Citium

Citium, known in Greek as Kition, was an ancient city-state on the southeastern coast of Cyprus, near the site of modern Larnaca. It developed as a major port and commercial hub in the eastern Mediterranean, linking Cyprus with Phoenician and broader Levantine networks.

Archaeological and textual evidence indicates early Phoenician influence from the 1st millennium BCE, with the city participating in cross‑Mediterranean trade and serving as a key point of contact between Phoenician and later Greek communities. Throughout its history, Citium passed under the control of successive powers, including the Assyrian and Egyptian spheres of influence, and later the Hellenistic kingdoms after the conquests of Alexander the Great and the Ptolemies, before becoming part of the Roman province of Cyprus.

Citium is notable in philosophy as the birthplace of Zeno of Citium, born about 334 BCE. Zeno went on to found Stoicism, one of the major schools of ancient philosophy; he is commonly described by this ethnonym.

Today the site of ancient Citium is located at Kition near modern Larnaca. It comprises ruins such as city walls, public buildings, sanctuaries, and a substantial necropolis, reflecting a long urban occupation from the Bronze Age into the Hellenistic period. Excavations since the 19th century have yielded inscriptions in Phoenician and Greek, as well as architectural and material remains that illuminate Cypriot and eastern Mediterranean history.