ABSTRACT
Hence, Cretan Doric will have been the language of the rulers of the cities, as is confirmed by the epigraphic record. True to tradition, the Cretan military aristocracies preserved their tribal institutions and adapted them to changed conditions. A common language helped to keep common traditions alive in spite of the dispersed settlement of the tribal bodies into many separate citystates. However obscure the details of this settlement, we can be sure that its accompanying dangers and likely conflicts would not lessen the need for the conscious fostering and the practical advantage of tribal solidarity. If the Dorians had formed themselves into a League during their migration into Greece, necessity and precedent make it unlikely that they abandoned this confederate organization during their migration over Crete.
