[Authors and titles are listed at the end of the review]
Cretan studies have come a long way since the monolithic focus in the twentieth century on the Bronze Age, a bias in its extreme form that relegated later periods to a banal “post-Minoan” twilight of comparative insignificance. A partial exception was made for the Early Iron Age by framing it as a corresponding low to the Bronze Age peak, a place of lingering Minoan elements. From this arose the assumptions of Cretan conservatism and exceptionalism. The study of Roman Crete arrived with Ian F. Sanders’s pioneering book of that title (1982), while George W. M. Harrison later built on this foundation with The Romans and Crete (1994). Then came the revolution in Cretan studies in the 2000s as a new generation of scholars tackled these formerly marginalized periods. They embraced earlier ones as well (Archaic, Classical, and Hellenistic). For Roman Crete, we now have Rebecca Sweetman’s The Mosaic of Roman Crete (2013) and several conference proceedings (Roman Crete: New Perspectives, ed. Francis and Kouremenos 2016; Change and Transition on Crete, ed. Francis and Curtis 2023).
It is against this background that the present work should be considered. This publication of conference proceedings presents recent research on Roman Crete through the lens of disruptions and upheavals. It is a maturing field only beginning to address fundamental questions about the island under Roman rule. Was Crete a typical province? What impact did Roman imperialism have here? Did imperial structures spur economic developments on the island? The eleven essays in this volume (twelve chapters including the introduction) consider these and other questions, framing them against the larger theme of historical disruptions. Such ruptures include punctuated changes suggested by the literary sources, such as the Roman conquest of Crete in 67 BCE, the later colony at Knossos, and the earthquake of 365 CE, as well as incremental change more along the lines of longue durée history. The latter include economic developments placing Crete within the wider currents of Mediterranean history.
In the introduction (chapter 1), the editors of the volume survey these historical turning points and emphasize Cretan resilience in the face of a changing world. Those unfamiliar with the main lines of Cretan history in the Roman period may want to consult the final contribution (chapter 12) before diving into the volume. Here George W. M. Harrison discusses historical transitions in more detail, with sections such as “Sunday, 21 July AD 365, dawn” side by side with “Resilience of Crete’s export economy in the 4th through 7th centuries AD.” These thread the needle between the two historical approaches (punctuated change and longue durée). The volume as a whole covers an enormous span of time, from the Hellenistic foundations of Roman Crete (third and second centuries BCE) to the Late Roman transition (fourth and fifth century CE). Only chapter 9 truly delves into the Late Roman period itself (seventh century CE) with a close look at ceramic production at Gortyn. Among other virtues, this volume provides an admirable introduction to the current state of archaeological research on Roman Crete.
Now for a discussion of the core studies. Adam Pałuchowski in chapter 2 (“Sacred manumissions”) examines two Hadrianic inscriptions from a sanctuary of Asklepios at Lissos, a port town on the south coast. These inscriptions belong to a well-known category of manumission documents in which a freed individual is consecrated to a deity, in both cases the same woman freed by a man named Demosthenes after bearing him children. A text and translation of these inscriptions precedes the author’s attempt to set private ownership of slaves on Crete against earlier practice as reconstructed from the Gortyn Law Code and other Classical sources. State ownership of helots arguably defined earlier forms of slavery. Pałuchowski seeks to identify a shift from communal to private ownership, but the Classical sources can be interpreted in different ways and, in any event, fall several centuries before these two Roman documents. Next, François Chevrollier in chapter 3 (“Sacred landscapes and social mobility”) seeks to elucidate the process of Romanization by focusing on elite behavior at sanctuaries, especially the role of inscriptions as a form of self-representation. He considers Hellenistic precedents to Roman rule and contrasts a communal ethos typical of earlier periods (Archaic and Classical) with a new emphasis on personal ostentation in the Roman transition, when elites undertook greater acts of self-promotion at sanctuaries at Gortyn and its territory. The epigraphic output of Soarchos, high priest of the Imperial Cult at Gortyn, provides a case study of the ways these elites asserted status, an argument also incorporating statues and building projects.
Jane E. Francis in chapter 4 (“The Romans and Crete before the conquest”) delves more deeply into the early stages of Romanization in the century before the invasion of 69–67 BCE. She considers episodes of political interference in Cretan affairs before turning to the archaeological evidence for Roman objects on Crete. The main body of evidence is Eastern Sigillata A, pottery produced by around 160 BCE somewhere in the eastern Mediterranean but often associated with Roman trade and influence (see also Gallimore, p. 112). The author maps Cretan sites where this material appears and pays close attention to places with early forms dating before or near the time of the Roman invasion. Real patterns start to emerge only after the Roman conquest, when abundant examples become available at sites like Knossos (colony of 36 BCE). The difficulty of interpreting the earlier, more sporadic record of such pottery stems from uncertainty about whether Roman merchants brought it or rather Greeks themselves, perhaps even Cretans, were the carriers. This pottery cannot serve as an unequivocal marker of Romanization. Not surprisingly, the author concludes “roughly two centuries of diplomatic activities by Rome did not immediately transform into economic connections” (p. 37). So Cretans only gradually began to feel the effects of Romanization in their everyday lives. Martha W. Baldwin Bowsky in chapter 7 (“Italian Sigillata stamps”) also deals with the ceramic record of the Roman period, in this case Italian Sigillata stamped with potter’s marks found in central Crete. This study presents eight fragments, a subset of a current total of 56 such pots (marked and unmarked) from this region. The conclusion analyzes land and sea routes connecting central Crete to broader Mediterranean networks, showing how much can be extracted from so few sherds. Chapter 5 (“Political upheavals and the Roman army”) examines traces of Roman military presence on Crete, another way Romanization potentially shaped Cretan society. As Pavlina Karanastasi explains, Crete’s status as a senatorial province with no permanent army means any trace of soldiers should be temporary and slight. She nevertheless finds support for their presence in personal items such as finger rings with Roman symbols at the Idaean Cave. Also relevant is local infrastructure supporting the Roman fleet and roads facilitating troop movements, such as the one connecting the important harbor at Diktynnaion with Kisamos and the capital Gortyn (p. 49).
Michael J. Curtis in chapter 6 (“Maritime re-organisation”) charts a new course, more a longue durée economic history of Hellenistic and Early Roman Crete. He begins by laying out the Hellenistic commercial background (fourth to first centuries BCE) and then defines two distinct trade routes. One passes eastern Crete and terminates in North Africa and Egypt, while the other links the western end of the island with the Levant by way of Rhodes and other mediators. These two routes played major roles throughout much of Cretan history, even if they alternated in intensity and adjusted their specific contours as major trade hubs in the Mediterranean waxed and waned. This study draws on New Institutional Economics to consider state taxes on trade in the Hellenistic period, port infrastructure, and other aspects enhancing the maritime landscape. These changes were underway by the third century BCE, if not earlier (in my view the fifth century BCE). Surprisingly, the Hellenistic period does not emerge in this account as a turning point in economic development. Rather, the Roman conquest gets credit for bringing an end to “speculative trading” of earlier periods (p. 60). Port constructions at Chersonesos in the Augustan period arguably manifest “a centralized state plan to renew and build sturdier maritime installations across the Roman Empire” (p. 62). We are reminded of Francis’s earlier suggestion that “economic exploitation may have been a motivator for conquest” (p. 32). Indeed, economic factors may have eventually led to the creation of a joint province linking Crete with Cyrenaica, one that managed North African traffic with Rome.
This later commercial context is the subject of Scott Gallimore’s contribution in chapter 10 (“Economic upheaval and the resilience of Roman Crete”). As counterpoint to Curtis, Gallimore considers developments in the fourth and fifth centuries CE, a period lacking attested historical punctuations to serve as guides. At the height of empire, Cretan wine amphorae were distributed throughout the empire, constituting more than 10% of those found at Rome. But then we see a substantial decline in the third century, severe enough for some to postulate a collapse of the Cretan economy by the early fourth century CE (p. 113). Gallimore reconsiders this pattern through the lens of Resilience Theory (drawing on network theory and ecology) and characterizes the Cretan export economy as adaptive. Alongside “temporary” disruptions such as the earthquake and tsunami of 365 CE, Rome exerted a gravitational pull westward and reoriented Hellenistic trade routes formerly connecting the island to North Africa and Egypt. These new routes centered on Italy instead. Gallimore problematizes the very idea of a “Cretan” economy by stressing the diversity of its regions and patchwork of micro-regions. We get glimpses of a new pattern in the fourth century CE as Cretan amphorae appear at places in the east, suggesting another reconfiguration of trade after the Early Roman pull to the west.
Rounding out the collection are Emmanouil Papoutsakis in chapter 8 (“Roman pottery from Sector 1”) considering household archaeology at Kisamos, Marina Albertocchi in chapter 9 (“Disruption and innovation”) on plain pottery production at Gortyn, and Elisabetta Giorgi in chapter 11 (“Investigating disruptions and upheavals”) on the water supply of Gortyn. Albertocchi also grapples with ceramic imitations of imports in a period of reduced access and restricted trade. These contributions are the most rigorously archaeological and devote attention to particular sites and periods. The volume as a whole provides a stimulating introduction to the current state of archaeological research on Roman Crete. It shows just how far we have come since the pioneering studies of the 1980s and 90s. Scholars are now addressing with greater clarity fundamental questions about Roman rule on the island and establishing a firmer foundation for evaluating Crete within larger Mediterranean networks. This research offers an alternative to the entrenched stereotypes of Cretan conservatism and exceptionalism, misconceptions that have burdened the discipline and hindered progress.
Authors and Titles
- Introduction, Jane E. Francis and Michael J. Curtis
- Sacred manumissions with a paramone clause found at the Asklepieion of Lissos as a response to the disruption of Cretan slavery patterns at the turn of the Hellenistic and Roman periods, Adam Pałuchowski
- Sacred landscapes and social mobility in late Hellenistic and early Roman Crete, François Chevrollier
- The Romans and Crete before the conquest: an interface of history and early Roman ceramics, Jane E. Francis
- Political upheavals and the Roman army: looking for traces of the Roman army on Crete, Pavlina Karanastasi
- Maritime re-organisation and investment in Crete’s ports and harbours, Michael J. Curtis
- Italian Sigillata stamps found east and south of Mt Dikte (Crete), Martha W. Baldwin Bowsky
- Roman pottery from Sector 1 of the urban house in the Health Centre plot at Kisamos: a first approach, Emmanouil Papoutsakis
- Disruption and innovation in local pottery production in Gortyn in the late Roman period, Marina Albertocchi
- Economic upheaval and the resilience of Roman Crete, Scott Gallimore
- Investigating disruptions and upheavals in the natural and anthropic landscape of Roman Gortyn through a water lens: five research challenges, Elisabetta Giorgi
- Roman tweaks; Greek template. Towards a coherent framework, George W. M. Harrison