Giolchos Alcetid

Giolchos Alcetid, also known as "The Unlovable Archon", was the First Archon of Crete during the First Republic. He was elected in 474 AVC and served until 479 AVC. Under his leadership, the Cretan Navy was expanded, trade was established with many neighbors, the Privateer Sponsorship Law was passed and implemented, and alliances were first created. One of Giolchos's last acts was to increase taxes in the Capital, making him a very unpopular man.



When Giolchos Uncle, Phocas Alcetid was elected Archon in 479, Giolchos became very upset. Giolchos planned on gathering the army and overthrowing the legitimately elected government, but Phocas was tipped off. Phocas sent agents to arrest his nephew in the night and threw him in the dungeon. Giolchos was later executed in 505 AVC after the passage of a bill mandating death for traitors in the wake of the rebellion of Zenodoros Pytheid and the 2nd Army. With his death, Giolchos Alcetid went down in Cretan history as the first true rebel.