Aristocyprus (Ancient Greek: Ἀριστόκυπρος) was a king of ancient Greece who ruled over Soli in Cyprus. He is primarily known to us from the works of the historian Herodotus. His father was Philocyprus, whom we know Solon had once visited and praised in poetry at some point.
In 497 BCE, Soli under Aristocyprus joined the Ionian Revolt, rebelling against rule over Cyprus by the Achaemenid Empire (whom Herodotus called "Persians") under Darius the Great.[1] Aristocyprus would not survive the conflict, and he fell in battle with the Achaemenids that same year.[2] His name means "the best of Cyprus" and he is positioned in the narrative as the most noble among those around him.[3] Herodotus tells us that while other leaders around him deserted or were cut down fleeing, Aristocyprus died fighting.[4] Soli itself resisted fiercely but fell after a five-month siege.[5]
References
edit- ^ Herodotus (1893). Terpsichore and Erato. Books V and VI · Volumes 5-6. Clarendon Press. p. 161. Retrieved 2023-03-26.
- ^ di Cesnola, Luigi Palma; King, Charles William; Murray, Alexander Stuart (1877). Cyprus : Its Ancient Cities, Tombs, and Temples: A Narrative of Researches and Excavations During Ten Years' Residence as American Consul in that Island. John Murray. p. 23. Retrieved 2023-03-26.
- ^ Serghidou, Anastasia (2007). "Cyprus and Onesilus: an interlude of freedom (5.104, 108-16)". In Irwin, Elizabeth; Greenwood, Emily (eds.). Reading Herodotus: A Study of the Logoi in Book 5 of Herodotus' Histories. Cambridge University Press. p. 286. ISBN 9781139466745. Retrieved 2023-03-26.
- ^ Gillis, Daniel (1979). Collaboration with the Persians. Steiner. p. 18. ISBN 9783515027861. Retrieved 2023-03-26.
- ^ Bryce, Trevor; Birkett-Rees, Jessie (2016). Atlas of the Ancient Near East: From Prehistoric Times to the Roman Imperial Period. Taylor & Francis. p. 211. ISBN 9781317562108. Retrieved 2023-03-26.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Smith, William (1870). "Aristocyprus". In Smith, William (ed.). Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. Vol. 1. p. 303.