‘Cyprus.’ [‎7r] (13/184)

HISTORY OF CYPRUS.
7
Museum. This setting up of the image of a king was then always
a sign that he had conquered the country, neverthelesss, in b.c. 685,
it is believed that the kings assisted the Cilicians in their struggle
against Sennacherib, fearing lest the occupation of Cilicia by the
Assyrians might endanger their own island.
Again, we read that about b.c. 675, the King of Cyprus furnished
Esarhaddon, King of Assyria, with materials —great beams of wood,
statues, and various works in metal—for the construction of his
palace at Nineveh.
In b.c. 594, Apries, or Uaphris, King of Egypt (the Pharaoh
Hophra of Scripture) defeated several Cypriote monarchs near
Citium, and returned to Iris country laden with spoil.
In b.c. 559, Cyrus subdued the island, but left the kings in
their respective dominions, on condition that they should pay tri
bute to him. A few years later, however (about B.c. 550), it appears
that Amasis, King of Egypt, again brought the island under the
Egyptian rule, but during the reign of Psammeticus, his son and
successor, this yoke was thrown off, and in B.C. 525 the island
surrendered to Persia, joining heartily with King Cambyses in the
■war against Egypt, and becoming thenceforth a tributary province
of the Persian Empire.
When Darius became King of Persia, and founded the satrapies,
Cyprus was included with Phoenicia and Palestine in the fifth
province. Peace was, however, never thoroughly established ; in
the time of Aristagoras of Miletus, a rebellion broke out, which
took the Persians a year to suppress ; again, during the Ionian re
volt, b.c. 499-500, the whole island, except Amathus, rose in arms,
and led by Onesilus, brother of Gorgus, King of Salamis, besieged
Amathus; after several attacks, in one of which both Onesilus,
and Aristocyprus, King of Soli, were slain, this rebellion was
crushed.
In b.c. 477, the Athenians and Lacedemonians under Pausanias
conquered part of Cyprus, and some years later Cimon arrived with
a large fleet to capture the remainder of the island, but lie died
whilst besieging Citium, and all the conquests were then abandoned.
During the subsequent wars of the fifth century before our era,
Cyprus was frequently the scene of hostilities between the Persians
and Greeks ; attempts to secure a lasting peace were frequently
made but always failed, until at last the peace of Antalcidas was
concluded in b.c. 387, and Cyprus was thereby formally relinquished
to Persia; the actual possession of the island was, however, not
easily to be obtained ; Evagoras, King of Salamis, had for some time
been in a state of revolt; he was assisted by the Athenians, by
Achoris, independent King of Egypt, and by Hecatomnus, vassal
King of Caria; notwithstanding the peace, Evagoras continued
hostilities, and at last Artaxerxes, wishing to crush this trouble
some rebellion, sent no less than 300 vessels, bearing a large army
under command of Tiribazas, to Cyprus. Evagoras ventured to
attack this fleet, but was utterly defeated, and his tribunes were
dispersed. A struggle was still continued in order to obtain good
terms of peace, and it was not until about b.c. 379 that Evagoras
was finally subdued. He was, strange to say, even then allowed to
Surrender to
Persia.
Frequent wars
and insurrec
tions.
Peace of
Antalcidas.