CYPRUS. 



335 



Cyprus. 70 leagues in length from east to west, and about 30 in 

 ■*■" "Y""" " its greatest breadth from north to south ; and lies near- 

 Ancient ly at an equal distance from Caramania on the north, 

 history of and from Syria on the east. It was even supposed by 

 Cyprus. t he anc i en t s to have once formed a part of that coun- 

 try, and to have been detached from it at an early pe- 

 riod of the world, during some violent convulsions of 

 nature, as Sicily from Italy. According to some au- 

 thors, this island received its name from the abundance 

 and beauty of the copper which it contains in its bo- 

 som, and which being found formerly in metallic mas- 

 ses, and being less difficult to melt than iron, was em- 

 ployed by the ancients for fabricating their implements 

 of agriculture, and their weapons of war. Others again 

 maintain, that the word Cyprus is borrowed from a 

 shrub, called by the Greeks Kupros, and by the He- 

 brews Kopher. It is the henna or hawia of the Arabs, 

 the kanna of the Turks, and the Lawsoniri inermis of 

 Linnaeus. From this tall shrub, which abounded in the 

 island, its ancient inhabitants made an oil of an exqui- 

 sitely delicate flavour and taste, which was an article of 

 great importance in their commerce, and is still in great 

 repute among the eastern nations. Besides this, how- 

 ever, it had a variety of other names, a long enumeration 

 of which is given by Pliny, {Hut. Nat. lib. v. cap. 31.) 

 Among these, Macaria, or the Fortunate Island, ap- 

 pears to have been the most appropriate, as there were 

 few places in the world that could compare with it, in 

 fertility of soil, in mildness of climate, in the beauty of 

 its plains, and in the richness of its productions. 



Our readers need not be informed, that this island was 

 in a peculiar manner consecrated to Venus. This god- 

 dess, the mother of the Graces, the Loves, and the 

 Pleasures, was said to have sprung from the froth of the 

 sea near this island, to which she was wafted by the 

 Zephyrs, and received on the sea-shore by the Seasons, 

 the daughters of Jupiter and Themis. She was called 

 by the poets, not only the Cyprian but the Paphian 

 queen, because she was worshipped by the whole island, 

 but in particular by the inhabitants of Paphos, one of 

 its most populous cities on its western coast, where an 

 hundred altars daily smoked with male animals offered 

 in sacrifice, and perfumed with the richest odours of 

 Arabian frankincense. 



Eratosthenes affirms, that the Phoenicians first disco- 

 vered this island about 1045 years B.C. But to recon- 

 cile this account with what Josephus relates, we must 

 admit, that it was then inhabited by the descendants 

 of Cittim, the grandson of Japhet, who first peopled 

 the island, and laid the foundation of Citium, the old- 

 est of its cities. The aborigines, however, seem to 

 have lived entirely upon the spontaneous productions 

 of the earth, and by hunting, and to have made no 

 advances towards civilization. The Phoenicians no 

 sooner landed, than they began to level the immense 

 forests which covered the whole country ; to employ the 

 wood in melting the copper which they knew how to 

 manufacture, and to cultivate the grounds which they 

 had cleared. The government which they established 

 was monarchical, and the island was divided into four 

 provinces, or rather dynasties ; for each seems to have 

 been independent, and to have had its own king. Sa- 

 laminia, on the east; Amathusa, on the south; Papphia, 

 on the west ; and Lapytha, on the north. The Phoe- 

 nicians not only introduced among them the arts, but 

 also the sciences which they possessed ; and though, in 

 process of time, colonies from Greece and Ethiopia 

 settled. there, and no doubt blended their original man- 



ners and customs with the manner* and customs which C/ptu*. 

 prevailed in their new habitations, yet still the strong "-—"v—*' 

 features of their civil and religious institutions evident- Ancient 

 ly prove that they were derived from the same Phceni- history cit 

 cian source. Cyprn-. 



The annals of this country are at first obscure and 

 uninteresting. Cinyras, the son of Paphos, and grand- 

 son of Pygmalion, is the first who is said to have erect- 

 ed his throne at Paphos, and to have transmitted to his 

 son Adonis, the sceptre of the Paphian state. The 

 names of his other descendants are unknown ; and 

 from them our attention is drawn to Teucer, who, after 

 the fall of Troy, laid the foundation of Salamis, and 

 assumed the sovereignty of a new dynasty, which he 

 called Salaminia, and which soon surpassed every other 

 in the island. His immediate descendants left not the 

 wreck of a name for many generations. About 525 

 years B. C. Nicocreon is mentioned only as the father 

 of Enelthon, who succeeded him. Enelthon is said to 

 have been the first who yielded the independence of 

 his country to the Egyptians, and afterwards to the 

 Persians under Cambyses. After this, Siromus, Cher- 

 sis, and Gorgus, successively wielded the sceptre of 

 Salamis, as tributaries of Persia. Onesilus, the bro- 

 ther of the latter, indignant at the disgrace which his 

 country endured from this subjection, conjured Gor- 

 gus to throw off the yoke of Persia, and vindicate the 

 dignity of his throne ; and enraged, because the pru- 

 dence or cowardice of his brother shrunk from the dan- 

 ger, he drew a number of his countrymen to enter in- 

 to a conspiracy ; drove his brother from his kingdom, 

 who fled to Persia ; roused the other states of Cyprus 

 to unite against the common enemy; persuaded the 

 Ionians to join him with their fleet ; and, at the head 

 of the confederates, met the powers of Persia on the 

 plains of Salamis. The conduct of Onesilus on that 

 bloody day, though it could not vindicate his usurpa- 

 tion, proved that he was worthy of a better cause. 

 With his own hand, he slew the leader of the Persians; 

 led his countrymen, with equal skill and courage, to 

 brave and to sustain the superior power that opposed 

 them ; and when the revolt of Stesenor, King of Cu- 

 rium, and part of his own forces, snatched from his 

 hand a victory which his valour had almost purchased, 

 he fell on tile field amidst heaps of his enemies. His 

 brother again mounted the throne, and was succeeded 

 by his son Nicrocatus ; he by his brother Timarchus ; 

 and he by Evagoras I. the son of Nicocrates. In his 

 reign, the Athenians formed the glorious design of 

 confining the Persians to their own dominions ; invited 

 all the states subjected to their power to vindicate theiv 

 independence ; and sent Cimon, with a -fleet of 200 

 vessels, to drive them from Cyprus. Cimon, worthy 

 of the work assigned him, not only expelled the Per- 

 sians from many of the Cyprian cities, but attacked 

 Artabazus, who commanded their fleet of 300 sail; 

 took 100 of his ships, destroyed many more, and pur- 

 sued the rest to the shores of Phoenicia. On his return 

 he landed his forces in Cihcia, defeated Megabazus, at 

 the head of 300,00:) Persians; and again embarking 

 his hardy veterans, set sail for Cyprus, and landing 

 there, laid siege to Citium. Evagoras, however, dead 

 to his own glory and to the liberty pf his country, join- 

 ed the Persians ; and endeavouring to raise the siege- 

 was defeated with a great slaughter. Artaxerxes, how- 

 ever, tired of a destructive war, renounced his claims 

 upon Greece and Cyprus; and thus, the kings of the 

 latter, received that freedom of which they had jr 



