Peter II of Cyprus than trustworthy in this regard. Peter and Eleanor the Dowager Queen were held captive by the Genoese, who also attacked Limassol and Paphos, and entered the kingdom's capital, Nicosia. Peter's uncles John and James resisted successfully against the Genoese from the St. Hilarion Castle and from the town of Kyrenia. The following year (1374), Peter was forced to come to a humiliating agreement with the Genoese declaring that Kyrenia and what remained of Famagusta under would fall under Genoese sovereignty, that he would pay huge compensations to the Genoese, and that James would leave Cyprus. James obeyed and departed from
Ancient history of Cyprus of Cyprus (known as "Iatnanna" by the Assyrians) appears to have begun earlier than this, during the reign of Tiglath-Pileser III (744–727 BC), and ended with the fall of the Neo Assyrian Empire in 609 BC, whereupon the city-kingdoms of Cyprus gained independence once more. Following a brief period of Egyptian domination in the sixth century BC, Cyprus fell under Persian rule. The Persians did not interfere in the internal affairs of Cyprus, leaving the city-kingdoms to continue striking their own coins and waging war amongst one another, until the late-fourth century BC saw the overthrow of the Persian Empire