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CRETE. 



Crete. tion have a relation to war, a nation of soldiers was 

 T""™" formed, all exercised and expert in the use of arms, and 

 capable of defending their property and independence. 

 They were particularly distinguished for their skill in 

 archery ; and " the arrows of Gortyna," (a city of Crete) 

 says Claudian, " when happily directed, carry certain 

 wounds, and never miss their aim." Crete at last be- 

 came so famous among the Grecian states, that it was 

 considered as the best school for learning the military 

 art ; and many foreigners resorted thither for that pur- 

 pose. " Philopoemon," says Plutarch, " being ardently 

 desirous of acquiring knowledge in the profession of 

 arms, embarked for Crete; where having exercised him- 

 self among that warlike people, well versed in every 

 military art, and accustomed to lead a frugal and aus- 

 tere life, he returned to the Achaeans, and so much dis- 

 tinguished himself by the knowledge he had acquired, 

 that he was appointed commander of the horse." 



Minos has been greatly blamed for making war the 

 principal object of his institutions. But it should be 

 Temembered, that as he considered liberty to be the 

 best foundation of a nation's happiness, it was necessary 

 that his subjects should be formed capable of maintain- 

 ing it against every opponent ; and it may be observed, 

 that though the system of his laws throughout breathe 

 a martial spirit, yet no prince could be more averse to 

 foreign conquest. Unprovoked warfare, he considered 

 as a system of violence and injustice, which, instead of 

 aggrandising or promoting the happiness of the victo- 

 rious nation, tended rather to enfeeble it, by wasting its 

 resources and corrupting its morals. Minos, therefore, 

 endeavoured to keep his people continually employed 

 in gymnastic exercises, in the pleasures of the chace, 

 and in public shows ; and thus by banishing idleness, 

 he prevented the wish of seeking imaginary glory by 

 foreign conquest. But in the midst of warlike exercises 

 and athletic amusements, the fine arts were not forgot- 

 ten ; but appear rather to have been encouraged and 

 cultivated with great success. Ptolemy* says, the Cre- 

 tans were even more anxious to cultivate their minds, 

 than to exercise their bodies ; and they displayed their 

 munificence to Homer, by giving him a thousand crowns. 

 Thales of Gortyna, the instructor of Lycurgus, was an 

 eminent philosopher and poet ; and so great was the ef- 

 fect of his poetry, as we learn from Plutarch, t that 

 when exhorting the people to unanimity, they found 

 their understandings, hearts, and ears, equally persuaded 

 and charmed ; and enamoured with the blessings of 

 peace, which he painted in the most lively colours, gra- 

 dually suffered their animosity to subside. The poet 

 Epimenides, who was so highly esteemed at Athens in 

 the time of Solon, was likewise a Cretan, as were also 

 Ctesiphon, and his son Metagenes, who displayed such 

 admirable skill in building the celebrated temple of Dia- 

 na at Ephesus. The Cretans regularly frequented the 

 solemnities of Greece, and some of them are immortali- 

 zed by Pindar J as victors in the Olympic, Nemean, 

 and Pythian games. 



Minos, like many other ancient lawgivers, pretended 

 that his laws were not the dictates of men, but the sug- 

 gestions of the Deity, and consequently ought to be re- 

 ceived with the utmost submission and respect. He 



often retired into a cave in Mount Ida, where he boast- 

 ed of having familiar conversations with Jupiter ; and 

 one of his institutions, which Plato considered as the 

 most admirable, was, that young men were not to in- 

 dulge an indiscreet cmiosity respecting the laws; nor 

 examine whether he did right or wrong to enact them, 

 but were to obey them because they proceeded from the 

 gods. If any defects should be observed in them by 

 the old men, they were commanded to address them- 

 selves to a magistrate, or to discuss the subject with 

 their equals ; but never in the presence of young peo- 

 ple. 



It is, however, rather a reproach to this wise legisla- 

 tor, who in his institutions studied so much the happi- 

 ness of his subjects, and put such a high value upon li- 

 berty, that while the Cretans lived in honourable free- 

 dom, a larger portion of mankind was for their sakes 

 doomed to irredeemable slavery. All the labours of 

 agriculture were performed by slaves and mercenaries, 

 who were obliged to pay a certain annual tribute to 

 their masters, from which were first deducted the sums 

 necessary for the exigencies of the state. They were 

 called Periccci, " apparently," says Mr Rollin, " be- 

 cause they were taken from the neighbouring people 

 whom Minos had subdued." But Mr Mitford is of a 

 different opinion, and says, that " it is difficult to ac- 

 count for the first establishment of such a system, but 

 upon the supposition that an Egyptian or Phoenician 

 colony, seizing the lands, like the Spaniards in the West 

 India islands, deprived the inhabitants of arms, and 

 compelled them to labour." We are assured, however, 

 that they were treated with mildness and humanity ; 

 for it was an ancient custom in Crete, which was af- 

 terwards followed by the Romans, that, at the feast of 

 Mercury, the masters waited upon their slaves at table, 

 and rendered them the same service as they received 

 from them the rest of the year ; — " precious remains 

 and traces of the primitive world," says M. Rollin, " in 

 which all men were equal, that seemed to inform the 

 masters, that then servants were of the same condition 

 with themselves, and that to treat them with cruelty or 

 pride, was to renounce humanity." 



The monarchical form of government in Crete after 

 the Trojan war, gave place to a republic. Idomeneus 

 the grandson of Minos, who, together with his cousin 

 Merion, conducted eighty ships to the siege of Troy, 

 was probably the last of its lawful kings. At his de- 

 parture, he is said to have committed the government 

 to Leucus his adopted son, with the promise of his 

 daughter Clisitheia in marriage, if he ruled with wis- 

 dom until his return. But Leucus, taking advantage 

 of his long absence, seized upon the throne, after having 

 murdered Queen Mida and her daughter, as the only 

 impediments to his advancement ; and when Idomene- 

 us landed in Crete after the destruction of Troy, the 

 usurper, at the head of his partizans, compelled him to 

 return to his ships. § It is probable, however, that 

 Leucus did not long enjoy his exaltation, for soon after 

 the flight of Idomeneus, we find the monarchy at an 

 end. A republic succeeded, which consisted of ten 

 magistrates and thirty senators. The magistrates held 

 their office only for one year, and were elected in an as- 



Crete 



* Ptolcm. in Tetrab. lib. ii. + In Vita Lycurgi. t Ode xii. 



§ Servius, in Eneid, lib. jii. who is followed by Fenelon, relates the expulsion of Idomeneus in a different manner. He stales that 

 the king had vowed, during a violent tempest, that he would sacrifice to Neptune the first head he should meet on his arrival in Crete ; 

 and that his son being the first, he slew him, which so enraged the Cretans, that they'drove him from his kingdom. Herodotus, lib. vii. 

 says, that he brought the plague with him in his ships, and that Leucus availed himself of this pretext to procure his banish- 

 ment. -1 



