The most significant impact on the Cyclades in the first century bce was the demise of Delos and, contrary to common view, the inclusion of the Cyclades in the Roman Empire provided opportunities for these resilient islands to recover and develop. The collapse of the Delian economic and religious networks reverberated around the Cyclades. Islands such as Tenos that had flourished through phase transition, with renowned sanctuaries and elites, bankers and traders, began to fall to the side lines. As new smaller networks grew out of the splintered Delian one, islands such as Melos and Thera, which had been out of the Delian sphere, began to come to the fore. Without exception, the islands show remarkable resilience in the face of significant external threats – from loss of income livelihood to attacks by pirates. It is through this diachronic perspective that the success of the Cyclades become obvious.