Aristocyprus () was a king of

ancient Greece Ancient Greece () was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity (), that comprised a loose collection of culturally and linguistically r ...

who ruled over Soli in

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

. He is primarily known to us from the works of the historian

Herodotus Herodotus (; BC) was a Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus (now Bodrum, Turkey), under Persian control in the 5th century BC, and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria, Italy. He wrote the '' Histori ...

. His father was Philocyprus, whom we know

Solon Solon (; ; BC) was an Archaic Greece#Athens, archaic History of Athens, Athenian statesman, lawmaker, political philosopher, and poet. He is one of the Seven Sages of Greece and credited with laying the foundations for Athenian democracy. ...

had once visited and praised in poetry at some point. In 497 BCE, Soli under Aristocyprus joined the

Ionian Revolt The Ionian Revolt, and associated revolts in Aeolis, Doris (Asia Minor), Doris, Ancient history of Cyprus, Cyprus and Caria, were military rebellions by several Greek regions of Asia Minor against Achaemenid Empire, Persian rule, lasting from 499 ...

, rebelling against rule over Cyprus by the

Achaemenid Empire The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire, also known as the Persian Empire or First Persian Empire (; , , ), was an Iranian peoples, Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great of the Achaemenid dynasty in 550 BC. Based in modern-day Iran, i ...

(whom Herodotus called "Persians") under

Darius the Great Darius I ( ; – 486 BCE), commonly known as Darius the Great, was the third King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire, reigning from 522 BCE until his death in 486 BCE. He ruled the empire at its territorial peak, when it included much of West A ...

. Aristocyprus would not survive the conflict, and he fell in battle with the Achaemenids that same year. His name means "the best of Cyprus" and he is positioned in the narrative as the most noble among those around him. Herodotus tells us that while other leaders around him deserted or were cut down fleeing, Aristocyprus died fighting. Soli itself resisted fiercely but fell after a five-month siege.

References

{{DGRBM, author=WS, title= Aristocyprus , volume=1, page=303, url=https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/moa/acl3129.0001.001/318 6th-century BC births 497 BC deaths Ancient Greeks killed in battle Ancient Greek monarchs Kings of ancient Cyprus Ionian Revolt