PERSIAN PERIOD

PERSIAN PERIOD (550-322 B.C.) History of Cyprus

In those days the balance of power was never stable for long. It was now upset by Cyrus the Persian, who welded many tribes into a single force and moved against the combined strength of Egypt, Babylon, Lydia and Sparta. He defeated Croesus of Lydia at Sardis in 546 B.C., and was thereafter joined by the kings of Cyprus in a campaign against Amasis of Egypt the step which followed the destruction of the Babylonian Empire. In 525 B.C. Egypt surrendered to Cambyses, the son of Cyrus.

The Persian Empire was at the height of its power during the reign of Darius. Cyprus had by then become part of a Persian province which included Phoenicia, Palestine and Syria. Though tribute had to be paid to the Persian overlords, and all military forces remained at their disposal, the island was permitted to retain its kings. This was a period of split loyalties, the Phoenician settlers being naturally orientated towards the Eastern conquerors, while the descendants of Greek colonists remained dissentient. Yet it was some years before the Greeks organized themselves for rebellion. In 499 B.C. Onesilos of Salamis headed all the other cities save one (Amathus contracted out) in revolt against his pro Persian brother Gorgos, and succeeded in ousting him from the throne of Salamis. Success was short lived. The Persian forces of Darius defeated him in the field near Salamis, and the revolt was crushed.

Though the kingdoms of Cyprus were still permitted to continue, from that date the Persians saw to it that the thrones were occupied by sovereigns friendly to themselves. It was at this period that the Palace of Vouni was built with the purpose of overawing neighbouring Soli, which was the last city to continue resistance against the Persian overlords. Because of their alignment with Persia, in 480 B.C. the city kingdoms were obliged to join Xerxes in his operations against Greece. A result of this unwilling alliance was that the actions of the Cypriot fleet at the Greek Battle of Salamis came under justifiable suspicion.

The Greeks were sensible of the plight of their compatriots in Cyprus, and in 478 Pausanias the Spartan succeeded in liberating part of the island before he was forced to withdraw. In 467, when Cimon the Athenian had routed the Persians in Pamphylia, Cyprus was too far distant to benefit. Cimon therefore was sent to besiege Kitium, the main Persian stronghold, and to engage the Phoenician fleet upon which the garrison relied. But he died during the operation. Though the Greek fleet did in fact meet and defeat the Phoenicians off Salamis, the following year (448 B.C.) saw the signature of the Peace of Kallias by Persians and Athenians, and Cyprus was left to her fate. With the strength of Athens in decline, and the Greek nation split between lonians and Dorians in the Peloponnesian War, it fell to a local patriot to continue the struggle against the Persians and their Phoenician allies. Again it was Salamis which produced the leader, King Evagoras I, a remarkable man. Though he was descended from Teucer, the founder and ruler of Salamis, he was not born to kingship, but had dramatically wrested power from the Tyrian Abdemon, a pro Persian ruler. The kingdom of Salamis flourished under the new king's rule. Though his aim was to restore the Greek culture which had been overlaid during the long period of Persian rule, and in spite of his success in uniting Cyprus, with the exception of Soli, Kitium and Amathus, he managed to remain for a long time on diplomatic terms with both Greeks and Persians. Then, with assistance from an Athenian navy and the king of Egypt, he bravely took the initiative by capturing Phoenician cities and instigating revolt against the Persians in Cilicia. But a set back came in 387, when Athens once more accepted the peace terms of the Persians. Evagoras was left to continue hostilities single handed. In 380-79 he was forced to surrender Salamis to overwhelming numbers of attackers, and though he was still powerful enough to be able to conclude a peace guaranteeing retention of the throne of Salamis, he was forced to agree to pay tribute to the Persians, and to renounce sovereignty over the rest of the island. After Evagoras was assassinated in 374 3 his son Nicocles maintained the ideals of Greek culture. The next revolt came in 351, when nine Cypriot kings rose against Artaxerxes III. Salamis was again besieged by sea and land. Resistance was crushed, and Cyprus reverted to Persian rule. The next king of Salamis, Pnytagoras, accepted terms which placed the Cypriot fleet at the disposal of the Persians. But when the Persians needed help against Alexander the Great, Pnytagoras and the kings of Cyprus sent warships to assist Alexander at the Siege of Tyre in 332 B.C. This was the turning point in the power of the Persians, and thenceforward Cyprus was to be free from their domination.

	Price: 129000 GBP Villa in Ozankoy North Cyprus