city state · Greece and the Aegean
Gortyn
Origins
Gortyn grew in the early Iron Age on the Lethaios river at the western edge of the Mesara plain, near the older Minoan centre of Phaistos. By the 7th century BCE it was a Dorian city and, with Knossos, one of the two strongest powers on Crete.
Rule and society
The Gortyn Code, inscribed c. 450 BCE on a wall later built into the Roman odeion, sets out laws on marriage, divorce, inheritance, adoption and the status of slaves and serfs. Gortyn was ruled by kosmoi magistrates and had men's messes. In the Hellenistic period it fought Knossos and destroyed Phaistos c. 150 BCE.
Decline and legacy
After the Roman conquest of 69 to 67 BCE, Gortyn, which had cooperated with Rome, became the capital of the province of Crete and Cyrenaica. It flourished under the Empire and the early Byzantines.
On the connections map
Open the full map →Connections (3)
- Gortyn was part of Cretan Koinon216 BCE – 67 BCE
- Phaistos was conquered by Gortyn150 BCE
- Gortyn was conquered by Roman Republic67 BCE
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Cite this page
- APA
- The Epoch Institute. (2026). Gortyn. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/gortyn
- MLA
- “Gortyn.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/gortyn. Accessed .
- Chicago
- The Epoch Institute. “Gortyn.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/gortyn.
- Harvard
- The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Gortyn’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/gortyn (Accessed: ).
Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻