DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4856#0063
CURIUM
IN the year 1895 the excavations on the site of Curium extended from January
24th to April nth, a period of eleven weeks, during which there were
practically no interruptions from weather or other causes.
HISTORY.
Curium is occasionally mentioned by ancient writers. It was one of the ten kingdoms
of Cyprus, and as such its boundaries must have corresponded roughly to the western
portion of the present Limassol district. Strabo' tells us that it was a ttoXis, opp.ov Zxovaa,
'Apyeiav KTL(jjj.a; and Herodotus2 records the tradition that the inhabitants were 'ApyeiW
awoiKoi. This seems to be borne out by the discovery of Mycenaean remains in our
excavations, and by traces of an older Mycenaean city at a short distance from the later
Greek one. Pliny3 mentions " Curias" among fifteen cities of Cyprus, and Stephanus
of Byzantium (S.V. Kovptov) describes it as 7ro)u? Kvirpov ■ dirb Kovpeax;, tov Kivvpov 7rcuSo's. It
does not appear to have played much part in legendary or classical history, but Herodotus
(Joe. cit.) describes how, during the revolt of the Greeks against the Persians in B.C. 499—
498," Stasanor, the King of Curium, went over to the latter with a considerable following,
and caused the defeat of his compatriots. Among authors there are Cleon, who wrote
a poem on the Argonauts, of which Apollonius Rhodius made use, and Hermeias
of Curium, a lyric poet who is quoted by Athenaeus. Aelian5 mentions the deer
that were kept in a sacred grove at the temple of Apollo at Curium, and Aristotle
speaks of a peculiar variety of asp found in the neighbourhood. It is not recorded how
or when Curium finally fell into ruin, but probably it shared the fate of its neigh-
bour, Old Paphos, and was devastated by earthquakes. In the middle ages it was
replaced by the important village of Episkopi, as Amathus was by Limassol.
THE SITE.
The ancient town of Curium was built on the summit of a rocky elevation some
three hundred feet above the sea, almost inaccessible on three sides; the rock is of
calcareous sandstone, and has been cut on the east and south sides into a quite
perpendicular face. It is at a distance of about ten miles from Limassol and one and
1 xiv. 683. 2 v. 113. 3 H. N. v. 13. 4 See Busolt, Gr. Geschickte, ii. p. 546.
5 De Nat. Anim. xi. 7, cf. v. 56. 6 Mir. Ausc. 142.
IN the year 1895 the excavations on the site of Curium extended from January
24th to April nth, a period of eleven weeks, during which there were
practically no interruptions from weather or other causes.
HISTORY.
Curium is occasionally mentioned by ancient writers. It was one of the ten kingdoms
of Cyprus, and as such its boundaries must have corresponded roughly to the western
portion of the present Limassol district. Strabo' tells us that it was a ttoXis, opp.ov Zxovaa,
'Apyeiav KTL(jjj.a; and Herodotus2 records the tradition that the inhabitants were 'ApyeiW
awoiKoi. This seems to be borne out by the discovery of Mycenaean remains in our
excavations, and by traces of an older Mycenaean city at a short distance from the later
Greek one. Pliny3 mentions " Curias" among fifteen cities of Cyprus, and Stephanus
of Byzantium (S.V. Kovptov) describes it as 7ro)u? Kvirpov ■ dirb Kovpeax;, tov Kivvpov 7rcuSo's. It
does not appear to have played much part in legendary or classical history, but Herodotus
(Joe. cit.) describes how, during the revolt of the Greeks against the Persians in B.C. 499—
498," Stasanor, the King of Curium, went over to the latter with a considerable following,
and caused the defeat of his compatriots. Among authors there are Cleon, who wrote
a poem on the Argonauts, of which Apollonius Rhodius made use, and Hermeias
of Curium, a lyric poet who is quoted by Athenaeus. Aelian5 mentions the deer
that were kept in a sacred grove at the temple of Apollo at Curium, and Aristotle
speaks of a peculiar variety of asp found in the neighbourhood. It is not recorded how
or when Curium finally fell into ruin, but probably it shared the fate of its neigh-
bour, Old Paphos, and was devastated by earthquakes. In the middle ages it was
replaced by the important village of Episkopi, as Amathus was by Limassol.
THE SITE.
The ancient town of Curium was built on the summit of a rocky elevation some
three hundred feet above the sea, almost inaccessible on three sides; the rock is of
calcareous sandstone, and has been cut on the east and south sides into a quite
perpendicular face. It is at a distance of about ten miles from Limassol and one and
1 xiv. 683. 2 v. 113. 3 H. N. v. 13. 4 See Busolt, Gr. Geschickte, ii. p. 546.
5 De Nat. Anim. xi. 7, cf. v. 56. 6 Mir. Ausc. 142.