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  • The Cypriot King Who Sold His Island: Ptolemy VIII's Betrayal

    The Cypriot King Who Sold His Island: Ptolemy VIII's Betrayal
    2026/06/07
    In 96 BC, Ptolemy Apion, the last Lagid king of Cyrene, bequeathed his kingdom to Rome. But less than a decade later, his cousin Ptolemy VIII Physcon pulled a far more audacious move: he willed Cyprus itself to the Roman Republic. This episode follows the twisted dynastic politics of the late Ptolemaic dynasty, where Cyprus was a bargaining chip in the power struggles of Alexandria. We trace the story of Ptolemy VIII's infamous legacy — his murder of his own son, his exile to Cyprus, and his final, calculated gift that turned the island into a Roman possession. Along the way, we meet the Cypriot prince Ptolemy of Cyprus, the Roman tribune Clodius Pulcher, and the stoic philosopher Cato the Younger, who was sent to annex the island in 58 BC. We explore how Cyprus became a pawn in Rome's civil wars, the resistance of Salamis, and the strange afterlife of the Ptolemaic cult of Isis on the island. This is a tale of betrayal, venality, and the birth of Roman Cyprus. #PtolemyVIII #Cyprus #RomanRepublic #PtolemaicDynasty #CatoTheYounger #ClodiusPulcher #SalamisCyprus #PtolemyApion #Cyrene #PtolemyOfCyprus #Isis #RomanAnnexation #58BC #LateRepublic #HellenisticHistory #Mediterranean #History #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo
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    6 分
  • The Cypriot Monks Who Defied Iconoclasm: St. John Damascene and the Desert

    The Cypriot Monks Who Defied Iconoclasm: St. John Damascene and the Desert
    2026/06/06
    In the 8th century, the Byzantine Empire was torn apart by iconoclasm — the destruction of religious images. While emperors in Constantinople outlawed icons, a group of monks from Cyprus, led by St. John Damascene (born in Damascus but active on the island), defended the use of icons with theological fire. This episode follows John's writings, the exile of monks from Mar Saba and the Holy Land to Cyprus, and the island's role as a refuge for iconodules. We also explore the Monastery of St. John Chrysostom on the Koutsovendis ridge, where Cypriot monks preserved iconophile texts. Lucas and Luna discuss the Council of Hiereia (754), the Second Council of Nicaea (787), and how Cyprus's position outside direct imperial control allowed it to shelter dissident theology. The episode ends with a reflection on how a small island became a fortress for Christian art. #Iconoclasm #StJohnDamascene #ByzantineEmpire #Cyprus #Monastery #CouncilOfHiereia #SecondCouncilOfNicaea #Iconodule #MarSaba #Koutsovendis #StJohnChrysostom #LeoIII #ConstantineV #TheodoreStudites #Orthodoxy #History #FexingoHistory #Mediterranean Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo
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    8 分
  • The Cypriot Wheat That Saved a Byzantine Emperor

    The Cypriot Wheat That Saved a Byzantine Emperor
    2026/06/06
    In 647 AD, a Byzantine fleet under the future emperor Constans II arrived off the coast of Cyprus to find the island in the grip of a famine. The Arab conquests had disrupted grain shipments, and the local harvest had failed. This episode tells the story of the Cypriot wheat shipment that broke a siege and saved Constans' throne, and the little-known naval battle of the Phoenix that followed. We explore the geopolitics of 7th-century Cyprus — caught between Byzantium and the rising Caliphate — and the role of the Cypriot church under Archbishop Arkadios. We also meet a shadowy figure, the patrikios Germanos, who brokered the grain deal that changed the course of the Arab-Byzantine wars. A tale of drought, diplomacy, and a single ship of wheat that altered history. #Cyprus #ByzantineEmpire #ConstansII #ArabConquests #Famine #Grain #Wheat #NavalBattle #Phoenix #Arkadios #Germanos #Caliphate #7thCentury #Mediterranean #Siege #History #FexingoHistory #Byzantium Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo
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    4 分
  • The Cypriot Archer Who Defied the Mamluk Sultan

    The Cypriot Archer Who Defied the Mamluk Sultan
    2026/06/05
    In 1426, a Cypriot peasant archer named John of Kythrea led a desperate rebellion against the Mamluk sultan Barsbay, who had just devastated the island. Drawing on the chronicles of Leontios Machairas and al-Maqrizi, this episode traces the revolt from its origins in the Troodos foothills to the brutal reprisals that followed. We explore how a crossbowman from a tiny village mobilised farmers and monks, nearly captured the Lusignan king Janus, and forced the Mamluks to negotiate. The story also reveals the forgotten role of Cypriot archers in medieval warfare, the complex politics of Mamluk-Crusader diplomacy, and the lasting memory of John as a folk hero. A tale of courage, betrayal, and the human cost of empire. #History #Cyprus #Medieval #Mamluk #JohnOfKythrea #Barsbay #LeontiosMachairas #al-Maqrizi #CypriotArchers #Lusignan #Troodos #1426 #Revolt #Khirokitia #FexingoHistory #Mediterranean #PeasantRebellion #Crossbow Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo
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    7 分
  • The Ottoman Conquest of Cyprus: 1571 Siege of Famagusta

    The Ottoman Conquest of Cyprus: 1571 Siege of Famagusta
    2026/06/05
    In 1570, the Ottoman Empire launched a full-scale invasion of Cyprus, then under Venetian rule. This episode follows the brutal 11-month siege of Famagusta, the island's last Venetian stronghold. We examine the strategic importance of Cyprus in the Ottoman-Venetian rivalry, the leadership of Venetian commander Marco Antonio Bragadin, and the Ottoman forces under Lala Mustafa Pasha. The siege ended in August 1571 with a devastating betrayal: despite a negotiated surrender, Bragadin was flayed alive and his skin paraded through the streets. We explore the political context—the Holy League, the Battle of Lepanto two months later—and the long-term consequences for Cyprus, which remained Ottoman for over three centuries. The episode also touches on the Venetian fortifications of Famagusta and Nicosia, the role of the Cypriot population, and the fate of the island's Greek Orthodox and Latin communities under Ottoman rule. Primary sources include the accounts of Fra Agostino, a Venetian engineer who witnessed the siege. #OttomanEmpire #VenetianRepublic #SiegeofFamagusta #MarcoAntonioBragadin #LalaMustafaPasha #CyprusHistory #BattleofLepanto #HolyLeague #1571 #RenaissanceWarfare #Fortifications #Nicosia #Famagusta #OttomanVenetianWars #GreekOrthodox #LatinChristians #History #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo
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    8 分
  • The Venetian Fortress That Held: Kyrenia's 16-Month Siege

    The Venetian Fortress That Held: Kyrenia's 16-Month Siege
    2026/06/04
    In 1570, when the Ottoman fleet appeared off Cyprus, most of the island fell within months. But one fortress held out for sixteen months: Kyrenia Castle. This episode follows the remarkable resistance of its Venetian and Cypriot defenders under commander Marco Antonio Bragadin, who refused to surrender even after Nicosia and Famagusta had fallen. We explore the fortress's design built to withstand gunpowder artillery, the dwindling food supplies, the malaria that ravaged the garrison, and the Ottoman bombardments that slowly crumbled the walls. We also look at the aftermath — how the defenders were finally starved into surrender, the surprisingly lenient terms they received, and how Kyrenia became a symbol of defiance that echoed through Venetian and later Greek Cypriot memory. Along the way, we touch on the broader context: the Venetian Republic's desperate attempts to relieve the island, the role of Kyrenia's natural harbor, and the architectural legacy of the castle that still stands today as one of the best-preserved examples of military architecture in the Mediterranean. #Kyrenia #SiegeOfKyrenia #MarcoAntonioBragadin #VenetianCyprus #OttomanEmpire #CyprusHistory #MediterraneanHistory #Fortress #Gunpowder #1570 #Famagusta #Nicosia #LalaMustafaPasha #VenetianRepublic #MilitaryArchitecture #History #FexingoHistory #OttomanVenetianWars Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo
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    7 分
  • The Cypriot Archbishop Who Led a Revolution

    The Cypriot Archbishop Who Led a Revolution
    2026/06/04
    In Episode 75 of The History of Cyprus, Lucas and Luna explore the life and legacy of Archbishop Makarios III, the religious leader who became the first president of an independent Cyprus. They trace his journey from a village near Paphos to the Archbishopric at just 37 years old, his early advocacy for enosis through education, and his transformation into a pragmatist who accepted independence under the Zurich-London Agreements. The episode dives into the EOKA struggle, the 1955-1959 emergency, Makarios's exile to the Seychelles, and the fraught early years of the Republic of Cyprus, including the 1963-1964 intercommunal violence and the establishment of UNFICYP. It also touches on the 1974 coup d'état that overthrew him and the subsequent Turkish invasion, which divided the island. Lucas and Luna discuss the complexities of Makarios's dual role as ethnarch and president, and his enduring symbolism for Greek Cypriots, without shying away from criticisms of his handling of communal tensions. This episode is a nuanced look at a figure who embodied Cyprus's mid-20th-century struggle for self-determination. #MakariosIII #CyprusHistory #EOKA #Enosis #ArchbishopMakarios #ZurichLondonAgreements #CypriotIndependence #GreekCypriots #TurkishCypriots #UNFICYP #SeychellesExile #Ethnarch #Paphos #KykkosMonastery #1960Independence #1974Invasion #History #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo
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    8 分
  • The Cypriot Philosopher Who Shaped Early Christianity

    The Cypriot Philosopher Who Shaped Early Christianity
    2026/06/03
    Before Paul set foot on Cyprus, a philosopher from Kition had already planted seeds of Stoic thought that would subtly influence Christian ethics. This episode traces Zeno of Kition's journey from Phoenician Cyprus to the Stoa Poikile in Athens, where he taught that virtue is the only good and that all humans are citizens of a universal community. We explore how his ideas—logos, apatheia, cosmopolitanism—echo in the letters of Paul and the writings of early Church Fathers like Clement of Alexandria and Augustine. Did the apostle born in Tarsus, a city steeped in Stoicism, borrow from the Cypriot sage? Did the Gospel of John's "Word" owe a debt to Stoic logos? We sift the historical evidence, the textual parallels, and the fierce debate among scholars. This isn't about claiming Zeno as a secret Christian, but about understanding how the intellectual air of the Hellenistic world—breathed by a merchant from Kition—shaped the language and concepts that carried a new faith across the Roman Empire. A story of influence, not conversion. #ZenoOfKition #Stoicism #Cyprus #Kition #EarlyChristianity #ApostlePaul #Logos #ClementOfAlexandria #Augustine #HellenisticPhilosophy #Athens #StoaPoikile #Tarsus #AncientHistory #FexingoHistory #Mediterranean #PhilosophyAndReligion #HistoryPodcast Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo
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    8 分