In the last decade, Cretan archaeology made significant advancement in the study of the birth of City-States (the Greek poleis) that follows the decline of Bronze Age civilizations. After large regions controlled by a few palaces, Crete splits into smaller territories to become what Homer calls “the land of one hundred cities”. Based on a quantitative study of settlement patterns and hierarchical networks, this study will question the territorial fragmentation during Late Bronze and Iron Ages, and the evolution of territories during the development of City-States. Central Crete reveals to be a perfect lab to study long-term territorial organization, considering its historical setting because it hosts an important number of small poleis. Moreover, the large amount of archaeological data allows a representative study of the evolution of the spatial organization of rural communities from Late Bronze Age to Hellenistic period.