Hierapytna, on the southeastern coast of Crete, was among the last independent Cretan city-states to resist Roman absorption — holding out until Quintus Caecilius Metellus completed his systematic conquest of the island in 67 BC. The city had survived centuries of inter-polis warfare partly through aggressive alliances, at one point expanding its territory so dramatically that it effectively absorbed the neighboring city of Praisos around 145 BC. This didrachm series spans that entire turbulent final chapter of Cretan autonomy.
Hierapytna, on the southeastern coast of Crete, was among the last independent Cretan city-states to resist Roman absorption — holding out until Quintus Caecilius Metellus completed his systematic conquest of the island in 67 BC. The city had survived centuries of inter-polis warfare partly through aggressive alliances, at one point expanding its territory so dramatically that it effectively absorbed the neighboring city of Praisos around 145 BC. This didrachm series spans that entire turbulent final chapter of Cretan autonomy.