__NOTOC__ Lapathus ( phn, 𐤋𐤐𐤈, ;. grc-gre, Λάπαθος, ''Lápathos''), also recorded as Lapethus (, ''Lápēthos''), Lepethis (, ''Lēpēthís''), and Lapithus (, ''Lápithos''), was an ancient Cypriot town near present-day Lampousa and

Karavas Karavas ( el, Καραβάς; tr, Alsancak is a town in the north of the Cyprus island. It is under the ''de facto'' control of Northern Cyprus. , the town has a population of 6,597. Etymology The name ''Karavas'' comes from the Greek ''karávi ...

History

The foundation of Lapathus was credited to the

Phoenicians Phoenicia () was an ancient thalassocratic civilization originating in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily located in modern Lebanon. The territory of the Phoenician city-states extended and shrank throughout their hist ...

Nonnus Nonnus of Panopolis ( grc-gre, Νόννος ὁ Πανοπολίτης, ''Nónnos ho Panopolítēs'', 5th century CE) was the most notable Greek epic poet of the Imperial Roman era. He was a native of Panopolis (Akhmim) in the Egyptian Theb ...

claimed the name derived from an eponymous Lapathus, a follower of

Dionysus In ancient Greek religion and myth, Dionysus (; grc, Διόνυσος ) is the god of the grape-harvest, winemaking, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, festivity, and theatre. The Romans ...

. Strabo said that it received a

Spartan Sparta ( Doric Greek: Σπάρτα, ''Spártā''; Attic Greek: Σπάρτη, ''Spártē'') was a prominent city-state in Laconia, in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (, ), while the name Sparta referred ...

colony In modern parlance, a colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule. Though dominated by the foreign colonizers, colonies remain separate from the administration of the original country of the colonizers, the ''metropole, metropolit ...

headed by Praxander. He adds that it was situated opposite to the town of Nagidus in

Cilicia Cilicia (); el, Κιλικία, ''Kilikía''; Middle Persian: ''klkyʾy'' (''Klikiyā''); Parthian language, Parthian: ''kylkyʾ'' (''Kilikiyā''); tr, Kilikya). is a geographical region in southern Anatolia in Turkey, extending inland from th ...

and possessed a harbour and docks. It was situated in the north of the island, on a river of the same name and in a district called Lapethia (, ''Lapēthía''). In the war between

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος, ; la, Claudius Ptolemaeus; AD) was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist, who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were of import ...

and

Antigonus Antigonus or Antigonos ( grc, Ἀντίγονος), a Greek name meaning "comparable to his father" or "worthy of his father", may refer to: Rulers * Three Macedonian kings of the Antigonid dynasty that succeeded Alexander the Great: ** Antigon ...

, Lapathus and its king Praxippus sided with the latter. The name of the place became synonymous with stupidity.''

Suda The ''Suda'' or ''Souda'' (; grc-x-medieval, Σοῦδα, Soûda; la, Suidae Lexicon) is a large 10th-century Byzantine encyclopedia of the ancient Mediterranean world, formerly attributed to an author called Soudas (Σούδας) or Souidas ...

'' ''s.v.'' Λαπάθιοι.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* . * Populated places in ancient Cyprus Cities in ancient Cyprus Phoenician colonies in Cyprus Spartan colonies Former populated places in Cyprus {{ancientCyprus-geo-stub