Revaluing Roman Cyprus: Local Identity on an Island in Antiquity

by: Hussein, E.

Revaluing Roman Cyprus
Local Identity on an Island in Antiquity
Ersin Hussein
Offers fresh insight into Cyprus's experience and history under Roman rule
Challenges traditional approaches to the study of the history of Cyprus
Approaches the island's Roman period in relation to its immediate neighbours, focusing on local and regional culture

Description
In Revaluing Roman Cyprus, Ersin Hussein provides a study of local identity formation in Roman Cyprus addresses its traditional characterisation as a weary, uneventful, and insignificant province and champions it as a rich case study for investigations of the Roman Empire. Hussein collates well-known, overlooked, and newly uncovered evidence to revaluate local responses to, and experiences of, Roman rule.

The investigation opens with a look at the island as a real and imagined space to explore its marginalisation in ancient and modern scholarly narratives. Hussein revisits the events surrounding the annexation of the island by Rome from Ptolemaic Egypt and its subsequent administration to establish the dynamics between the inhabitants of the island and their rulers. The spread and impact of Roman citizenship across the island is assessed through an exploration of the strategies employed by individuals to distinguish themselves in local and regional contexts. Hussein examines the poleis of Roman Cyprus, notably the preservation of their myths in literary records and the production of these in the material record, are examined to explore collective identity formation. Roman Cyprus is revealed as an active and dynamic participant in negotiating its identity and status in the Roman Empire. An island was poised between multiple landscapes, Hussein shows how Cyprus maintained deep-rooted connections between mainland Greece, Egypt, Asia Minor, and the Near East.

Table of Contents
Acknowledgements
List of Abbreviations
Introduction
Maps
1:Ancient and Modern Worldviews: Cyprus and the Island Paradox
2:The Roman Annexation and Administration of Cyprus
3:Roman Citizenship in the Cypriot Context
4:Civic Identity
Conclusions

Revaluing Roman Cyprus: Local Identity on an Island in Antiquity

by: Hussein, E.

• ISBN-13: 9780198777786 / 978-0-19-877778-6
• ISBN-03: 0198777787 / 0-19-877778-7
• Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2021