SALAMIS
Cyprus.
On the E coast of the island, ca. 6.5 km N of Famagusta. The ruins occupy an
extensive area, ca. 150 ha, along the shore and for a
considerable depth now covered by sand dunes and a
forest. The harbor lies to the S near the mouth of the
river Pedhiaios. Traces of the city wall of the archaic
period have recently been discovered to the S. The vast
necropolis lies in the plain W of the city and extends
towards the villages of Enkomi, Haghios Serghios, and
the Monastery of St. Barnabas.
The traditional founder was Teukros, son of Telamon,
king of the Greek island of Salamis and one of the heroes
of the Trojan War. He was also the founder of the
Temple of Zeus Salaminios and the ancestor of its dynasty of priest-kings. A sepulchral epigram to him exists
among those on the Homeric heroes. The dynasty of
Teukridai ruled for a long time and even the kings of
later times claimed descent from Teukros. This dynasty
of priest-kings lasted down to the time of Augustus.
Salamis must have succeeded the Mycenaean city of
Enkomi, ca. 2 km further inland, sometime in the 11th
c. B.C. probably when the harbor of the latter was silted
up. This earlier theory has now been corroborated by
the recent discovery within Salamis itself of a Protogeometric tomb, and of 11th c. sherds found at the S sector of the city.
Salamis was the most important city in Cyprus and
King Euelthon (560-525 B.C.) claimed to be ruler of
the whole island. He was the first king of Cyprus to
issue coins, and his silver staters of Persic standard show
on the obverse a lying ram with the reverse at first
smooth and then with an ankh. His name appears on the
obverse in syllabic script.
His grandson Gorgos was reigning at the time of
the Ionian Revolt (499-498 B.C.) but refused to rise
against the Persians, so he was overthrown by his
younger brother Onesilos, who succeeded in liberating
most of the island for a while. Onesilos, however, fell
in the battle that ensued on the plain of Salamis, and
the Cypriots, after a year of freedom, were “again
enslaved to Persia” (
Hdt. 5.104, 108-15).
The most important of all the kings of Salamis, however, was Euagoras I (411–374-373 B.C.) for whom Isocrates wrote an oration (
Evagoras). In an attempt to liberate Cyprus from the Persians Euagoras met with
little resistance. He was a close ally of Athens and received much military help but in spite of all his initial
successes he was forced to submit to the Great King
although he did retain his throne as king of Salamis.
Euagoras remained throughout his reign a friend of
Athens and under his philhellenic policy Greek philosophers, artists, and musicians enjoyed the patronage of his court.
As a result of the Wars of the Successors Salamis was
in 306 B.C. the scene of heavy fighting, both on land and
sea, between Demetrios Poliorketes and Ptolemy I Soter
for the possession of the city. It finally fell to Ptolemy,
who soon took possession of the whole island. The
city continued to flourish in Hellenistic and Graeco-Roman times and was embellished with important public
buildings. During the Ptolemaic rule Salamis ceded its
place to Paphos as the leading city of the island sometime in the 2d c. B.C. but in the 4th c. A.D. Salamis, now
called Constantia, had once more superseded Paphos
as the metropolis of Cyprus. The city became in Early
Christian times the seat of a bishop and continued to
flourish down to Early Byzantine times when it was
gradually abandoned after the first Arab raids of 647
A.D.
The principal monuments uncovered towards the end
of the 19th c., and again recently, include the gymnasium, the baths, the theater, the reservoir, the agora, the
Temple of Zeus Olympios, part of the city wall, two
Early Christian basilican churches and the Royal Tombs.
Most of the ruins of this large city, however, remain unexcavated.
The Graeco-Roman gymnasium, originally built in
Hellenistic times, was probably destroyed in the 4th c.
A.D. earthquakes, after which it was restored as public
baths. The central court, the palaistra, measuring 50
x 38 m and paved with opus sectile, is surrounded on
all four sides by monolithic marble columns crowned
by Corinthian capitals of various types which were
salvaged from other derelict buildings when the gymnasium became the baths. The present columns originally carried arches of stone to support the roof which covered the portico. When first excavated this gymnasium was thought to be a marble forum.
The entrance to the gymnasium was through the S
portico. On the step between the entrance columns is an
inscription of the Hellenistic gymnasium. In the central
part of the W wing, behind the portico, is a semicircular
platform the floor of which lies about one m above
the level of the floor of the portico. At the S end of this
wing lie the gymnasium's latrines, a semicircular structure with a roof supported on columns; it had facilities for about 44 persons.
The E portico is larger and furnished with fluted columns higher than those along the other three sides of
the court. At the N end of this portico, steps lead up
into the N annex with a rectangular pool which replaced
an earlier circular one. The sculptures now grouped there
come from other parts of the gymnasium. In the middle
of the E portico was found the marble altar of the gymnasiarch Diagoras, son of Teukros, in the 2d c. A.D. style.
The large group of buildings to the E belongs to the
period of the baths. There are still, in a relatively good
state of preservation, hypocausts, sudatoria, caldaria,
praefurnia, and large halls with niches decorated with
mosaics, among others one depicting the river Eurotas
and another Apollo slaying the children of Niobe.
The theater was built early in the Imperial period,
probably during the reign of Augustus, but was repaired and remodeled during the 1st and 2d c. A.D. It has a semicircular orchestra measuring about 27 m in
diameter; its cavea, measuring 104 m in diameter, consisted originally of over 50 rows of seats with a capacity of about 15,000 spectators. Of the stage-building little survives and the cavea has been restored in its greater
part.
The stage-building consists of two parallel walls measuring ca. 40 m in length. The span between them, ca.
5 m, was covered with wooden planks at a height of
ca. 2 m above the level of the orchestra. Rectangular
colonettes offered additional supports to this wooden
platform on which the actors performed. This was the
proscenium, the facade of which was decorated with
frescoes, traces of which survive in one of its niches. The
back wall of the proscenium is a massive structure which
supported the scenae frons; this was richly decorated with
columns, statues, and honorific inscriptions. The theater,
ca. 100 m to the S of the gymnasium, was connected with
the latter by a colonnaded paved street.
Towards the S of the city is a group of buildings composed of the main reservoir, the agora and the Temple
of Zeus Olympios. The reservoir adjoining the agora to
the N consists of a large rectangle which had a vaulted
roof supported on 39 piers in three rows. This is assigned to the reign of Septimius Severus and it appears
that it was supplied with water from the spring at Kythrea some 56 km away. Traces of the aqueduct can still
be seen in the plain between the village of Haghios
Serghios and Salamis. Repairs to this aqueduct were
made as late as the Early Byzantine period.
The Graeco-Roman agora between the reservoir and
the Temple of Zeus Olympios measures 217 x 60 m.
Considerable remains survive of the stone colonnades
extending on either side of the central open space. The
stone drums stood ca. 8.20 m high at intervals of 4.60 m
and carried Corinthian capitals. Behind the two long
porticos were rows of shops. On the S side of the agora
lies the Temple of Zeus Olympios, originally built in
Hellenistic times. The temple stands on a high stylobate
and has a square cella at the rear. Fallen column-drums
and Corinthian capitals of a considerable size suggest an
impressive building.
Trial trenches at the S sector of Salamis near the
harbor brought to light the existence of a complete system of defenses consisting of many parallel walls. The
lower course of the walls was of stone, while the upper
part was built of mudbricks. The city defenses at this
point run E-W along the edge of the plateau, which
overlooks the harbor. This circuit has been provisionally
dated to the end of the Geometric and to the archaic
period.
Substantial remains of the breakwaters of the harbor
near the mouth of the river Pediaios still survive; however, most of the harbor itself has silted up.
Tombs dating from Late Geometric to Graeco-Roman
times are known in the vast necropolis W of Salamis,
but the most important of these are the archaic Royal
Tombs, a number of which were excavated in recent
years (1956 onwards). Unfortunately only the dromoi
were found intact, the burial chambers having been
looted long ago. The characteristic features of these
tombs are their large dromoi, and their Homeric burial
customs. One of these tombs, Tomb 50, is the so-called Prison or Tomb of Haghia Haikaterini. The
sloping dromos, measuring 28 x 13 m, had its sides
revetted with well-dressed stones. The skeletons of two
yoked horses, their iron bits still in their mouths, and
several vases were found in the dromos. The tomb in
its original form dates from the 7th c. B.C.
Tomb 79 lies to the S of the Tomb of Haghia Haikaterini, and is beyond doubt the wealthiest tomb found
thus far at Salamis. The chamber was built, like that
of the tomb of Haghia Haikaterini, of two very large
blocks of stone, rectangular in shape and with a gable
roof. In front of the chamber there was a kind of propylaeum. This tomb dates from the end of the 8th c. B.C.
but was reused in the 7th c. and still later during the
Graeco-Roman period, so that the chamber was found
looted of its earlier contents. The dromos, however,
remained intact and its excavation proved most rewarding. The 8th c. burial was associated with the sacrifice
of horses, and a chariot and a hearse were found in the
dromos. In addition to the pottery the tomb furniture
included three ivory chairs, of which only one was in
fairly good condition, ivory plaques with relief decoration, a large bronze cauldron standing on an iron tripod
decorated around the rim with griffin heads, bird-men,
and sphinxes; also various bronze horse-bits, such as
frontlets, blinkers, and breastplates, all decorated with
figure representations. The 7th c. burial was also associated with chariot and horse burials.
A number of rock-cut tombs were recently excavated
due S of the Royal Tombs. These tombs were enclosed
by a peribolos wall. Of particular interest is the discovery of pyres in the dromos on which clay figurines
and fruit were offered in honor of the dead. This custom
was known in ancient Greek religion as pankarpia or
panspermia. Several infant burials made in jars were
brought to light. The jars are as a rule of Rhodian import but two came from Attica. The furniture of the
tombs includes a number of beautiful vases of the 7th
c. B.C. decorated with lotus flowers, alabaster vases,
bronze mirrors, gold jewelry, seals, and scarabs.
Half-way between the Salamis forest and the Monastery of St. Barnabas, in the middle of the plain, lies a
large tumulus of soil, Tomb 3. Above the tumulus traces
of a beehive construction have been found, probably
a reminiscence of the Mycenaean tholos tomb. The
dromos measures 29 x 6 m. Remains of two chariots
have been found in it. The four horses which drew the
chariots were sacrificed with all their trappings. Various
weapons were found including an iron sword, .92 m in
length. The border of the broad tang was of silver
soldered on the iron by means of copper. This tomb
dates from ca. 600 B.C.
Another tumulus, Tomb 77, is to be seen close to the
outskirts of the village of Enkomi. This one, however,
dates from the end of the Classical period. Under the
tumulus was an exedra of rectangular shape, built of
mudbricks and measuring 17 x 11.50 m. Almost at the
center of the exedra was found a large pyre in which
were, among other objects, a number of fragments of
life-size statues made of unbaked clay but hardened by
fire. Among the five heads found, two seem to be
portraits. Their style dates them to the end of the 4th c.
B.C. These heads are acrolithic and there is evidence
that they were mounted on wooden posts at the time of
the funerary ceremony. No traces of burial have been
found and the conclusion has been reached that this
was a cenotaph, probably of Nikokreon, the last king
of Salamis, who committed suicide with the members
of his family in 311 B.C. and was buried under the ruins
of the burnt palace because he would not submit to
Ptolemy.
From the Hellenistic and Graeco-Roman necropolis
come a number of funerary inscriptions. The finds are
in the Nicosia and Famagusta Museums.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Alexander Palma di Cesnola,
Salaminia, 2d ed. (1884); V. Karageorghis, “Chronique de
Fouilles et Découvertes Archéologiques à Chypre en
1959,”
BCH 84 (1960) onwards; id., “Recent Discoveries at Salamis (Cyprus),”
AA 1 (1964)
I; 2 (1966)
210-55
I; Karageorghis & Cornelius Vermeule, Sculptures from Salamis II (1966)
I; Karageorghis,
Excavations
in the Necropolis of Salamis I (1967)
PI; II (1971)
MPI;
id.,
Salamis in Cyprus, Homeric, Hellenistic and Roman
(1969)
I; Porphyrios Dikaios, “A Royal Tomb at Salamis, Cyprus,”
AA (1963) 126-210
MPI; K. Nicolaou,
Ancient Monuments of Cyprus (1968); Th.-J. Oziol & J.
Pouilloux,
Salamine de Chypre I, Les Lampes (1969)
MI;
Pouilloux, “Fouilles à Salamine de Chypre 1964-1968,”
Report of the Department of Antiquities, Cyprus (1969)
43-55
PI;
Salamis: A Guide, new ed. (1970)
PI; M. Yon,
Salamine de Chypre II, La Tombe T.1 du XIe s.av. J.-C.
(1971)
PI; Y. Calvet,
Salamine de Chypre III, Les
timbres amphoriques (1972)
MI; J. Pouilloux et al.,
Salamine de Chypre IV, Anthologie Salaminienne
(1973)
MPI.
K. NICOLAOU