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ROMAN |
58 BC-AD 330 |
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In 58 BC , P. Clodius Pulcher annexed Cyprus on the pretext that the island was a haunt of pirates. Ten years later, during the Civil Wars, Julius Caesar restored Cyprus to the Ptolemies. The following year, however, Caesar presented the island to Cleopatra; but in the aftermath of the battle of Actium, Cyprus became a personal possession of the victor Octavian (Augustus). In 22 BC Augustus gave up control of the island in favor of the Roman Senate. Under pax romana , Cyprus enjoyed a long period of nearly uninterrupted peace and prosperity. Under the Romans, the island was divided into four districts: Salamis, Lapithos, Paphos, and Amathus. The territory was further divided into a dozen cities with the capital at Paphos , just as in Hellenistic times. Other important cities included Kourion , Amathus , Kition , Salamis , Carpasia , Kyrenia , Lapithos , Soloi , Arsinoe , Chytroi and Tamassos . The Roman emperors provided the island's cities with good water supply and linked them with an efficient road system. Greek remained the official language on Cyprus as it did in the rest of the Roman East. During this period, the economy was based on agriculture and copper mining. It was said that the island could build and send a ship to sea fully equipped entirely from its own resources. Cyprus also produced wine, olive oil, wheat and flax. Culture and the arts flourished during Roman rule. As in the Hellenistic period a mix of local and foreign styles marked the island's art and architecture, which incorporated features from Syria and Asia Minor. Sculptures of the highest quality in marble and metal were imported, such as the marble Asklepios found in the Villa of Theseus at Paphos and the over-life-sized bronze statue of Septimius Severus from Kythrea . Unlike imperial portrait art, statues in local limestone showed a mixture of characteristically Cypriot style and newly imported ideas. Italian Terra Sigillata flooded the island, curtailing local ceramic traditions. The island's glass industry, however, produced large quantities of everyday vessels. After the second century AD fine pottery gave way to glass as preferred tableware. By the fourth century AD much of the island's distinctive character had disappeared, overwhelmed by the effects of Romanization. In architecture, the traditional sacred enclosures of the past continued, although more standard forms became common. The blending of traditional and novel styles was evident in buildings such as the Temple of Aphrodite at Amathus where the architectural decoration combines Greek, Greco-Egyptian and Nabataean elements. Mosaic floors also became popular during the Roman period. Many buildings, not only private dwellings such as the House of the Gladiators at Kourion , but also public structures, such as the Baths at Salamis , and the Governor's palace in Paphos , were provided with mosaics. Some of the best examples can be found in Nea Paphos at the House of Dionysos. Paphos remained the capital of Cyprus until the fourth century AD when the island was subordinated to Antioch in Syria. Earthquakes in AD 332 and 342 destroyed Paphos , Salamis and other cities on the island. Most were rebuilt, but the strategic interests of the time dictated that precedence was given to Salamis , not Paphos . Salamis was rebuilt by Constantius II and renamed “Constantia” in his honor. Christianity grew only slowly in Cyprus during the first three centuries of this era, although the island did have the first Christian governor. In AD 330, with Constantine the Great's recognition of Christianity, and the relocation of the imperial capital to Constantinople, the old Roman world came to an end and Cyprus entered the Byzantine era. |
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