La représentation de la Crète et des Crétois dans les Histoires de Polybe

Abstract

This article proposes a study of the depiction of Crete and the Cretans in Polybius’s Histories, and intends to show that this purportedly objective representation is in actual fact ideologically biased, since it is based on the political alliances binding or opposing the Cretan cities and the Achaean Confederacy. After an analysis of quantitative - and therefore purely objective- elements, defined by Polybius himself as means to assess the degree of a State’s power, this study broaches the national features of the Cretans, which determine the ethics of their political objectives. Finally, it dwells on the ideology at work in Polybius’s account of Cretan affairs.

Keywords

• Polybius
• Cretan
• representation
• ideology
• Achaean Confederarcy