Salamis

Salamis

In 560 BC, the King of Salamis took control of the whole island, and it remained capital of the island until 294 BC. The city had paid taxes to the Persians, following a siege in 380BC. During the time of Alexander the Great, the King of Salamis, Pnytagoras assisted Alexander during the siege of Tyre. Following the death of Alexander there was a power struggle between his commanders and eventually Cyprus fell to Potelemaios, which was when he moved the capital to Paphos. Salamis began a slow but sure decline: the earthquakes of 76-77 AD, the Jewish uprising of 116 AD and the earthquakes of 332 and 342 AD, combined with the tidal waves which followed, had a serious negative impact on the city. However, the Emperor Constantius II founded the city anew, on a smaller scale and called it Constantia. The newly founded city of Constantia once again became the capital of Cyprus from 368-403 AD. Finally, by 647 AD, the city was completely abandoned as a result of continuing Arab raids, earthquakes and the fact that the harbour was becoming silted up with mud and sand.