kingdom · Greece and the Aegean

Kingdom of Marion

1000 BCE – 312 BCE (approx.) · capital Marion

Cypriot kingdom on the north-west coast that grew rich on copper trade with Athens until Ptolemy I destroyed it in 312 BCE.

Origins

Marion grew near modern Polis Chrysochous in north-west Cyprus, close to the copper mines of Limni, in the early Iron Age. It emerged as a city-kingdom in the Cypro-Archaic period, facing Anatolia and the Aegean across the sea.

Rule and society

Marion exported copper and imported large quantities of Athenian painted pottery, found in its cemeteries. Its kings, some with Greek names such as Stasioikos and others possibly Phoenician, issued coins in the 5th and 4th centuries BCE. Inscriptions use the Cypriot syllabary for Greek.

Decline and legacy

Its last king, Stasioikos II, sided with Antigonus against Ptolemy I, who destroyed Marion in 312 BCE and moved its people to Paphos. Ptolemy II refounded the site as Arsinoe c. 270 BCE, and the modern town of Polis stands there today.

Connections (2)

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Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Kingdom of Marion. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/kingdom-of-marion
MLA
“Kingdom of Marion.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/kingdom-of-marion. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Kingdom of Marion.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/kingdom-of-marion.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Kingdom of Marion’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/kingdom-of-marion (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻