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Religion.

Towns.

Kingdoms.

Ancient his

tory.

but little is accurately known of the relations between the two races, but it seems probable that the Greeks gradually established a political supremacy, whilst the Phoenicians continued to form an important part of the population, and exercised considerable influence over the manners and customs, arts, and religious rites of the inhabitants in general, and, in fact, although the languages of the two races remained distinct, it would seem that their religions became by degrees entirely amalgamated. The Phoenicians had introduced the worship of the goddess Ashtaroth, whose temple at Paphos was founded, according to tradition, in imitation of a temple of the Tyrian goddess Astarte at Ascalon; this worship was universally accepted by the Greeks in the island, and the goddess was identified by them with their own Aphrodite.

The Phoenicians settled chiefly on the south coast at the most convenient points for trade, and their chief towns were Paphos, Amathus, and Citium. Salamis was the most important of the Greek towns; Soli and Kythræa were founded by the Athenianą; Lapethus, Cerinea, Nea Paphos, and Golgoi are also said to have all owed their origin to Greek colonists.

As regards the early monarchical institutions of Cyprus, it is known that both Aristotle and Theophrastus wrote on that subject, but these special writings have been lost, and only a very few facts remain. According to Strabo, the island was divided into ten petty kingdoms, which were sometimes at war with, and sometimes allied to, the neighbouring powers of Greece and Asia Minor. The kingdoms were Salamis, Soli, Chytri, Curium, Lapethus, Cerinea, Nea Paphos, Marium, Citium, and Amathus; the two latter alone appear to have been under Phoenician rule.

The first of the kings mentioned in history is Cinyras, of whose reign various events are related by Homer, but these are much mixed up with legends.

It would appear that the kings of Salamis were generally the most powerful, and at times even the whole island was subdued by them.

In these ancient days a great portion of the commerce between the east and the west centred in Cyprus; the island then possessed good seaports with convenient harbours, forests of trees suitable for ship-building, mines which were productive of great wealth, and an extremely fertile soil; consequently riches poured in, and the inhabitants became notorious for luxury and pleasure.

To follow the history of Cyprus during these times would be a difficult task, for there are but few positive facts to guide us, and for a long period little can be related but a series of unconnected events, At one time the island was conquered by Thothmes III, and became subject to Egypt: afterwards most of its cities were destroyed by Belus, King of Troy; in B.C. 707 we read that seven of the Cypriote monarchs sent presents, or tribute, to Sargon, King of Assyria, thus implying subjection. This tribute is said to have consisted of gold, silver, vases, logs of ebony, and various manufactures of the island. The envoys received, and carried back, an evident token of subjection in an effigy of Sargon, which was set up at Idalium, where it was discovered, and is now in the Berlin

Museum. This setting up of the image of a king was then always a sign that he had conquered the country, neverthelesss, in B.C. 685, it is believed that the kings assisted the Cilicians in their struggle against Sennacherib, fearing lest the occupation of Cilicia by the Assyrians might endanger their own island.

Again, we read that about B.C. 675, the King of Cyprus furnished Esarhaddon, King of Assyria, with materials-great beams of wood, statues, and various works in metal-for the construction of his palace at Nineveh.

In B.C. 594, Apries, or Uaphris, King of Egypt (the Pharaoh Hophra of Scripture) defeated several Cypriote monarchs near Citium, and returned to his country laden with spoil.

In B.C. 559, Cyrus subdued the island, but left the kings in their respective dominions, on condition that they should pay tribute to him. A few years later, however (about B.C. 550), it appears that Amasis, King of Egypt, again brought the island under the Egyptian rule, but during the reign of Psammeticus, his son and successor, this yoke was thrown off, and in B.C. 525 the island Surrender to surrendered to Persia, joining heartily with King Cambyses in the Persia. war against Egypt, and becoming thenceforth a tributary province

of the Persian Empire.

tions.

When Darius became King of Persia, and founded the satrapies, Cyprus was included with Phoenicia and Palestine in the fifth province. Peace was, however, never thoroughly established; in Frequent wars the time of Aristagoras of Miletus, a rebellion broke out, which and insurrectook the Persians a year to suppress; again, during the Ionian revolt, B.C. 499-500, the whole island, except Amathus, rose in arms, and led by Onesilus, brother of Gorgus, King of Salamis, besieged Amathus; after several attacks, in one of which both Onesilus, and Aristocyprus, King of Soli, were slain, this rebellion was crushed.

In B.C. 477, the Athenians and Lacedemonians under Pausanias conquered part of Cyprus, and some years later Cimon arrived with a large fleet to capture the remainder of the island, but he died whilst besieging Citium, and all the conquests were then abandoned.

During the subsequent wars of the fifth century before our era, Cyprus was frequently the scene of hostilities between the Persians and Greeks; attempts to secure a lasting peace were frequently made but always failed, until at last the peace of Antalcidas was Peace of concluded in B.C. 387, and Cyprus was thereby formally relinquished Antalcidas. to Persia; the actual possession of the island was, however, not easily to be obtained; Evagoras, King of Salamis, had for some time been in a state of revolt; he was assisted by the Athenians, by Achoris, independent King of Egypt, and by Hecatomnus, vassal King of Caria; notwithstanding the peace, Evagoras continued hostilities, and at last Artaxerxes, wishing to crush this troublesome rebellion, sent no less than 300 vessels, bearing a large army under command of Tiribazas, to Cyprus. Evagoras ventured to attack this fleet, but was utterly defeated, and his tribunes were dispersed. A struggle was still continued in order to obtain good terms of peace, and it was not until about B.C. 379 that Evagoras was finally subdued. He was, strange to say, even then allowed to

The Cypriote
Kings declare

in favour of
Alexander the
Great.

Establishment of the Ptole

retain his kingdom with the single obligation of paying an annual tribute to King Artaxerxes of Persia.

About B.C. 350, the Cypriote kings revolted against the rule of the cruel and sanguinary Ochus, King of Persia, and nine of the kings assumed independent sovereignties, each in his own principal town; this rebellion was crushed by Idricus, Prince of Caria. Cyprus then remained quietly subject to Persia for a few years, but after the battle of Issus, B.C. 333, Alexander the Great advanced into Phoenicia and besieged Tyre; the Cypriote Kings then declared in his favour, and sent a fleet of 120 vessels to join the Macedonian fleet off that city.

On the partition of Alexander's dominions at his death, B.C. 323, Cyprus fell to the share of Antigonus, but the importance and wealth of the island made its possession an object of contention amongst all Alexander's successors, so whilst Antigonus was at war with Cassander, Ptolemy, the son of Lagus, made a descent upon the island, and, in B.C. 305, forced the kings to submit to him. In B.C. 306, Demetrius Poliorcetes, son of Antigonus, made an attempt to recover the island; he besieged Salamis both by sea and land, shutting up Ptolemy's brother, Menelaus, in the city. Ptolemy hastened to the relief with a large fleet, and a sea-fight, one of the most memorable of ancient history, ensued, in which Demetrius achieved a complete victory, and the whole island subsequently fell into his hands.

About ten years later, B.C. 295, Ptolemy retook Cyprus, and after this capture the island remained for nearly two and a half maic dynasty. centuries under the sceptre of the Ptolemies, who appear to have made it a store-house for their wealth, jewels, and plate. During this period Cyprus became one of the most valuable possessions of the Egyptian monarchs; the timber of Olympus was largely used for the construction of ships, and the metallic and vegetable products also contributed greatly to the revenue. It is said that the island was now divided into four districts, viz., Paphos on the west, Amathus on the south, Lapethus on the north, and Salamis on the east.

Ptolemy Philadelphus founded the several cities in Cyprus which formerly bore the name of his wife, Arsinoë. Under the Lagid dynasty the government was under a viceroy who was chosen from amongst the highest nobles of the Alexandrian court, and to whom full powers were given. About the middle of the second century before our era, dissensions arose between the brothers Ptolemy Philometor and Euergetes, and during their quarrel for the possession of Cyprus, Demetrius Soter, King of Syria, endeavoured, but unsuccessfully, to make himself master of the island.

Ptolemy Lathyrus was King of Egypt when, through the intrigues of Cleopatra, Alexander succeeded to that throne; Lathyrus then retired to Cyprus, and held the island as an independent kingdom for 18 years, B.C. 107-89, during which time Cleopatra and Alexander reigned in Egypt. We read that at this period an army of 30,000 men was raised in Cyprus to oppose Alexander Jannæus, King of Palestine, and the fact that so large

an army could be raised for foreign service shows that the population was then very large. When Lathyrus was recalled by the Alexandrians to Egypt, his younger brother Ptolemy Alexander, in the hope of becoming master of the island, invaded it, but was defeated by Chæreas, and killed in the battle.

While Ptolemy Auletes occupied the throne of Egypt, his brother, another Ptolemy, was King of Cyprus; during his reign. Publius Clodius Pulcher, a Roman of high family, was taken prisoner by Cilician pirates in the waters of Cyprus, and it is said that an insufficient ransom was offered by Ptolemy, whose character for avarice was well known. Clodius was afterwards Unjust decree chosen Tribune, and being anxious to revenge himself upon the of the Roman King of Cyprus, obtained a decree from the Roman Senate to dispossess Ptolemy, and to constitute his kingdom a province of Rome, the claim being pretended to be founded upon a will of Alexander, late King of Egypt, who made the Roman people his heirs.

Marcus Cato was commanded to put this decree in force, and despite his objection to such an unwarrantable act of aggression and spoliation, he was compelled to obey. He sent his secretary, Candidius, to Cyprus to deliver the decree, to which Ptolemy submitted, and soon afterwards committed suicide (B.C. 58). Cato took possession of the island, also the immense treasures in the palace at Salamis, which amounted to 7,000 talents, and sent the money to Rome. Thus ended the Ptolemaic dynasty in Cyprus.

From this time the island became a Roman province, and was annexed to Cilicia under one pro-consul, but it had a quæstor of its own, and separate courts for the administration of justice. In B.C. 47, Cæsar gave the island to Arsinoe and Ptolemy, the sister and brother of Cleopatra, and Strabo tells us that Antony afterwards gave it to Cleopatra, but after the battle of Actium and the death of the Triumvir, Augustus Cæsar revoked the gift, and at the division of the provinces between the empire and the senate in B.C. 27, it was constituted an imperial province; five years later, however, it was given up by Augustus to the senate, and was from that time governed by proprætors, with the title of Proconsul.

Senate.

Cyprus becomes a

Roman Pro

vince.

In A.D. 45, the island was visited by Paul and Barnabas, and Christianity the pro-consul Sergius Paulus was converted. Cyprus was there- introduced. fore the first country governed by a Christian ruler.

The next remarkable event in the history of the island was an Insurrection insurrection in A.D. 115, on the part of the Jews, who formed a of the Jews. very considerable portion of the population; led by Arteminius, they massacred a vast number of Greeks, and it is said that before the suppression of the revolt by Lucius two years later, no less than a quarter of a million of the inhabitants were slain. By a decree of the Senate, the Jews were then expelled from the island, and for several centuries subsequently it is stated that any Jew found in Cyprus was instantly executed.

Christianity.

Christianity now rapidly increased in the island, 13 bishoprics Progress of were established, and under Constantine this province became one of the richest in the Roman Empire.

Cyprus be

A futile attempt of the camel-driver Calocerus to make himself King of Cyprus in A.D. 334, was frustrated by Dalmatius, who captured the ambitious aspirant, and had him executed at Tarsus. In A.D. 365, at the division of the Roman Empire, Cyprus, with comes part of the adjacent countries, naturally passed under the Eastern or the Byzantine Byzantine emperora; it remained in their possession for about Empire. 300 years, and despite several attempts of the Arabs to conquer it, enjoyed comparative tranquillity. During this period the island was governed by a "Consularis" and the capital was transferred from Paphos to Salamis.

Arab invasion.

Conquest by the Saracens.

In A.D. 648, the island was invaded by the Arabs under Moavyah, a general of the Caliph Othman, who destroyed Salamis, and gained temporary possession of the island, but two years later it was recovered by the Greek Emperor.

Again, about the year A.D. 802, during the reign of the Caliph Haroun-el-Rashid, Cyprus was conquered by the Saracens, and was this time held by them for about 160 years; for not until A.D. 964, through the conquests of Nicephorus II, was it regained the Byzantine by the Byzantine Empire.

Regained by

Empire.

Richard I. of

England visits
Cyprus.

Treachery of
Isaac Com-

nonus.

The Anglo-
Norman

army invades
Cyprus.

For some time afterwards the history of the island is without particular interest, but we find that its governors occasionally took advantage of the oft-recurring weakness or necessities of the empire to endeavour to make themselves independent, but these revolts were never successful, until in A.D. 1184, Isaac Comnenus, then Governor or "Duke" of Cyprus, a nephew of the reigning Greek Emperor Andronicus Comnenus, entirely threw off the yoke, established himself as an independent sovereign, with the title of Emperor, and ruled the island with a severe and despotic authority.

Shortly afterwards a new page opened in the history of Cyprus, and as it is one in which England took part, the events of this period are related with more detail than hitherto. In the year 1191, we find King Richard I. of England on his journey from Messina to St. Jean d'Acre, where he had appointed to meet King Philip of France, and to co-operate with him in the third crusade. On the fourth day of the voyage, a violent storm came on from the south, which dispersed the fleet, and the King reached Rhodes with difficulty. Three of his largest ships were driven upon the south coast of Cyprus, and the crews and soldiers were robbed, maltreated, and thrown into prison at Limasol. The ship which contained King Richard's sister, Queen Dowager of Sicily, and his fiancée, Berengeria, daughter of the King of Navarre, was driven by the storm towards Limasol, and gained the roads, but was refused entrance to the port, and had to anchor in the open roadstead.

Isaac Comnenus arrived that day at Limasol, and tried to entice. the royal ladies to come on shore; but they, suspecting treachery and violence, refused the invitation, which was vehemently repeated, and again declined; preparations were made to seize the ship, which was consequently obliged to set sail, and shortly fell in with King Richard and the remainder of the fleet.

Provoked by Isaac's conduct, and refusal to give up the prisoners, or to water the fleet, Richard determined to disembark a portion of his force at Limasol and take vengeance. He

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