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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Marsyas Mike, post: 4564973, member: 85693&quot;]From an unidentified &quot;Roman?&quot; eBay auction, I seem to have got my first ancient from Crete, a big one at 28 mm.&nbsp; A Crete for the cretin - which is to say, any corrections very welcome because I have no idea what I&#039;m doing. </p><p><br /></p><p>I had some difficulty tracking this down, and I am not 100% certain on the &quot;Cretarch&quot; Kydas, as this was one of those Greek coins where the name is scattered all over the place in the reverse fields.&nbsp; Charming, but hard to read - and since there were three &quot;Cretarchs&quot; (at least) and not all the letters are visible, I may have picked the wrong one. </p><p><br /></p><p>Here&#039;s a Harvard Museum example:&nbsp; <a href="https://www.harvardartmuseums.org/art/102345" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.harvardartmuseums.org/art/102345" rel="nofollow">https://www.harvardartmuseums.org/art/102345</a></p><p><br /></p><p>An interesting issue, it seems, with Marc Antony connections - minted around the time he gave Crete to Cleopatra:</p><p><br /></p><blockquote><p>&quot;...but in the 30s B.C. Crete seems to have been governed by the confederation of the Kretaieis, under the supervision of Kydas the Cretarch.&nbsp; The whole &#039;dossier&#039; (Rouanet-Liesenfelt 1984) shows a person by this name appearing on inscriptions (IC IV.250, IV.251),&nbsp; on coins (Svoronos 1890, 334 no. 1 and pl. 32 fig. 1; Raven 1938, 154-8, Burnett et al. 1992, 222), and also mentioned in Cicero (<i>Phil</i>. 5.13).&nbsp; Rouanet-Leisenfelt believes that Marc Antony created this confederation and chose Kydas to rule it, probably between 43 BC (the end of Brutus&#039; proconsulate and Actium).&nbsp; If Kydas was ruling Crete, or a part of it, Crete and Cyrencaica were not united...The uncertainty of the date of the coin issues presented above, the vagueness of Kydas&#039; chronology, and the contradiction of sources have led several scholars to date the union between Crete and Cyrenaica only to 27 B.C....&quot;</p><p><br /></p><p>&quot;From Cyrene to Gortyn.&nbsp; Notes on the Relationship Between Crete and Cyrenaica under Roman Domination (1st Century BC-4th Century AD)&quot; by François Chevrollier.&nbsp; Published in <i>Roman Crete:&nbsp; New Perspectives </i>by Jane E. Francis, Anna Kouremenos. </p></blockquote><p><br /></p><p>Cicero did not like Kydas (&quot;Cyda of Crete&quot; in this translation) - not Roman enough, apparently:</p><p><br /></p><blockquote><p><i>Philippics</i>, 5.13</p><p>Cicero translated by C. D. Yonge</p><p><br /></p><p>13 I do long to plead in behalf of some defendant before that tribunal—Cyda of Crete; a prodigy even in that island; the most audacious and abandoned of men. But even suppose he were not so. Does he understand Latin? Is he qualified by birth and station to be a judge? Does he—which is most important—does he know anything about our laws and manners? Is he even acquainted with any of the citizens? Why, Crete is better known to you than Rome is to Cyda. In fact, the selection and appointment of the judges has usually been confined to our own citizens. But who ever knew, or could possibly have known this Gortynian judge? For Lysiades, the Athenian, we most of us do know. For he is the son of Phædrus, an eminent philosopher. And, besides, he is a witty man, so that he will be able to get on very well with Marcus Curius, who will be one of his colleagues, and with whom he is in the habit of playing.</p><p><br /></p><p><a href="https://lexundria.com/cic_phil/5.13/y" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://lexundria.com/cic_phil/5.13/y" rel="nofollow">https://lexundria.com/cic_phil/5.13/y</a></p></blockquote><p>[ATTACH=full]1130374[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>With letters enhanced - that &quot;K&quot; on the left might be wishful thinking, but the other three on the right are visible. </p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1130373[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p><b>Crete, Knossos Æ 28</b></p><p><b>(c. 40-30 B.C.)&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; </b></p><p><b>Kydas, magistrate </b></p><p>Laureate head of Zeus facing right, thunderbolt before chin / [K - Y] / Δ - A / Σ , in three lines across field, eagle standing right, open wings.</p><p>RPC I, 224, 934; Svoronos 142; SNG Copenhagen 388.</p><p>(9.78 grams / 28 mm)[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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