- Rhytion
Rhytion is an ancient city of
Crete , one of the seven cities of Crete that participated in theTrojan War according to theIliad (besidesKnossos ,Gortys ,Lykastos ,Milatos ,Lyktos , andPhaistos ).Homeric Rhytion was probably at "Rotasani Kefala" near the modern village of Rotasi (near
Pyrgos , south-east of theMesara Plain ) The city continued to be independent until theHellenistic period. According toStrabo , it then came under the rule of Gortys and declined. The town is also mentioned byNonnos ,Pliny the Elder andStefanos Byzantios .Rhytion remained inhabited, although insignificant, until the Byzantine period, until, according to
Claudius Aelianus , the citizens were forced to leave by an insect plague.
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