The Roman period in Cyprus: a public centre and a house

The frame

In the chronological table of the Department of Antiquities, Cyprus, the Roman period runs from 58 BCE to 395 CE, for the whole island. As for the other periods of Cyprus on this site, the table is the frame. The Department of Antiquities pages cited here could not be opened for checking on 24 October 2026; the details from them follow notes taken from those pages at an earlier stage and were not re-checked. Source 1.

Boundaries and overlaps

In the Met's timeline for 1-500 CE, 395 is the year in which, on the emperor's death, his realm was formally divided, "the eastern half of which will come to be known as the Byzantine empire"; the table ends the Roman period of Cyprus in the same year. The same timeline notes, in an entry dated ca. 47-67 CE, that Saint Paul established Christian communities on Cyprus: Christianity on the island therefore long predates the period the table calls "Early Christian", which begins only in 395. Sources 1, 2.

Two buildings cross the limits of the period. According to the Department of Antiquities page, the Tombs of the Kings at Paphos were built in the 3rd century BCE and used until the beginning of the 4th century CE, so they continue into this period from the Hellenistic one. According to the page on Nea Paphos, the House of Dionysos was destroyed and abandoned after the earthquakes of the 4th century, a century through which the boundary of 395 runs. Sources 3, 4.

On this site

Two articles are placed in this period. "The Roman agora at Kourion: a public centre and its date" examines what it means that the agora, in its present state, is dated to the beginning of the 3rd century CE. "The House of Dionysos at Paphos: between building and earthquakes" deals with a house probably built at the end of the 2nd century CE and destroyed after the earthquakes of the 4th century. Sources 5, 4.