthquake in Crete: Coastal uplift, topography changes, archaeological and Ihistorical signature, » Quaternary International (23 May 2009).
32. ^ Jump up to:^a b « Thera and the Aegean World III ». Archived from the original on 2010-04-25. Retrieved 2009-09-13.
33. Jump up^ Donald W. Jones (1999) Peak Sanctuaries and Sacred Caves in Minoan Crete ISBN 91-7081-153-9
34. ^ Jump up to:^a b « The Knossos Labyrinth ».
35. Jump up^ « Minoan Life in Bronze Age Crete ».
36. Jump up^ « Atlantis Destroyed ».
37. Jump up^ « Remains of Minoan fresco found at Tel Kabri »; « Remains Of Minoan-Style Painting Discovered During Excavations of Canaanite Palace », ScienceDaily, 7 December 2009
38. Jump up^ Best, Jan G. P.; Vries, Nanny M. W. de (1 January 1980). « Interaction and Acculturation in the Mediterranean: Proceedings of the Second International Congress of Mediterranean Pre- and Protohistory, Amsterdam, 19–23 November 1980 ». John Benjamins Publishing – via Google Books.
39. Jump up^ « The Minoans ».
40. Jump up^ Hägg and Marinatos 1984; Hardy (ed.) 1984; Broadbank 2004
41. Jump up^ Branigan, Keith (1 January 1981). « Minoan Colonialism ». The Annual of the British School at Athens. 76: 23–33. doi:10.1017/s0068245400019444. JSTOR 30103026– via JSTOR.
42. Jump up^ J. N. Coldstream and G. L. Huxley, Kythera: Excavations and Studies Conducted by the University of Pennsylvania Museum and the British School at Athens (London: Faber & Faber) 1972.
43. Jump up^ E. M. Melas, The Islands of Karpathos, Saros and Kasos in the Neolithic and Bronze Age (Studies in Mediterranean archaeology 68) (Göteburg) 1985.
44. Jump up^ James Penrose Harland, Prehistoric Aigina: A History of the Island in the Bronze Age, ch. V. (Paris) 1925.
45. Jump up^ Arne Furumark, « The settlement at Ialysos and Aegean history c. 1500-1400 B.B. », in Opuscula archaeologica 6 (Lund) 1950;T. Marketou, « New Evidence on the Topography and Site History of Prehistoric Ialysos. » in Soren Dietz and Ioannis Papachristodoulou (eds.), Archaeology in the Dodecanese (1988:28–31).
46. Jump up^ Dickinson, O (1994) Pg. 248
47. Jump up^ Hoffman, Gail L. (1 January 1997). « Imports and Immigrants: Near Eastern Contacts with Iron Age Crete ». University of Michigan Press – via Google Books.
48. ^ Jump up to:^a b Sinclair Hood (1971) « The Minoans; the story of Bronze Age Crete »
49. Jump up^ Sinclair Hood (1971) « The Minoans; the story of Bronze Age Crete » p.87
50. Jump up^ However, Hamilakis raised doubts in 2007 that systematic polyculture was practiced on Crete. (Hamilakis, Y. (2007) Wiley.com
51. Jump up^ Sherratt, A. (1981) Plough and Pastoralism: Aspects of the Secondary Products Revolution
52. Jump up^ Sinclair Hood (1971), The Minoans; The Story of Bronze Age Crete, pp. 86
53. Jump up^ Hamilakis, Y (1999) Food Technologies/Technologies of the Body: The Social Context of Wine and Oil Production and Consumption in Bronze Age Crete [1]
54. Jump up^ Dickinson, O (1994) The Aegean Bronze Age pg. 28)
55. Jump up^ https://books.google.com/books?id=g8eIAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA113
56. Jump up^ Sinclair Hood (1971), The Minoans; The Story of Bronze Age Crete, pp. 83
57. Jump up^ Patricia Rosof Family History p.12
58. Jump up^ [2]
59. ^ Jump up to:^a b « Classical Views ». Classical Association of Canada. 1 January 2000 – via Google Books.
60. Jump up^ Nilsson, Martin Persson (1 January 1950). « The Minoan-Mycenaean Religion and Its Survival in Greek Religion ». Biblo & Tannen Publishers – via Google Books.
61. Jump up^ « Minoan Dress ».
62. Jump up^ Hood, Sinclair. The Minoans: Crete in the Bronze Age. Thames and Hudson, 1971, pg.114
63. ^ Jump up to:^a b Hood, Sinclair. The Minoans: Crete in the Bronze Age. Thames and Hudson, 1971, pg.111
64. Jump up^ Davis, Simon (1 January 1960). « The Decipherment of the Linear A and Linear B Scripts of the Minoan Crete and Mycenaean Greece: Inaugural Lecture Delivered 15 April 1959 ». Witwatersrand University Press – via Google Books.
65. Jump up^ Jaqueline Tyrwhitt (1 May 2015). Society and Environment: A Historical Review. Taylor & Francis. p. 48. ISBN 978-1-317-43466-5.
66. Jump up^ Sarah Iles Johnston (2004). Religions of the Ancient World: A Guide. Harvard University Press. p. 206. ISBN 978-0-674-01517-3.
67. Jump up^ Bury, J. B.; Meiggs, Russell (1956). A history of Greece to the death of Alexander the Great (3 ed.). London: Macmillan. p. 18.
68. Jump up^ Burn, A. R. (1988). The Pelican history of Greece. Penguin. p. 38.
69. Jump up^ Hammond, N. G. L. (1967). A history of Greece to 322 B. C. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 30.
70. Jump up^ Hood, Sinclair (1967). The home of the heroes: The Aegean before the Greeks. London: Thames and Hudson. p. 90.
71. Jump up^ Evidence of Minoan Astronomy and Calendrical Practises
72. Jump up^ Marinatos, Nanno. Minoan Kingship and the Solar Goddess: A Near Eastern Koine(2013).
73. Jump up^ MacKenzie 1917, p. 59
74. ^ Jump up to:^a b Nanno Marinatos (2004). « Minoan and Mycenaean Civilizations ». In Sarah Isles Johnston. Religions of the Ancient World: A Guide. Harvard University Press. pp. 206–207. ISBN 978-0674015173.
75. Jump up^ [3] Sailors, Cara. “The Function of Mythology and Religion in Ancient Greek Society.” East Tennessee State University, Digital Commons, 2008, dc.etsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3471&context=etd.
76. Jump up^ Harissis, Haralampos V.; Harissis, Anastasios V. (2009). Apiculture in the Prehistoric Aegean: Minoan and Mycenaean Symbols Revisited. British Archaeological Reports (S1958). ISBN 978-1-4073-0454-0.
77. Jump up^ In the small courtyard of the east wing of the palace of Knossos.
78. Jump up^ An ivory figure reproduced by Spyridon Marinatos and Max Hirmer, Crete and Mycenae (New York) 1960, fig. 97, also shows the bull dance.
79. Jump up^ Sinclair Hood (1971) The Minoans; The Story of Bronze Age Crete, pp. 140
80. Jump up^ Ian Douglas, Cities: An Environmental History, p. 16, I.B. Tauris: London and New York (2013)
81. Jump up^ D. Preziosi and L.A. Hitchcock Aegean Art and Architecture pg. 48–9, Oxford University Press (1999)
82. Jump up^ Dudley J. Moore (2015). In Search of the Classical World: An Introduction to the Ancient Aegean. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. p. 12. ISBN 978-1-4438-8145-6.
83. Jump up^ Demetrios Protopsaltis (May 2012). An Encyclopedic Chronology of Greece and Its History. Xlibris Corporation. p. 52. ISBN 978-1-4691-3999-9.
84. Jump up^ Marvin Perry (2012). Western Civilization: A Brief History, Volume I: To 1789. Cengage Learning. p. 37. ISBN 978-1-133-71418-7.
85. Jump up^ Preziosi, D. & Hitchcock, L.A. (1999) pg. 86
86. Jump up^ Preziosi, D. & Hitchcock, L.A. (1999) Pg. 121
87. Jump up^ Scarre, Christopher; Stefoff, Rebecca (2003). « 4, Knossos Today ». The Palace of Minos at Knossos. New York: Oxford University. ISBN 978-0195142723.
88. Jump up^ Castleden, Rodney (1990). The Knossos Labyrinth : A New View of the ‘Palace of Minos’ at Knossos. London: Routledge.
89. Jump up^ J.B, Rose; A.N, Angelakis (2014). Evolution of Sanitation and Wastewater Technologies through the Centuries. London: IWA Publishing. p. 2.
90. Jump up^ J.B, Rose; A.N, Angelakis (2014). Evolution of Sanitation and Wastewater Technologies Through the Centuries. London: IWA Publishing. p. 5.
91. Jump up^ Benton and DiYanni 1998, p. 67.
92. Jump up^ Bourbon 1998, p 34
93. Jump up^ Letesson, Quentin. « Minoan Halls: A Syntactical Genealogy ». Retrieved 7 April2017.
94. Jump up^ Hood, Sinclair (1985). « The Primitive Aspects of Minoan Artistic Convention ». Bulletin de Correspondence Héllenique. Suppl. 11: 21–26.
95. Jump up^ https://books.google.com/books?id=hR5FBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA139
96. Jump up^ Thomas Sakoulas. « Minoan Art ».
97. Jump up^ « Greek Jewelry – AJU ».
98. Jump up^ Hemingway, Séan (1 January 1996). « Minoan Metalworking in the Postpalatial Period: A Deposit of Metallurgical Debris from Palaikastro ». The Annual of the British School at Athens. 91: 213–252. doi:10.1017/s0068245400016488. JSTOR 30102549.
99. Jump up^ Rehak, Paul (1997). « Aegean Art Before and After the LM IB Cretan Destructions ». In Laffineur, Robert; Betancourt, Philip P. TEXNH. Craftsmen, Craftswomen and Craftsmanship in the Aegean Bronze Age / Artisanat et artisans en Égée à l’âge du Bronze: Proceedings of the 6th International Aegean Conference / 6e Rencontre égéenne internationale, Philadelphia, Temple University, 18–21 April 1996. Liège: Université de Liège, Histoire de l’art et archéologie de la Grèce antique. p. 145. ISBN 9781935488118.
100. Jump up^ Clarke, Christina F. (2013). The Manufacture of Minoan Metal Vessels: Theory and Practice. Uppsala: Åströms Förlag. p. 1. ISBN 978-91-7081-249-1.
101. Jump up^ Davis, Ellen N. (1977). The Vapheio Cups and Aegean Gold and Silver Ware. New York: Garland Pub. ISBN 9780824026813.
102. Jump up^ Matthäus, Hartmut (1980). Die Bronzegefässe der kretisch-mykenischen Kultur. München: C.H. Beck. ISBN 9783406040023.
103. Jump up^ Catling, Hector W. (1964). Cypriot Bronzework in the Mycenaean World. Oxford: Clarendon Press. p. 187.
104. Jump up^ Davis 1977, pp. 328–352
105. Jump up^ Niemeier, W.-B. « Mycenaean Knossos and the Age of Linear B ». Studi micenei ed egeoanatolici. 1982: 275.
106. Jump up^ « Pax Minoica in Aegean – News – ekathimerini.com ».
107. Jump up^ Alexiou wrote of fortifications and acropolises in Minoan Crete, in Kretologia 8 (1979), pp 41–56, and especially in C.G. Starr, « Minoan flower-lovers » in The Minoan Thalassocracy: Myth and Reality R. Hägg and N. Marinatos, eds. (Stockholm) 1994, pp 9–12.
108. Jump up^ Gere, Knossos and the Prophets of Modernism
109. Jump up^ Nixon 1983.
110. Jump up^ Driessen 1999.
111. Jump up^ Branigan 1999, pp. 87–94.
112. Jump up^ Early Aegean Warrior 5000–1450 BC Archived 2014-05-08 at the Wayback Machine. Osprey Publishing, 2013.
113. Jump up^ Rehak 1999.
114. Jump up^ Floyd 1999.
115. Jump up^ Hood, S. The Minoans, 1971. Thames and Hudson Ltd: London
116. Jump up^ Branigan 1999, p. 92.
117. Jump up^ Krzyszkowska 1999.
118. Jump up^ « Santorini eruption much larger than originally believed ». 2006. Retrieved 2007-03-10.
119. Jump up^ McCoy, FW, & Dunn, SE (2002). « Modelling the Climatic Effects of the LBA Eruption of Thera: New Calculations of Tephra Volumes May Suggest a Significantly Larger Eruption than Previously Reported » (PDF). Chapman Conference on Volcanism and the Earth’s Atmosphere. Thera, Greece: American Geographical Union. Retrieved 2007-05-29.
120. Jump up^ Sigurdsson H, Carey, S, Alexandri M, Vougioukalakis G, Croff K, Roman C, Sakellariou D, Anagnostou C, Rousakis G, Ioakim C, Gogou A, Ballas D, Misaridis T, & Nomikou P (2006). « Marine Investigations of Greece’s Santorini or Akrotiri Volcanic Field » (PDF). Eos. 87 (34): 337–348. Bibcode:2006EOSTr..87..337S. doi:10.1029/2006EO340001. Archived from the original (–^{Scholar search}) on June 30, 2007.
121. Jump up^ Vergano, Dan (2006-08-27). « Ye gods! Ancient volcano could have blasted Atlantis myth ». USA Today. Retrieved 2008-03-09.
122. Jump up^ Marinatos, S (1939). « The Volcanic Destruction of Minoan Crete ». Antiquity. 13: 425–439.
123. Jump up^ Callender, G (1999). The Minoans and the Mycenaeans: Aegean Society in the Bronze Age. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195510283.
124. ^ Jump up to:^a b Antonopoulos, J. (1992). « The great Minoan eruption of Thera volcano and the ensuing tsunami in the Greek Archipelago ». Natural Hazards. 5 (2): 153–168. doi:10.1007/BF00127003.
125. Jump up^ Pareschi, MT, Favalli, M & Boschi, E (2006). « Impact of the Minoan tsunami of Santorini: Simulated scenarios in the eastern Mediterranean ». Geophysical Research Letters. 33 (18): L18607. Bibcode:2006GeoRL..3318607P. doi:10.1029/2006GL027205.
126. Jump up^ LaMoreaux, PE (1995). « Worldwide environmental impacts from the eruption of Thera ». Environmental Geology. 26 (3): 172–181. Bibcode:1995EnGeo..26..172L. doi:10.1007/BF00768739.
127. Jump up^ Dickinson, O (1994) The Aegean Bronze Age pg. 22
128. Jump up^ « Minoan Culture Survived Ancient Volcano, Evidence Shows ». The New York Times. 28 November 1989.
129. Jump up^ Bruce Bowen: Mycenae and Minoan Crete, 2000,
130. Jump up^ Sinclair Hood (1971), The Minoans; The Story of Bronze Age Crete, pp. 58
131. Jump up^ Pendlebury & Evans 2003.
132. Jump up^ C. Michael Hogan, « Knossos fieldnotes », Modern Antiquarian (2007)
133. Jump up^ Katz, Brigit. « DNA Analysis Sheds Light on the Mysterious Origins of the Ancient Greeks ». Smithsonian.
134. ^ Jump up to:^a b Hughey, Jeffrey (2013). « A European population in Minoan Bronze Age Crete ». Nature Communications. 4: 1861. Bibcode:2013NatCo…4E1861H. doi:10.1038/ncomms2871. Retrieved 19 May 2013.
135. ^ Jump up to:^a b Tia Ghose, LiveScience: “Mysterious Minoans Were European, DNA Finds”, 2013,
136. Jump up^ « Minoans Were European, Genetic Study Reveals – Ancient Civilizations ». LiveScience.com.
137. Jump up^ Wolinsky, Howard (2008). « Our history, our genes. Population genetics lets researchers look back in time at human migrations ». EMBO Reports. 9: 127–9. doi:10.1038/sj.embor.7401164. PMC 2246420 . PMID 18246104.
138. Jump up^ Fernández, E; Pérez-Pérez, A; Gamba, C; Prats, E; Cuesta, P; et al. (2014). « Ancient DNA Analysis of 8000 B.C. Near Eastern Farmers Supports an Early Neolithic Pioneer Maritime Colonization of Mainland Europe through Cyprus and the Aegean Islands ». PLoS Genet. 10 (6): e1004401. doi:10.1371/journal.pgen.1004401.
139. Jump up^ Martinz, L; Mirabal, S; Luiz, JR; Herrera, RJ; et al. (2008). « Middle Eastern and European mtDNA lineages characterize populations from eastern Crete ». Am J Phys Anthropol. 137: 213–23. doi:10.1002/ajpa.20857. PMID 18500747.

Library resources about Minoan Civilization

Online books Resources in your library Resources in other libraries

References

• Baboula, Evanthia (2000). « ‘Buried’ Metals in Late Minoan Inheritance Customs ». In Pare, C. F. E. Metals Make the World Go Round: The Supply and Circulation of Metals in Bronze Age Europe : Proceedings of a Conference Held at the University of Birmingham in June 1997. Oxford: Oxbow. pp. 70–81. ISBN 9781842170199.
• Benton, Janetta Rebold and DiYanni, Robert. Arts and Culture: An Introduction to the Humanities. Volume 1. Prentice Hall. New Jersey, 1998.
• Bourbon, F. Lost Civilizations. Barnes and Noble, Inc. New York, 1998.
• Branigan, Keith, 1970. The Foundations of Palatial Crete.
• Branigan, Keith (1999). « The Nature of Warfare in the Southern Aegean During the Third Millennium BC ». In Laffineur, Robert. Polemos: Le Contexte Guerrier en Egee a L’Age du Bronze. Actes de la 7e Rencontre egeenne internationale Universite de Liège, 1998. Universite de Liège, Histoire de l’art d’archeologie de la Grece antique. pp. 87–94.
• Burkert, Walter, 1985. Greek Religion. J. Raffan, trans. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. ISBN 0-674-36281-0
• Cadogan, Gerald, 1992,  » Ancient and Modern Crete, » in Myers et al., 1992, Aerial Atlas of Ancient Crete.
• Callender, Gae (1999) The Minoans and the Mycenaeans: Aegean Society in the Bronze Age Oxford university press, Victoria 3205, Australia
• Castleden, Rodney (1993). Minoans: Life in Bronze Age Crete. Routledge. ISBN 0415040701. 041508833X.
• Catling, Hector W. (1964). Cypriot Bronzework in the Mycenaean World. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
• Clarke, Christina F. (2013). The Manufacture of Minoan Metal Vessels: Theory and Practice. Uppsala: Åströms Förlag. ISBN 978-91-7081-249-1.
• Clarke, Christina (2014). « Minoan Metal Vessel Manufacture: Reconstructing Techniques and Technology with Experimental Archaeology » (PDF). In Scott, Rebecca B.; Braekmans, Dennis; Carremans, Mike; Degryse, Patrick. 39th International Symposium on Archaeometry: 28 May – 1 June 2012 Leuven, Belgium. Leuven: Centre for Archaeological Sciences, KU Leuven. pp. 81–85.
• Crowley, Janice L. (1989). The Aegean and the East: An Investigation into the Transference of Artistic Motifs between the Aegean, Egypt, and the Near East in the Bronze Age. Göteborg: Åström. ISBN 9789186098551.
• Davis, Ellen N. (1977). The Vapheio Cups and Aegean Gold and Silver Ware. New York: Garland Pub. ISBN 9780824026813.
• Dickinson, Oliver (1994; 2005 re-print) The Aegean Bronze Age, Cambridge World Archaeology, Cambridge University Press.
• Driessen, Jan (1999). « The Archaeology of Aegean Warfare ». In Laffineur, Robert. Polemos: Le Contexte Guerrier en Egee a L’Age du Bronze. Actes de la 7e Rencontre egeenne internationale Universite de Liège, 1998. Universite de Liège, Histoire de l’art d’archeologie de la Grece antique. pp. 11–20.
• Driessen J., Langohr C. (2014), « Recent developments in the archaeology of Minoan Crete », Pharos, 20: 75–115; doi:10.2143/PHA.20.1.3064537.
• —— (1921). The Palace of Minos: a comparative account of the successive stages of the early Cretan civilization as illustrated by the discoveries at Knossos. Volume I: The Neolithic and Early and Middle Minoan Ages.
• Sir Arthur Evans, 1921–35. The Palace of Minos: A Comparative Account of the Successive Stages of the Early Cretan Civilization as Illustrated by the Discoveries at Knossos, 4 vols. in 6 (reissued 1964).
• Floyd, Cheryl (1999). « Observations on a Minoan Dagger from Chrysokamino ». In Laffineur, Robert. Polemos: Le Contexte Guerrier en Egee a L’Age du Bronze. Actes de la 7e Rencontre egeenne internationale Universite de Liège, 1998. Universite de Liège, Histoire de l’art d’archeologie de la Grece antique. pp. 433–442.
• Furumark, Arne (1972). Mycenaean Pottery I: Analysis and Classification (Reprint 1941 ed.). Stockholm: Åström. ISBN 9185086045.
• Gates, Charles, 1999. « Why Are There No Scenes of Warfare in Minoan Art? » pp 277–284 In Laffineur, Robert, ed., Polemos: Le Contexte Guerrier en Egee a L’Age du Bronze. Actes de la 7e Rencontre egeenne internationale Universite de Liège, 1998. Universite de Liège, Histoire de l’art d’archeologie de la Grece antique.
• Gere, Cathy. Knossos and the Prophets of Modernism, University of Chicago Press 2009.
• Gesell, G.C. (1983). « The Place of the Goddess in Minoan Society ». In O. Krzyszkowska; L. Nixon. Minoan Society. Bristol.
• Hemingway, Séan (1 January 1996). « Minoan Metalworking in the Postpalatial Period: A Deposit of Metallurgical Debris from Palaikastro ». The Annual of the British School at Athens. 91: 213–252. doi:10.1017/s0068245400016488. JSTOR 30102549.
• Hutchinson, Prehistoric Crete, many editions hardcover and softcover
• Goodison, Lucy, and Christine Morris, 1998, « Beyond the Great Mother: The Sacred World of the Minoans, » in Goodison, Lucy, and Christine Morris, eds., Ancient Goddesses: The Myths and the Evidence, London: British Museum Press, pp. 113–132.
• Hägg, R. and N. Marinatos, eds. The Minoan Thalassocracy: Myth and Reality (Stockholm) 1994. A summary of revived points-of-view of a Minoan thalassocracy, especially in LMI..
• Haralampos V. Harissis, Anastasios V. Harissis. Apiculture in the Prehistoric Aegean. Minoan and Mycenaean Symbols Revisited British Archaeological Reports S1958, 2009 ISBN 978-1-4073-0454-0.
• Higgins, Reynold, 1981. Minoan and Mycenaean Art, (revised edition).
• Hogan, C. Michael, 2007. Knossos fieldnotes, Modern Antiquarian
• Hood, Sinclair, 1971, The Minoans: Crete in the Bronze Age. London.
• Hood, Sinclair, 1971. The Minoans: The Story of Bronze Age Crete
• Hughes, Dennis, 1991. Human Sacrifice in Ancient Greece. Routledge: London.
• Hutchinson, Richard W., 1962. Prehistoric Crete(reprinted 1968)
• Kristiansen, Kristiansen & Larsson, Thomas B. (2005) The Rise of Bronze Age Society: Travels, Transmissions and Transformations Cambridge University Press
• Krzyszkowska, Olga (1999). « So Where’s the Loot? The Spoils of War and the Archaeological Record ». In Laffineur, Robert. Polemos: Le Contexte Guerrier en Egee a L’Age du Bronze. Actes de la 7e Rencontre egeenne internationale Universite de Liège, 1998. Université de Liège, Histoire de l’art d’archeologie de la Grece antique. pp. 489–498.
• Lapatin, Kenneth, 2002. Mysteries of the Snake Goddess: Art, Desire, and the Forging of History. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 0-306-81328-9
• MacKenzie, Donald A. (1917). Myths of Crete & Pre-Hellenic Europe.
• Manning, S.W., 1995. « An approximate Minoan Bronze Age chronology » in A.B. Knapp, ed., The absolute chronology of the Aegean Early Bronze Age: Archaeology, radiocarbon and history (Appendix 8), in series Monographs in Mediterranean Archaeology, Vol. 1 (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press) A standard current Minoan chronology.
• Marinatos, Nanno, 1993. Minoan Religion: Ritual, Image, and Symbol. Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina Press.
• Marinatos, Spyridon, 1960. Crete and Mycenae(originally published in Greek, 1959), photographs by Max Hirmer.
• Marinatos, Spyridon, 1972. « Life and Art in Prehistoric Thera, » in Proceedings of the British Academy, vol 57.
• Matthäus, Hartmut (1980). Die Bronzegefässe der kretisch-mykenischen Kultur. München: C.H. Beck. ISBN 9783406040023.
• Mellersh, H.E.L., 1967. Minoan Crete. New York, G.P. Putnam’s Sons.
• Nixon, L. (1983). « Changing Views of Minoan Society ». In L. Nixon. Minoan society: Proceedings of the Cambridge Colloquium, 1981.
• Papadopoulos, John K., « Inventing the Minoans: Archaeology, Modernity and the Quest for European Identity », Journal of Mediterranean Archaeology 18:1:87-149 (June 2005)
• Pedley, John Griffiths. Greek Art and Archaeology. ISBN 0-205-00133-5.
• Pendlebury, J. D. S.; Evans, Arthur (2003). Handbook to the Palace of Minos at Knossos with Its Dependencies(2nd ed.). Kessinger Publishing. ISBN 0-7661-3916-6.
• Preziosi, Donald & Hitchcock, Louise A. (1999) Aegean Art and Architecture, Oxford History of Art series, Oxford University Press.
• Preston, Laura (2008). « Late Minoan II to IIIB Crete ». In Shelmerdine, Cynthia W. The Cambridge Companion to the Aegean Bronze Age. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 310–326. doi:10.1017/CCOL9780521814447.014. ISBN 9781139001892.
• Quigley, Carroll, 1961. The Evolution of Civilizations: An Introduction to Historical Analysis, Indianapolis: Liberty Press.
• Rehak, Paul (1997). « Aegean Art Before and After the LM IB Cretan Destructions ». In Laffineur, Robert; Betancourt, Philip P. TEXNH. Craftsmen, Craftswomen and Craftsmanship in the Aegean Bronze Age / Artisanat et artisans en Égée à l’âge du Bronze: Proceedings of the 6th International Aegean Conference / 6e Rencontre égéenne internationale, Philadelphia, Temple University, 18–21 April 1996. Liège: Université de Liège, Histoire de l’art et archéologie de la Grèce antique. p. 145. ISBN 9781935488118.
• Rehak, Paul (1999). « The Mycenaean ‘Warrior Goddess’ Revisited ». In Laffineur, Robert. Polemos: Le Contexte Guerrier en Egee a L’Age du Bronze. Actes de la 7e Rencontre egeenne internationale Universite de Liège, 1998. Universite de Liège, Histoire de l’art d’archeologie de la Grece antique. pp. 227–240.
• Sakellarakis, Y. & E. Sapouna-Sakellarakis (1981). « Drama of Death in a Minoan Temple ». National Geographic. 159 (2): 205–222.
• Schoep, Ilse, 2004. « Assessing the role of architecture in conspicuous consumption in the Middle Minoan I-II Periods. » Oxford Journal of Archaeology vol 23/3, pp. 243–269.
• Sherratt, Andrew; Taylor, Timothy (1989). « Metal Vessels in Bronze Age Europe and the Context of Vulchetrun ». In Best, Jan Gijsbert Pieter; De Vries, Manny M. W. Thracians and Mycenaeans: Proceedings of the Fourth International Congress of Thracology, Rotterdam, 24–26 September 1984. Leiden: Brill Archive. pp. 106–134. ISBN 9789004088641.
• Soles, Jeffrey S., 1992, The Prepalatial Cemeteries at Mochlos and Gournia and the House Tombs of Bronze Age Crete: And the House Tombs of Bronze Age Crete, Published by ASCSA, 1992.
• Soles, Jeffrey S. (2008). Mochlos IIA: Period IV: The Mycenaean Settlement and Cemetery: The Sites. INSTAP Academic Press. ISBN 9781931534239.
• Warren P., Hankey V., 1989. Aegean Bronze Age Chronology (Bristol).
• Watrous, L. Vance (1991), « The origin and iconography of the Late Minoan painted larnax », Hesperia, 60(3): 285–307; JSTOR 148065.
• Willetts, R. F., 1976 (1995 edition). The Civilization of Ancient Crete. New York: Barnes & Noble Books. ISBN 1-84212-746-2
• Wright, James C. (2004). « A Survey of Evidence for Feasting in Mycenaean Society ». Hesperia. 73 (2): 133–178. doi:10.2972/hesp.2004.73.2.133. JSTOR 4134891.
• Yule, Paul. Early Cretan Seals: A Study of Chronology. Marburger Studien zur Vor- und Frühgeschichte 4, Mainz 1980 ISBN 3-8053-0490-

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minoan_civilization

http://www.giacobbegcom