Post Minoan and Hellenistic Period

The Minoan civilization went into decline after 1400 BC after new earthquakes and fires that struck the island. The next wave of invaders, the Dorian Greeks, destroyed Mycenae in central Greece and then settled on the island of Crete around 1100 BC. The Dorians established an aristocratic form of rule. For a certain period around the 7th century BC Crete became an important center for Greece, but it declined again when more emphasis on Greek culture was given at the centers of Athens, Sparta and Macedonia.

The Cretan states, such as Lato, Gortyn, Praisos, Itanos, Kydonia, Aptera and Knossos were in constant conflicts and wars among the states were conducted on the whole island.