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Basileus
Also called: basileis
The Greek word for 'king', used for the rulers of the Cypriot city-kingdoms; the plural is basileis.
Cypriot kings called themselves basileus in Greek inscriptions written in the Cypriot Syllabary, and mlk in Phoenician. Members of the royal family bore the titles anax and anassa. On the Idalion bronze tablet the king acts together with 'the city', a formula repeated seven times, and both swear the oath, which suggests that royal power worked alongside a civic body.
Archaeologists use 'the basileis' as a shorthand for the royal elites of Iron Age Cyprus and the sanctuaries, tombs and prestige goods through which they displayed their power. See Cypro-Classical Cyprus.
Full entry: Cypro-Classical Cyprus
Related terms
- City-kingdom
One of the small independent kingdoms, each ruled from a city, into which Iron Age Cyprus was divided until about 310 BCE.
- Idalion bronze tablet
A bronze plaque of the fifth century BCE from Idalion, the longest known text in the Cypriot Syllabary, recording a king's contract with a physician.
- Prestige goods
Rare or costly objects whose value lay in the status they conferred, used by leaders to display rank and build alliances.