{"id":9578,"date":"2023-01-25T10:35:16","date_gmt":"2023-01-25T17:35:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.roamintheempire.com\/?p=9578"},"modified":"2023-02-23T06:59:05","modified_gmt":"2023-02-23T13:59:05","slug":"curium-part-i","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.roamintheempire.com\/index.php\/2023\/01\/25\/curium-part-i\/","title":{"rendered":"Curium, Cyprus – Part I"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Statue<\/a>
Statue of Apollo the Stone Thrower. From the Sanctuary of Apollo Hylates. Dated roughly to between 30 BCE and 330 CE. In the Local Archaeological Museum of Kourion.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Most Recent Visit:<\/strong> July 2021<\/p>\n

Though habitation in the immediate area of the Kouris River mouth dates back well into the neolithic period, settlement at the acropolis area of Curium (Kourion) seems to have begun around the 12th century BCE with the arrival of Mycenean settlers of an unspecified origin. Herodotus claims they are from Argos<\/a> (and this is repeated by Strabo), though it has been posited that this may be an attempt by Herodotus to tie the treachery of Curium earlier in the Greco-Persian Wars with the mistrust of Argos’ allegiances with regard to later stages of the Persian conflicts. The presence of the worship of a god called Perseutas at Curium has been claimed to provide further evidence of a link between the two cities; with Perseutas seemingly being derived from the hero Perseus, who had origins at Argos. Worship of Hera and Apollo at Curium may also indicate ties to Argos. Some legendary origins of the city claim it was founded by Koureias, son of the mythological Cypriot king Kinyras, who then named the city after himself.<\/p>\n

The earliest historical mention of the city seems to come from the 12th<\/sup> century BCE, when an inscription at Medinet Habu (Egypt) dating to the reign of Ramses III refers to Kir, which is believed to be Curium. Later, during Assyrian rule of Cyprus, in the 7th<\/sup> century BCE, a Damasu of Kuri is referenced on the Prism of Esarhaddon found at Nineveh, again believed to be Curium. From its founding until the 6th<\/sup> century BCE, Curium functioned as an independent kingdom. In 546 BCE, Curium, along with the rest of Cyprus, came under the control of the Persians. At the start of the Ionian Revolt in 499 BCE, Curium\u2019s king, Stasanor, allied himself with the king of Salamis, Onesilos. At the battle of the Plain of Salamis in 498 BCE (not to be confused with the decisive naval battle in the Saronic Gulf 18 years later), however, Stasanor and his sizable army defected to the Persians, causing the Cypriot alliance to be crushed and the Persians to retain control of the island. It is this traitorous action in favor of the Persians that may have inspired Herodotus to liken the Cypriot city with Argos.<\/p>\n

\"Inscribed<\/a>
Inscribed altar to Arsinoe of Philadelphos; Arsinoe II, daughter of Ptolemy I Soter. Found at the sanctuary of Apollo Hylates. Dated to 270 BCE. In the Local Archaeological Museum of Kourion<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Curium came under the control of Alexander the Great in the later 4th<\/sup> century BCE, and it seems as though the kingdom was effectively dismantled at this time. Pasikrates, referred to as king by likely as a vassal of Alexander, is said to have joined a Cypriot fleet that supported Alexander at the siege of Tyre in 332 BCE. During the Wars of the Diadochi, Pasikrates was deposed and by the early 3rd<\/sup> century BCE, Curium, along with the rest of Cyprus, had come under Ptolemaic control. Curium doesn\u2019t appear in the historical record for many centuries after this, though it came under control of the Romans, along with the rest of Cyprus in 58 BCE, and remaining so, aside from a brief period in which it was handed back to Ptolemaic rule from 47 to 31 BCE, until late antiquity. At first Cyprus was part of the province of Cilicia, but in 22 BCE was separated into its own province.<\/p>\n

\"Mosaic<\/a>
Mosaic inscription in the House of Eustolios reading that the owner, in place of large stones, solid iron, gleaming bronze, and adamant, has girt his house with the signs of Christ.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Despite only brief mentions in the historical record after the episode with Alexander, archaeological evidence suggests that Curium was doing well during this period. Strabo notes that it was one of the principal cities of the island and a starting point of voyages to Rhodos. Earthquakes plagued the island during Roman rule, and Curium was particularly devastated by a massive quake occurring in 365 CE. The city was largely abandoned for a period after that until Christian settlers arrived and began building among the ruins about 2 decades later. The settlement had a modest population until the 7th<\/sup> century CE, when Saracan raids and the moving of the local bishopric to nearby Episkopi facilitated the move of the population center to that location.<\/p>\n