Alexander’s armies swept through Asia Minor and defeated the Persian forces
at issus. When he marched south and laid siege toTyre, the kings of Cyprus
sent over 220 ships to help blockade the city. Alexander continued his campaign
to Egypt, where he founded the city of Alexandria, before marching east to
the Indus. However, he died at the age of 33, aiid the new independence enjoyed
by Cyprus and its city kingdoms was short lived as it became embroiled in
the struggles of succession.
The three Macedonian generals Antigonus, Seleucus, and Ptolemy divided the
conquests of Alexander between them, but Cyprus was claimed by both Antigonus
and Ptolemy. In 318 BC, Ptolemy established his control over most of the
island, leaving his brother Menelaus in charge. However, in 306 BC, Demetrius,
the son of Antigonus, landed at Carpasia and eventually mastered the island,
holding it until 295 BC, when it was retaken by Ptolemy.
Under the first three Etolemies, Alexandria became a centre of learning and
of trade. Some of this rubbed off on Cyprus, though of course affecting only
the upper echelons of society. The city kingdoms, which had enjoyed relative
autonomy under the Assyrians and the Persians, now came under a central governor,
or strategos based in Paphos. However, cultural and religious institutions
remained largely untouched by the Ptolemies, though the local syliabary was
gradually supplanted by the Greek alphabet.
The importance of Cyprus as a shipping and trading centre at this time is
symbolised by the wreck of a Greek cargo ship, recovered by archaeologists
off the north coast, and now preserved with its contents in Kyrenia castle.
The economic upswing found architectural expression in an ambitious building
program which fundamentally changed the face of the cities. But little remains
of the temples. forums, gymnasiumS, and theatres that constituted the hub
of each Heilenistic town: in Salamis, as in other Cypriot towns, Roman buildings
were built on the ruins of their hellenic predecessors. however, many statues
of limestone and terracotta did survive, depicting deities, state officials
and leading citizens, carved in the Cypro~classical style.
One of the leading minds of the Hellenistic period was Zeno, the founder
of Stoic philosophy. Born in Citium, this Cypriot went to Athens where he
studied classical philosophy which he rejected as being impractical. He then
developed a system of pragmatic materialism, which was more appropriate to
the needs of the day.
The latter period of Ptolemaic rule degenerated into a series ot internecine
squabbles, and the insolent behaviour of the last Ptolemy towards a Roman
senator, who was later elected tribune, gave Rome an excuse to annex the
island. Marcus Portius Cato arrived in 58 BC to implement the annexation,
and Cyprus became a province of the Roman Empire.
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North Cyprus
