Nicocles

Who was Nicocles?

Nikokles was a king of Paphos on the island of Cyprus. As king, Nikokles changed the capital of Paphos, from the old one to the new one. In 321 BC he allied himself with Ptolemy I to fight against Perdiccas and Antigonus.

However, in 310 BC, after Ptolemy had established his power over the whole island of Cyprus, Nikokles entered into secret negotiations with Antigonus. Hereupon, the Egyptian monarch, alarmed lest the spirit of disaffection should spread to other cities, despatched two of his friends, Argaeus and Kallikrates, to Cyprus. They surrounded the palace of Paphos with an armed force, and commanded Nikokles to put an end to his own life, an order with which, after a vain attempt at explanation, he was obliged to comply. Nikokles and his brothers hanged themselves. After her husband had killed himself, Axiothea, his wife, slew her virgin daughters to prevent them from falling into the hands of the Greeks. Then, together with her sisters-in-law, she set fire to the palace and perished in the flames.