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COLLEGE - LIMASSOL Business Administration History of Cyprus Lecture 5 Topics Roman Era (58 B.C.-Mid-4th centurY A.D) The Byzantine Era First Byzantine period (4th -7th century A.D.) The period of Arab raids (7th-10th century A.D.) Main Byzantine Period (10th-12th century A.D.) Roman Era After the conquest of Greece, the Romans turned their attention to Egypt and Cyprus. They often interfered in the domestic affairs of both. The reasons of conquering Cyprus were political, military and economical. The Romans needed Ptolemy’s treasures due to the economic crisis of the Roman state. Roman Era In the case of Cyprus a truly unimportant excuse was provided by Puplius Claudius the Beautiful, a political friend of Julius Caesar. Roman Era He was captured by pirates who asked for 50 talants in order to release him. The king of Cyprus Ptolemy Auletes, refused to lend Claudius the money when requested by him to do so. Roman Era After his eventual liberation, Claudius became the Tribune of Rome and managed to extract a vote from the Senate, declaring Cyprus a Roman district. Enforcement of the decision was entrusted to Marcus Porcius Cato, who captured the island without meeting any serious resistance in 58 B.C. Ptolemies’ wealth goes to Rome Cato confiscated the entire property of Ptolemy, who had in the meantime committed suicide. It brought a total of seven thousand talants, and this sum went into the state coffers of Rome. Cato also took to Rome with him a large number of slaves, as well as a statue of Zeno of Kition . The first governors As a province, Cyprus was joined to Cilicia which was captured by Rome in 103 B.C., and the island was administered by local governors appointed by the proconsuls. The first such governors were only interested in making more money. The first governors There is a reference to Salamis, was granted a loan with an interest of 48 percent, instead of the legal 12 percent and it became necessary for Cicero, who was appointed proconsul in 51 B.C., to intervene and stave off a calamity facing the senators who had signed for the loan. Cicero was the first such proconsul to show a protective interest for the Cypriots. A mid-first century AD bust of Cicero in the Capitoline Museums, Rome Octavian Augustus and the rise of Paphos When Octavian Augustus became emperor of Rome, Cyprus was subdivided into four districtsSalamis, Paphos, Amathus and Lapithos. This division remained in force into the times of Byzantium. Under Augustus, Paphos gained much prominence, fame, as well as wealth. Octavian Augustus and the rise of Paphos When the city was destroyed by earthquake in17 or 15 B.C., Augustus showed a great interest in it and even provided monetary aid for the citizens and gave the city the name of ‘‘Sevasti’’. Octavian Augustus 1st century The Jewish rebellion The Jewish rebellion in 116 A.D. took place when Trajan was emperor of Rome. There was a great number of Jews on the island, and the Roman entrusted them with the operation of the mines. The Jewish rebellion It is recorded that in 12 B.C. Augustus, had granted King Herod the privilege of exporting half the production from Soloi mines for a price of 300 talants. The Jewish revolution was directed by Artemion and it is said that some 240 thousand Jews and Cypriots died in it. Marble bust of Trajan Attack by the Goths The raids by Goths against Roman provinces, including Cyprus, around 269 A.D., must be considered of special significance. It is on record that the Goths in Cyprus fell victims to various diseases, and they were forced to abandon the island before causing any serious damage. The Kalokairos revolution When Constantine the Great remained the sole Emperor of Byzantium, after his great victory over Licinius, the second Emperor, and Masxentius outside Rome, he sent Kalokairos to Cyprus as Governor. He helped the island overcome the privations and misery caused by earthquakes and long droughts. The Kalokairos revolution There is also a legend that he imported to Cyprus large numbers of cats of a special breed to combat the vipers which had greatly multiplied because of the long droughts. It is said that Cavo Gata, the cape of cats, got it’s name from that time, because the cats were released on that cape. The Kalokairos revolution He is also credited with the construction of the Monastery of Saint Nicholas of the Cats on the said cape. Kalokairos, however, wanted to take Cyprus out of the Roman Empire for his own interests, and this forced Constantine to send his nephew Dalmatius, who suppressed the revolution in 333 A.D. Constantine the Great Bronze statue of Constantine I inYork, England, near the spot where he was proclaimed Augustus in 306 The great drought and Saint Helen A very long drought preceded earthquakes and some historians say it lasted for 17, and others 36 years. Legend connects the end of the drought with the arrival on the island of Saint Helene in 327 A.D., on her return from the Holy Land, where she had discovered the Holy Cross. The great drought and Saint Helen Saint Helena showed a great interest and compassion in the island and in her desire to help the people, she built the Monastery of Stavrovouni to which she donated a piece of the Holy Cross. According to the legend and because of this act, the heavens did open up with torrential rains. Saint Helen Koinon Kyprion The ‘‘Koinon Kyprion’’ (Confederacy of Cyprus) represented all Cypriots, as a political and religious entity which, since the reign of Emperor Claudius in 44 A.D., was given the right to mint its own coins in copper with the inscription ‘‘Koinon Kyprion’’. A large number of such coins are still in existence. Coin with the inscription ‘‘Koinon Kyprion’’ The Byzantine Period Cyprus remained as part of the Roman Empire until 395 A.D., when Theodosius the Great died and the Roman empire was divided into a Western state with Roman as it’s capital, and an Eastern state with Byzantium as its capital. The Byzantine Period Honorius, son of Theodosius was the emperor in Rome, and Arcadius became the Emperor of Byzantium. Cyprus came under the Eastern Byzantine state and this helped in preserving it’s Hellenic character. This also gave rise to the Byzantine period of Cypriot history. Justinian’s interest After the Kalokairos revolt, Cyprus lived in peace for two centuries. Once again it prospered thanks to the personal interest of the Byzantine emperors. It is on record that Justinian the Great built the ‘‘poor-house of Agios Konon’’ and also repaired the aqueduct which carried water from Kythrea to Salamis, or Constantia. Justinian’s interest The same emperor also introduced silk worm cultivation to the island, and thus made production of silk one of the island’s most flourishing industries. The very same interest continued by Emperor Heraklios. Emperor Justinian Abu Bekr a possible raid During this period Cyprus was truly ravaged and destroyed by Saracens. The people had to abandoned the island and were seeking for shelter elsewhere. The first raid is mentioned in 632 A.D., when Abu Bekr, the father in law of Prophet Mohammed plundered the island in a raid of piracy. The Muawiyah raid Muawiyah, the Emir of Syria, raided the island with a fleet of 700 ships. With this powerful armada he captured Cyprus ransacking it of all treasure, and put the inhabitants to the sword. The Muawiyah raid Six years later, in 653 A.D. he once again raided the island which, he captured and destroyed. On leaving the island he left an army of 12 thousand men behind. Raids by Walid and by Harun al Rashid Saracen raids against the island were repeated in 744 A.D. under Walid the 2nd , and again in 806 A.D. under Caliph Harun al Rashid. After ransacking the island they burnt all the churches. He also took with him sixteen thousand prisoners whom he sold as slaves in Syria. An end to the raids From 960 A.D. Emperor Romanos the Second put into effect the so-called extermination. He was assisted by General Nikiforos Fokas. Nikiforos Fokas focused his attention on the Arabs in Asia Minor. An end to the raids He fought them, even after he became Emperor of Byzantium in 963 A.D., and their defeat and the cleansing of Asia Minor was completed by 965 A.D. Then he landed in Cyprus, liberating the island from Saracen influence once and for all. An end to the raids This put an end to the island’s lengthy tragedy under the Saracens, the decimation of its population and to the destruction of grand monuments . Nikiforos Fokas Cyprus as a subject of the Byzantine Empire Emperor Basil the First of Macedon, 867-886 A.D., implemented administrative changes. He proclaimed Cyprus a subject of the empire and appointed General Alexios as governor of the island. He did administer the island in a just and fatherly manner for seven years, and his policy was pursued by his successors who took a special care of Cyprus. Cyprus as a subject of the Byzantine Empire Nearly an entire century passed without any new mention of Saracen raids of any large scale. This was a sufficiently long interval to permit the recuperation of Cyprus from past scars. Emperor Basil the First of Macedon References Cleanthis, P. Georgiades, History of Cyprus, 2nd Edition 1993.