years 1866 and 1867 the whole force of the Ottoman empire, and thereby enlisted the sympathy of all the Christian powers of Europe, most of which urged the Turkish government to consent to the annexation of the island to Greece. (In November, 1867, the fate of Crete was not yet decided.) (See Paulin, DetcripUon physique dePiiede Mu, Paris, 1869.)
It seems likely that a very early acquaintance took place between the Cretans and the Jews. The story in Tacitus {Uiet, v, 2) that the Jews were themselves of Cretan origin, may be accounted for by supposing a confusion between the Philistines and the Jews, and by identifymg the Cherethites of 1 Sam. xxx, 14 ; 2 Sam. viii, 18; Ezek. xxv, 16 ; Zeph. ii, 6, with Cretan emigrants. In the last two of these passages they are expressly called Kp^rec hy the Sept., and in Zeph. ii, 6, we have the word Kpi^n;. Whatever conclusion we may arrive at on this point, there is no doubt that Jews were settled in the island in considerable num- bers during the period between the death of Alexan- der the Great and the final destruction of Jerusalem. Gortyna (q. v.) seems to have been their chief resi- dence, for it is specially mentioned (1 Mace, xv, 28) in the letters written by the Romans on behalf of the Jews, when Simon Maccabseus renewed the treaty which his brother Judas had made with Rome (see 1 Mace. X, 67). At a later period Josephns says {Awl, xvii, 12, 1 ; War^ ii, 7, 1) that the pseudo-Alexander, Herod*s supposed son, imposed upon the Jews of Crete
Crete was an independent state, with some varia- tions of government, until it was conquered by the Romans, B.C. 67, under Metellus, hence called Creti- CU8, and united in one province with Cyrenaica, which was at no great distance (Strab. x, 476) on the oppo- site coast of Africa. See Ctrenb. It is possible that in Tit. ill, 1, there may be an implied reference to a turbulent condition of the Cretan part of the province, especially as regarded the Jewish residents. It formed part of the Eastern empire until taken by the Saracens »n 823, and was recovered from them by the emperor Kicephorus Phocas in 981. On the establishment of the Latin empire of Constantinople in 1204, it came hy purchase into the hands of the Venetians, and was retained by them until the year 1669, when, after a twenty-four years* siege of the capital, the conquest of the whole island was effected by the Turks, to whose dominions it still nominally belongs. In Au- ^st, 1866, the Christians of Crete rose in insurrection s^inst the Turkish rule, and demanded annexation to the kingdom of Greece. They resisted throughout the
when on his way to Italy. And later still, Pbilo {Leg, ad Ctti. § 86) makes the Jewish envoys say to Caligula that all the more noted islands of the Mediterranean, including Crete, were ftill of Jews. Thus the special mention of Cretans (Acts ii, 11) among those who were in Jerusalem at the great Pentecost is Just what we should expect. No notice is given in the Acts of any more direct evangelization of Crete, and no absolute proof can be adduded that Paul was ever there before his voyage from Cassarea to Puteoli, though it is bare- ly possible that he may have visited the island in the course of his residences at Corinth and Ephesus. See Titus. The circumstances of Paul's recorded visit were briefly as follows. The vessel in which he sailed to Italy, being forced out of her course by contrary winds, was driven round the island, instead of keeping the direct course to the north of it. In doing this, the ship first made the promontory of l^mone, on the eastern side of the island, which they passed with dif- ficulty, and took shelter at a place called Fair-Havens, near to which was the city Lasea. But after spend-
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ing some time at tiiis place, and not finding it, as they supposed, sufficiently secure to winter in, ^ey resolv- ed, contrary to the advice of Paul (the season being fSar advanced), to make for Phcenice, a more commo- dious harbor on the western part of the island ; in at- tempting which they were driven fur out of their course by a furious east wind called Euroclydon, and wrecked on the island of Melita (Acts xxvii). See Shipwbbck (of Paul). It is evident fh>m Tit. i, 5, that the apoe- tle himself was here at no long interval of time before he wrote the letter. We believe this to have been between the first and second imprisonments. See Ti- tus, Epistle to. Titus was much honored here dur- ing the Middle Ages. The cathedral of Megalo-Cas- tron was dedicated to him; and his name was the watchword of the Cretans when they fought against the Venetians, who themselves seem to have placed him above St. Mark in Candia, when they became masters of the island (Pashley*s Tratfeli in Crete, i, 6, 176, Lond. 1837). See HOck's Kreta (G6tt. 1829), and some papers fh)m the Italian in the J/iiMum cfCUut. ^nfi^. (vol. ii, Lond. 1856). Also Meursius, i>e i2&o<2o, CV-cto, etc. (Anatol. 1676); Neumann, Ber. CreHcar, ipec. (GkJtt. 1820); Smith, Diet, of CUui. Geogr, s. v. Creta ; Spratt*s lU»ear<Ae8 in Crete (London, 1865, 2 vols. 8vo). See Gbbecb.