Roman Cyprus

Provincia Cyprus Ἐπαρχία Κύπρου Eparchía Kýprou
Province of the Roman Republic and Roman Empire
58 BC–688
Capital	Paphos
Historical era	Classical Antiquity · Late Antiquity
• Clash with Publius Clodius Pulcher and subsequent suicide of Ptolemaic King Ptolemy of Cyprus	58 BC
• Battle of Actium	31 BC
• Brief conquest by the Arab Muslims	c. 649–650
• Condominium between Eastern Rome and the Caliphate by treaty	688
Preceded by Succeeded by Ptolemaic Kingdom Cyprus in the Middle Ages
Today part of	Cyprus

Roman Cyprus was a small senatorial province within the Roman Empire. While it was a small province, it possessed several well known religious sanctuaries and figured prominently in Eastern Mediterranean trade, particularly the production and trade of Cypriot copper. The island of Cyprus was situated at a strategically important position along Eastern Mediterranean trade routes, and had been controlled by various imperial powers throughout the first millennium BC, including the Assyrians, Egyptians, Persians, Macedonians, and eventually the Romans. Cyprus was annexed by the Romans in 58 BC, but turbulence and civil war in Roman politics did not establish firm rule in Cyprus until 31 BC when Roman political struggles ended by the Battle of Actium. After about a decade, Cyprus was assigned the status of a senatorial province in 22 BC.^[1] From then until the 7th century AD, Cyprus was controlled by the Romans. Cyprus officially became part of the Eastern Roman Empire in 293 AD.^[2]

Under Roman rule, Cyprus was divided into four main districts, Salamis, Paphos, Amathus, and Lapethos.^[3] Paphos was the capital of the island throughout the Roman period until Salamis was re-founded as Constantia in 346 AD. The geographer Ptolemy recorded the following Roman cities: Paphos, Salamis, Amathous, Lapethos, Kition, Kourion, Arsinoe, Kyrenia, Chytri, Karpasia, Soli, and Tamassos, as well as some smaller cities scattered throughout the island.^[3]