TRANSPLANTING KINGSHIP: ALEXANDER’S VISIT TO CYPRUS AND PTOLEMAIC POWER LEGITIMATION IN THE EARLY HELLENISTIC PERIOD

Amitay, O and Pestarino, B ORCID: 0000-0002-3095-1128 (2025) TRANSPLANTING KINGSHIP: ALEXANDER’S VISIT TO CYPRUS AND PTOLEMAIC POWER LEGITIMATION IN THE EARLY HELLENISTIC PERIOD Classical Quarterly, 75 (1). pp. 271-285. ISSN 0009-8388, 1471-6844

Access the full-text of this item by clicking on the Open Access link.

Text Final Version transplanting-kingship-early-hellenistic-period.pdf - Open Access published version Download (250kB) | Preview

Abstract

This article analyses a passage of Plutarch which relates that Alexander the Great visited Cyprus and appointed the gardener Abdalonymus, descendant of the Cinyrads, as king of Paphos. While historical records attest to a king Abdalonymus in Sidon, Plutarch’s account is clearly ahistorical. Alexander never set foot in Cyprus, and Abdalonymus never ruled over Paphos. The transfer of the story from Sidon to Cyprus was not a simple factual mistake, however, but a deliberate political and propagandistic device, created by an unknown author with strong Ptolemaic interests, most likely in conjunction with the establishment of Ptolemaic dominion over Cyprus by Ptolemy I. Through the long-standing Ancient Near Eastern tradition of royal gardening symbolism, which significantly influenced the island and the Levant, the story aims to legitimize the new Ptolemaic rule in Paphos, the capital of Ptolemaic Cyprus. By lending a venerable air to the new order, the story offers an alternative narrative to the dramatic death of Nicocles, the last king of Paphos and priest of the local great-goddess, who claimed descent from Cinyras and eventually committed suicide under pressure from Ptolemy I.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Abdalonymus, Alexander the Great, Ptolemaic Cyprus, Paphian Cinyrads, Nicocles of Paphos
Divisions:	Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences > School of Histories, Languages and Cultures
Depositing User:	Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited:	05 Mar 2025 09:21
Last Modified:	28 Feb 2026 01:28
DOI:	10.1017/S0009838824001022
Open Access URL:	https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/classical-...
Related Websites:	Author Publisher
URI:	https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3190662
Disclaimer:	The University of Liverpool is not responsible for content contained on other websites from links within repository metadata. Please contact us if you notice anything that appears incorrect or inappropriate.