What is the relationship between Protaras, Nike and the Louvre Museum?

Few of the modern visitors to Protaras or even the residents of the area know that beneath the current tourist fabric of the area lies one of the most important – but forgotten – chapters of Hellenistic history. Where today the most famous beaches of Cyprus and the Mediterranean dominate with thousands of bathers daily, in antiquity the port of Lefkolla extended, a naval base of strategic importance, which in 306 BC was the epicenter of a naval battle that not only determined the fate of Cyprus, but also left its mark on one of the most emblematic works of art of all time: the Victory of Samothrace, the masterpiece statue that today dominates the Louvre Museum. Centuries later, this same sculpture would inspire the name and logo of Nike, the most powerful sports brand in the world.

The showdown of the Successors and the strategic importance of Cyprus

After the death of Alexander the Great (323 BC), his empire was divided among his generals, the so-called “Successors”. Ptolemy, who had settled in Egypt, conquered Cyprus and appointed his brother, Menelaus, as governor of the island. The island’s geographical position, between three continents and at the crossroads of the Eastern Mediterranean sea routes, made it a crucial strategic prize.

In 306 BC, Antigonus the “One-Eyed”, or “Cyclops” (a nickname that may have inspired the name of the homonymous cave above Konnos) – the most powerful of the claimants to the imperial inheritance – sent his son, Demetrius, later the most prominent of the Epigoni, to Cyprus. Demetrius initially defeated Menelaus on land and sea and besieged Salamis, displaying such ingenuity in siege engines that he received the nickname “Siegeurkitis”.

The Naval Battle of Lefkolla

While besieging Salamis, Demetrius was informed that Ptolemy himself was sailing with a strong fleet to Cyprus. According to the ancient writer Polyaenus (Strategies), Demetrius sailed past Cape Pedalion – today's Cape Greco – and hid his fleet in the small port of Lefkolla in today's Protaras, "a small bay entering the steep land."

When Ptolemy anchored unsuspectingly, Demetrius' ships rushed in unexpectedly and crushed the Egyptian force. Ptolemy himself managed to escape with only eight ships. The rest of the fleet was either destroyed or captured.

Plutarch, in the Parallel Lives, confirms the brilliance of the victory: Demetrius not only captured Salamis, but also took as booty the entire army and fleet of the opponents, while he showed kindness and magnanimity towards the defeated. He also mentions the announcement of Demetrius' victory to his father Antigonus by his messenger Aristodemus from Miletus, who was the first to address Antigonus as king: "Rejoice, King Antigonus, we defeat Ptolemy in a naval battle, and we have Cyprus and a thousand six thousand eight hundred soldiers taken prisoner."

An extensive description of Demetrius' victory, with many details about the leaders of the two opposing fleets, the number of ships, the development of the naval battle and its results, is attempted by Diodorus Siculus, who makes no reference to the strategy of Leucolla and Demetrius' ambush, but vaguely suggests that the great naval battle took place in the waters of Salamis.

The naval battle of Lefkolla was decisive: Cyprus passed into the hands of Antigonus and led, a year later, to the proclamation of both himself and Demetrius as kings, an event that inaugurated the era of the Hellenistic kingdoms.

Leucolla in ancient literature

The educator, writer, publisher and founder of Cypriot Folklore Studies, Athanasios Sakellarios, claims that the naval battle took place in the harbor of Lefkolla, the seaport of the city of the same name, and that:

"This one probably stood in her place called
Melisionas, where there are small ancient cities
ruins, and the hilly areas around the village are called
now Asprogyes. In it traces of the road are still preserved,
by which they descended from the city to the port
of Lefkolla, now Konnos. And the tombs of the city
"This lies between this port and Paralimni."

It is noted that Sakellarios, a philologist from Agios Petros, Kynouria, Peloponnese, had served as director of the Larnaca School from 1850-1855, toured almost all of Cyprus and carried out on-site archaeological research.

The source for the Sakellario is the late 2nd century AD writer Athenaeus of Naucratis. In his work Deipnosophists he writes that after Demetrius' victory, Antigonus "the sacred trireme, which defeated Ptolemy's generals near Leucolla in Cyprus, where it was seen and dedicated to Apollo". That is, in memory of the victory, Antigonus dedicated the sacred trireme to the temple of Apollo of Lefkolla. Sakellarios confirms the existence of a sanctuary of Apollo, writing that among the ruins of Lefkolla an inscription was found that read "Wish of Apollo for iniquity". The inscription is part of the thousands of stolen antiquities that the famous antiquities thief Luidi di Palma Cesnola discovered in Lefkolla in the 19th century and sold to museums in Europe. Today, this particular column is in the British museum.

Lefkolla is mentioned by Athenaeus' predecessor, Strabo (Geography, XIV,6.3), who writes that after Salamis, two hours' journey to the south, was Arsinoe, at the location of present-day Famagusta and "There is another port, Lefkolla, at the extreme of Pedalia, above which lies a rough, high, trapezoidal hill, sacred to Aphrodite."

From Lefkolla to the Victory of Samothrace

To commemorate his great victory at Salamis, Demetrius struck a silver tetradrachm: The obverse depicts Nike sitting on the prow of a ship and playing a trumpet. On the reverse, Poseidon brandishes his trident. (E.T. Newell, The coinages of Demetrius Poliorcetes, London, 1927, p. 44).

In 1879, the eminent Greek archaeologist Panagis Kavvadias (1851-1928), professor of Archaeology at the University of Athens, and academic, published the study "The Victory of Samothrace in the Louvre and its importance for the history of Plastic Art", where he points out that the Victory of Samothrace was a dedication by Demetrius the Besieger to the Sanctuary of the Cabeirion in Samothrace, after his victory in the naval battle of Lefkolla. Following Kavvadias, Athanasios Sakellarios notes in 1890:

“…In memory of this victory
​by order of Demetrius he constructed
​the sculptor Eftychides Victory standing on
​based on the bow of a ship and currently located
"in the Louvre Museum."

The sculpture of Victory, discovered in 1863 in Samothrace by a French archaeological mission and today dominates the Louvre. Made of Parian marble, 3,28 meters high, it remains headless, but the dynamic movement of the folds and its naval base confirm its content: it is the sculptural depiction of a great naval victory.

The Victory of Samothrace, together with the Aphrodite of Milos, are the most brilliant ancient Greek exhibits of the Louvre Museum.

From the Louvre to Nike

When, in 1971, the sportswear company founded by Phil Knight adopted the name Nike, it did so precisely to capitalize on the symbolic weight of the goddess Nike. The famous “swoosh” is nothing more than the modern, abstract rendering of the goddess’s wing, a symbol of speed, movement and transcendence. Unbeknownst to most, the most recognizable brand in the world owes its existence to the same historical starting point that connects Protaras, Lefkolla and Nike of Samothrace.

From history to the modern identity of the place

Today, the Municipality of Paralimni - Deryneia is attempting to highlight this forgotten cultural heritage and reconnect it with the identity of the place. The creation of a comprehensive archaeological tour guide is underway, which will record and make visitable points of historical interest both in the tourist area of ​​Protaras and in the center of the Municipality and in all the municipal districts.

The scientific supervision of the project has been undertaken by Dr. Angelos Smagas, with the aim not only of rescuing and documenting historical memory, but also of transforming it into a lever for education, culture and thematic tourism.

Lefkolla, the naval battle, the Victory of Samothrace and Nike's global footprint are not just chapters from a distant past, but living proof that even a place that is today identified with recreation can hide a history capable of reshaping the way we perceive it.

Because, as is always the case, history is not lost. It is simply waiting to be reread.

With information collected by Professor of Modern History and former Ambassador of Cyprus to Greece, Dr. George Georgis.