Circa 300-270 BCE
Æ 13.5mm, 3.35 g, 12h
Head of female right /
Head of Zeus right.
Svoronos, Numismatique 80; SNG Copenhagen 371
In some ways, Knossos was to Crete what Athens and Sparta rolled up together were for mainland Greece. The city dominated the island long past Minoan times.
Today, tourists marvel at the ruins of the Palace of Knossos, where legend has it the Minotaur roamed. Many ancient coins of the city boast this with images of the labyrinth, but I don’t have one yet.
While Knossos is most famous as the center of the Minoan civilization, it did not wash away when that kingdom was toppled. Instead, it stayed at the forefront of cities in Crete. When Philip II rose in Macedon, Knossos formed an alliance with him. After Phalaikos fled Phokis during the Sacred Wars, Knossos hired him to oppose one of their chief enemies on Crete in Lyttos, who in turn appealed to Sparta for help.
This coin was likely minted during a period of Macedonian domination and before the Ptolemies and Macedonia sparred in the Chremonidian War, which involved much of Crete. After that war, and its Macedonian victory, Knossos came to dominate nearly the entire island. Only the Polyrrhenians had some success in defying them.