The First Republic

The "First Republic" is the name commonly given to the United Confederacy of the City States of Crete, founded in 474 AVC under the head of archon Giolchos Alcetid. It was a period marked by the crescent mistrust between the five parties, that led to a considerable weakening of the cretan state. This chaotic period saw the rise of two civil wars, in 490 and 505 AVC respectively, and a gridlock in 500 AVC. The First Republic was later overthrown by Phillip Helladid the Elder during a Populist revolt in 520 AVC.

History
After the Wars of the Diadochi, the stable kingdoms looked to improve their power over the Aegean. The island of Crete fell within the spheres of influence of both Egypt and Macedon. Out of the necessity for defense, the Cretan city states agreed to create a united council to best represent their wishes. This council took the form of a Senate, based in the city of Gortyn. The former Gortynite Archon and Militarist Party member, Giolchos Alcetid, was voted the first Archon of the Confederacy. After hearing the news, the King of Pontus announced that Crete was under his protection, securing Cretan friendship against other Diadochi Kingdoms.

Giolchos Alcetid (474-479 AVC)
The Senate, led by the interests of the powerful heads of the city states, successfuly supressed populist activity in the very first session, starting an ideological fight that would mark this period. A rider was also passed to punish some of the prosperous merchants of Crete, accused of corruption and exploiting the people. These measures served to dwindle the popularity of the Archon, and a heavy taxation imposed at the end of his mandate didn't help. At the 479 elections, his Militarist party shrunk to half it's size, and Giolchos' Uncle, Phocas Alcetid of the Mercantilist Party was elected Archon of Crete.

Phocas Alcetid (479-485 AVC)
A much more popular Archon, Phocas effectively consolidated power within the Republic after the fractious term of his nephew. In the Senate session of 479, a reactionary Populist Party managed to limit the army size to 50% of it's capacity, a measure that took decades to be entirely repealed. A new office of Prateor was established to deal with the corruption of the provincial governors. The foreign policy of the Republic was also strenghtened by the negotiation of a military alliance with the Aetolian League and a military access treaty with the Crobobizi tribe in Dacia.

Not long after the beginning of Phocas' mandate, Giolchos, the former Archon and now Strategos of the 1st Stratos, began to plot against the Republic. Giolchos, jealous of his uncle's success as Archon, wanted to overthrow him and install himself as Archon in perpetuity. His plot, however, found it's way to his uncle's ears, and Giolchos was arrested in his sleep and imprisoned. Giolchos was later to put to death under treason laws passed in 505 AVC.

Under the direction of the Senate, Phocas sent his armies to Crobobizi and began an invasion of the fertile region of Thracia. Thracia, ruled by the Tylis tribe, was located at the strategic crossroads of Europe and Asia. After an initial defeat, the army successfully invaded the city of Byzantion and the region was formally annexed to Crete.

Phocas served a 6 year term, a measure taken by the senate to even out the five-year cycles to start with each new decade.

Phidias Philonid (485-490 AVC)
A honest man with a distate for politics and related to the populists by his wife, Phidias was never on good terms with the ruling class of Crete. To this day it remains somewhat of a mystery as to how he won the election. As Archon, he took a more careful approach with foreign policy than his predecesors, gradually removing Crete's agents from overseas and forming a diplomatic corps to conduct negotiations with the surrounding nations. Crete began to benefit immediately from these new policies and established a long lasting friendship with the small Greek nations. These friendships were not formalized into new alliances in order to avoid entangling alliances. However, this didn't prevent a joint Macedonian and Spartan invasion of Aetolia, which in turn called for help, bringing Crete and Pergamon into the war.

After initial skirmishes, the Cretan navy was ambushed by the entire Macedonian fleet off the coast of Euboea. The much more experienced Cretans, under Kybernates of the 1st Nautikon Meleager Omirid, managed to force the Macedonians into the shallow bay, bringing it on to the rocks. By the end of the day, two thirds of the Macedonian fleet had been destroyed or captured, giving Crete control of the Aegean.

On the mainland, the rival armies avoided each other, instead giving preference to a war of maneuver and the capture of cities. The Cretan army made a landing on the Spartan fields. The Spartan General in turn abandoned the siege of Achaea and moved towards the Cretans to give fight. The inexperienced Cretan army suffered a terrible loss to the hardened Spartan army, and were forced to retreat. The Aetolians, however, had captured Thessaly and threatened the city of Pella. Realizing the war was lost, the Macedonian King signed peace in 486 AVC, ceding the isle of Samos and a payment in gold to Pergamon.

As the war ended, the citizens of Thracia, unhappy with Cretan rule, rose in revolt, and were brutally repressed by the Cretan army. Historians today estimate over 5,000 deaths by the end of the battle, though contemporary sources claim that the casualties exceeded 8,000.

Though relatively uneventful after the closing of the war, the remainder of Phidias' mandate was marked by a significant improvement of the infrastructure of the country. In Gortyn alone both a Forum and Temple of Aphrodite had been constructed, a significant achievement.

As 490 began, the Upper House elected the popular former Kybernates and Religious Party member Meleager Omirid as Archon.

Meleager Omirid (490-499 AVC)


Meleager's Archonship was one of the most troubled in Cretan history. Immediately after his inauguration, the Lower House Populists passed the now infamous "No to Despotism Act" which forbade trade with non-Republics. The Act backfired as the most prosperous republican governments at the time, Rome and Carthage, were not enough to sustain Crete's burgeoning economy. Coupled with the removal of the army size limits, income dropped by more than 70%. Mere months later, the populist faction leader was assassinated in his bath, though there was insufficient evidence to arrest anyone.

Pushing for a more aggressive foreign policy to maintain the economy, the Lower House also passed a resolution to force the annexation of the island of Rhodes by mandating that they become a tributary of Crete. When the Cretan diplomats came back with a negative response, Meleager mobilized the army and started the Liberation of Rhodes in 491 AVC. Mercantilist senator Zenodoros Pytheid was given leadership of the army, making a successful landfall and taking the city after only a 6 month siege. The general, however, refused to loot the city and took many of the government's most important men as his personal hostages. A week later, while victory was celebrated troughout Crete, Zenodoros' motives became clear as he made himself Archon of Rhodes and declared war on Crete, forcing the remaining loyalist troops to flee from the island, triggering the First Civil War.

By 494 AVC, two invasions on Rhodes had failed, though the rebels were still locked on the island due to the naval blockade. No elections were held in 495 due to the civil war and Meleager was allowed to continue his Archonship for another term. The Senate did hold it's regular session in 495, and acknowledging their mistake the Lower House lifted all the trade restrictions. By 497 the army had somewhat recovered due to the hiring of mercenary regiments and was consolidated under Meleager's command. Under his leadership Rhodes was invaded for the third time and finally crushed. As Rhodes' surrendered, Zenodoros tried to flee in a small ship, but was intercepted by the navy and brought to the presence of the Archon. Meleager promptly beheaded the traitor on the spot and had his corpse thrown into the sea. The rebellious army was rounded up and imprisoned, pushing the Cretan prisons to their limit. Historians now suggest that as many as 4 men were crammed into each cell.

With the rebellion over, Meleager turned his attention to the recovery of the nations stability, and by 499 AVC elections were resumed. Due to the civil war being caused by a Mercantilist and Populist propaganda taking advantage of the murder of their faction leader 10 years ago (in wich Zenodoros himself was one of the suspects), the Populist senator Philotheos Theronid was elected. Meleager was honored for his victories by being given a third Triumph, the most given to any Cretan general. To this day Meleager Omirid remains the Archon who served the most consecutive years, a single 10 year term, as opposed to the normal 5. He remained one of Crete's most influential man until his death in 506 AVC at the age of 68 and under his leadership the religious party grew, taking several new seats in the Upper Chamber.

Philotheos Theronid (499-505 AVC)
A well known supporter of religious populism and anti-merchant sentiment, Philotheos had no trouble attracting a large following. He was know for being an extravagant man who appointed friends to important and prestigious jobs in the Republic. The most famous instance of this happened right upon his inauguration, as Philotheos appointed the popular ex-Archon and Strategos, Meleager Omirid to the prestigious position of censor. Once appointed, Philotheos claimed a conflict of interest and required his resignation as Strategos. With Meleager removed from his position, Philotheos nominated himself to the position of Strategos, taking full command of Crete's Army. In another noteworthy moment, both the position of Kybernates and Censor were given to a young Phillip Helladid the Elder.

At the beggining of his term Crete recovered it's stability as the last remnants of rebellion were defeated, though, as a result of the crowded prisions, many prisioners of the civil war managed to escape to foreign countries. The economy also recovered and income surpassed the pre-civil war level.

As he began his term, the lower house entered one of it's darkest moments as the fight between populists and anti-populists resulted in a gridlock that left Philotheos free to govern as he desired within the limits of his office. As a result, Philoteos used the treasury to throw expensive triumphs in his honor, and create new offices without responsibilities in order to generate revenue for himself and his relatives. By the end of his term he was one of the richest men on Crete. The Upper House of the Senate tried to blunt his influence by electing a Civic Party member, Alexander Pytheid to the governorship of Thracia (wich was taken by one of Philotheos' friends early on in his term), but he was never given the office. The Upper House, angry that their choice was ignored, elected Alexander as Archon in 505.

Alexander Pytheid (505-510 AVC)
Not a very charismatic man, Alexander made a name for himself as a peerless administrator, a lawman and writer of renown, known for his piety and close ties with the Religious faction.

Upon inauguration, with a mandate from the Senate, he altered many of his predecessor's policies, opening the citzenship process and changing the sentences of barbarism and treason to exile and execution, respectively. This stirred up unrest and dissent troughout the country, especially from the governor of Thracia, who was promptly replaced by a friend of the Archon, another Alexander Pytheid from the Civics. As part of the process of civilizing Thracia, a temple was built there in honor of Athena.

As the Archon's popularity declined, Philotheos Theronid took the opportunity to start a revolt in Knossus, assuming tyrannical powers and gathering an army to march on Gortyn. This act started the Second Civil War, and earned Philotheos the infamous nickname of "Tyrant of Knossus". The former Archon and popular Strategos, Meleager Omirid was recalled from his retirement to put down the revolt. Arriving in Gortyn just before the enemy, the loyalist troops destroyed the rebel army and chased the fleeing Philoteos to Knossus and taking the city after a short siege. It was there that Meleager had the Tyrant of Knossus executed for his crimes. A few months afterwards, Meleager Omirid died.

The remainder of Alexander's term was uneventful, and in 510 the Upper House elected Philotheos Pytheid, a Mercantilist to the Archonship.

Philoteos Pytheid (510-515 AVC)
Philotheos Pytheid was an average man with no great intellect, but he was undeniably brave. Philotheos routinely would give long winded speeches in the Senate, boring many members to sleep, but he was seen as a safe choice after the debacle with Philotheos Theronid.

His term began quite calm, with the official regognition of Thracia as a Cretan province and the construction of a stockade in Byzantion. Crete was also making steady progress in it's foreign policies, with the sending of gifts to win the friendship of Rome and Egypt and and a new military alliance being sealed with Pergamon, tough an offer of alliance from the Seleucid Emperor was turned down by the senate.

The motives for the offer were made clear in the following weeks, as in early 513 AVC Seleucia invaded Pergamon and provoked a declaration of war by Pontus, hoping to keep Crete out of the war. In an emergency session, the lower house voted to rally in defense of Pergamon and declare war on Seleucia, and Crete was awarded the leadership of the alliance in the First Seleucid War.

As Seleucia and it's allies proceed to destroy all opposition in Asia Minor and Crete called back it's navy to cross the strait, the tribe of Maedi, to the west of Thracia saw the opportunity to invade the region. Desperately, Aetolia was called into the cretan alliance against both Seleucids and the Maedi, in the hopes of uniting Greece once again against the invasors as was done in the Greco-Persian wars of old.

As the elections of 515 finished, the state of the war strenghtened the populists party, and the old friend of the Tyrant of Knossus, Phillip Helladid, was elected Archon.

Phillip Helladid (515-520 AVC)
Coolest guy in the history of Crete. Haters gonna hate.

Under construction.

Notable Events of the First Republic
474 AVC - The formation of the Republic under the leadership of the city state of Gortyn;

479 AVC - The conquest of Thracia, first of the many cretan conquests in the Aegean Sea;

491 AVC - The first civil war, led by Zenodoros Pytheid and the rhodesian rebels;

506 AVC - The second civil war, led by Philotheos Theronid, the "Tyrant of Knossus";

513 AVC - The First Seleucid War, that saw the fall of Crete's anatolian allies and the conquest of Maedi;

520 AVC - The fall of the First Republic and the establishment of the Dictatorship, by former archon Phillip Helladid the Elder.