Λατώ | |
 Theagora of Lato | |
  Shown within Greece | |
| Location | Kritsa,Crete,Greece |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 35°10′40″N25°39′13″E / 35.17778°N 25.65361°E /35.17778; 25.65361 |
| Type | Settlement |
| History | |
| Abandoned | Approximately 200 BC |
| Periods | Archaic Greece toHellenistic Greece |
| Site notes | |
| Management | 24th Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities |
| Website | Lato |
Lato (Ancient Greek:Λατώ,romanized: Latṓ)[1] was an ancient city ofCrete, the ruins of which are located approximately 3 km from the village ofKritsa.
The Dorian city-state was built in a defensible position overlookingMirabello Bay between two peaks, both of which becameacropolises to the city. Although the city probably predates the arrival of theDorians, the ruins date mainly from the Dorian period (5th and 4th centuries BCE). The city was destroyed c. 200 BCE, but its port (Lato Etera or Lato pros Kamara), located nearAgios Nikolaos was in use duringRoman rule. This has led to the confusion:Stephanus of Byzantium, for example, quotedXenion, a 3rd-century Cretan historian, repeating the latter's error thatKamara and Lato were one and the same. Modern scholarship distinguishes the two.
The city most likely was named after the goddessLeto (of which Lato is the usual Doric form) and may be mentioned inLinear B tablets as RA-TO.[2] Lato also minted coins in antiquity,[3] bearing the likeness of the goddessEileithyia who appears to have been the one particularly worshipped at Lato.[2]
Nearchus, admiral ofAlexander the Great, was born at Lato.[2]
In 1894–1896,A. Evans conducted a small-scale investigation. Systematic excavation started in 1899–1901 by the French School of Archaeology, with J. Demargne, was resumed in 1968 by P. Ducrey, O. Picard, and B. Chatzimichali, and lasted until the 1970s.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Smith, William, ed. (1854–1857). "Camara".Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography. London: John Murray.
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