ABSTRACT

WITH her natural and industrial resources Crete could easily maintain an extensive and profitable trade. She was compelled to look to foreign countries for horses, condiments, hard stones of all kinds, ivory, and, above all, the raw materials required by her metal-workers and goldsmiths. In exchange she offered her surplus oil and wine and the work of her craftsmen—painted vases, dyed cloth, weapons and utensils of bronze, jewels, and precious cups. Opportunities for advantageous transactions abounded and necessarily aroused the spirit of initiative.