La costa sud di Cipro nella tarda antichità e nell’altomedioevo. Prime considerazioni

Abstract

Cyprus in Late Antiquity was a thriving and densely populated province. In the traditional historical view, the late antique period on Cyprus ended abruptly as a result of the Arab raids of the mid-seventh century. The original focus of urban archaeology on monumental structures and Christian basilicas tended to stress the impact of these raids further; layers of destruction were often uncritically associated with the Arabs, overshadowing archaeological evidence that hinted at continuities beyond the mid-seventh century. The paper will collate the results of recent and past research to arrive at a comprehensive, interdisciplinary reconstruction of life on the island in the Long Late Antiquity.

Keywords: Cyprus, early middle age, medieval architecture, Byzantine, Paphos