Revaluing Roman Cyprus : local identity on an island in antiquity

In Revaluing Roman Cyprus , Ersin Hussein provides a study of local identity formation in Roman Cyprus addresses its traditional characterisation as a weary, uneventful, and insignificant province and champions it as a rich case study for investigations of the Roman Empire. Hussein collates well-known, overlooked, and newly uncovered evidence to revaluate local responses to, and experiences of, Roman rule. The investigation opens with a look at the island as a real and imagined space to explore its marginalisation in ancient and modern scholarly narratives. Hussein revisits the events surrounding the annexation of the island by Rome from Ptolemaic Egypt and its subsequent administration to establish the dynamics between the inhabitants of the island and their rulers. The spread and impact of Roman citizenship across the island is assessed through an exploration of the strategies employed by individuals to distinguish themselves in local and regional contexts. Hussein examines the poleis of Roman Cyprus, notably the preservation of their myths in literary records and the production of these in the material record, are examined to explore collective identity formation. Roman Cyprus is revealed as an active and dynamic participant in negotiating its identity and status in the Roman Empire. An island was poised between multiple landscapes, Hussein shows how Cyprus maintained deep-rooted connections between mainland Greece, Egypt, Asia Minor, and the Near East. Cover 1 Revaluing Roman Cyprus: Local Identity on an Island in Antiquity 4 Copyright 5 Acknowledgements 6 Contents 10 Conventions and Abbreviations 12 Introduction 14 Maps 16 1: Ancient and Modern World Views: Cyprus and the Island Paradox 30 1.1 The Importance of Geography 30 1.2 The Formation of Islands and Their Status as Real and Imagined Landscapes in the Roman Empire 32 1.3 The Geography of Cyprus according to Outsiders 34 1.3.1 Strabo 34 1.3.2 Pliny the Elder 37 1.3.3 Claudius Ptolemy 40 1.3.4 Pausanias 42 1.3.5 Ammianus Marcellinus and the Anonymous Expositio Totius Mundi et Gentium 45 1.3.6 Ancient and Modern Imagined Islandscapes 46 1.4 Roman Cyprus: The Wider Research Context and the Way Forward 48 2: The Roman Annexation and Administration of Cyprus 52 2.1 The Need to Revisit Well-trodden Ground 52 2.2 The Roman Annexation 53 2.2.1 From Ptolemaic to Roman Control 53 2.2.2 58 BC 55 2.2.3 Reaction to Annexation 57 2.3 The Administration of Roman Cyprus 59 2.3.1 Initial Administration: 58–48/7 BC 59 2.3.2 Ptolemaic Restoration: 48/7–30 BC 61 2.3.3 After Actium: From Imperial to Public Province 62 2.4 Re-evaluating the Evidence 65 2.4.1 The Available Evidence for Study of the Proconsuls 65 2.4.2 The Revised List of Roman Proconsuls 67 2.4.2.1 Roman Proconsuls from 22 BC 69 2.4.2.2 Roman Proconsuls of Uncertain Date or Otherwise Unknown 74 2.4.3 Where Monuments were Set Up, by Whom, and Why 77 2.5 The Local Level: The Koinon Kuprion 80 2.6 Conclusions 84 3: Roman Citizenship in the Cypriot Context 86 3.1 ‘Roman Civitas in Salamis’—Mitford’s Survey Revisited 86 3.2 High-profile Visitors 88 3.2.1 Trading Communities from Italy 89 3.2.2 Marcia 97 3.2.3 Lucius Septimius Nestor of Laranda 98 3.3 Becoming ‘Roman’? 100 3.3.1 Instances of Roman Citizenship 100 3.3.2 Key Groups and Dynamics 102 3.3.3 Articulating Identity and Belonging 113 3.3.4 Cypriots Abroad 115 3.4 Conclusions 118 4: Civic Identity 121 4.1 Approaching Collective Identity Formation 121 4.2 What Foundation Myths Tell Us 123 4.2.1 Palaipaphos and Nea Paphos 124 4.2.2 Kourion 129 4.2.3 Amathous 130 4.2.4 Salamis 131 4.3 Material Culture and Identity in the Local Context 133 4.3.1 The Paphos Region 133 4.3.1.1 In the Realm of Aphrodite Paphia 133 4.3.1.2 The Inscribed Oath of Allegiance to Tiberius 138 4.3.2 Kourion: City of Perseus 143 4.3.3 Amathous: Aphrodite Cypria’s Domain 146 4.3.4 Salamis: The Immateriality of Teuker 149 4.4 Conclusions 152 Conclusion 155 Bibliography 158 Index 180 This study addresses the traditional characterization of Roman Cyprus’s history as a Roman province as uneventful, insignificant, and ‘weary’. It brings fresh insight to the study of its culture and society by taking an integrated approach and bringing together well-known, less familiar, and new evidence to reassess cultural change, local responses to Roman rule, and the articulation of local identity in the Cypriot context. While it focuses primarily on material from the annexation of the island in 58 BC until the mid fourth century AD, or more specifically the refoundation of Salamis by Constantius II between AD 332 and 342, where relevant space will be given to discussion of evidence from across all periods of the island’s ancient history to facilitate a meaningful investigation of the key themes of this work. Ultimately, this study aims to reinsert Roman Cyprus into academic narratives about culture and society of the Roman provinces. Furthermore, it has been put together with the undergraduate student in mind to encourage and promote the study of Roman Cyprus—and, of course, ancient Cyprus—by collating key studies, evidence, and material, and thus making them accessible to new audiences Revaluing Roman Cyprus Provides An Examination Of The History Of Roman Cyprus And Its Place In The Roman Empire. Hussein Shows That Cyprus Was An Active Site Of Roman Political Culture And An Important Crossroads In The Eastern Mediterranean.