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The city of Cyrene was founded in 631 BCE, by Greek colonists from the island of Thera (Santorini). Cyrene and the surrounding Greek cities later formed a Pentapolis. During all Antiquity, the city was under Greek influence. This is the summary of our articles on the history of the Cyrenaican Greeks, from the foundation of Cyrene to the advent of the Roman Empire.
Battus, the leader of the Greek colonists who founded the city, became the first king of Cyrene. His descendants, the Battiad dynasty, reigned for two centuries.
In 525, the Persian Empire invaded Egypt. The King of Cyrene allied with the Persians, who took advantage of the local infighting to take control of the region.
In 462, King Arcesilaus IV of Cyrene won the chariot race at the Pythian Games, in Delphi, with a team of Libyan horses.
Around 460, the Greeks of the Delian League supported the revolt of the Libyan chief Inarus, a descendant of the ancient Pharaohs, against the Persians. After his defeat, the last Greek survivors of his army fled to Cyrene.
Cyrene became a Republic in 440, after her last King was killed. In the second part of the 5th Century, Barca supplanted Cyrene as the most influential city in the region.
In 414, during the Peloponnesian War, the Spartan general Gylippus, on his way to Sicily, was pushed back to the Libyan coasts by adverse winds. In Cyrenaica, he delivered the city of Euhesperides (Benghazi) from a siege by Libyan Amazigh tribes. To thank him, Cyrene provided him with ships to guide him to Sicily.
During the 5° Century, Cyrenaica was in competition with Carthage over the control of the Syrtis and the trans-Saharan trade routes that ended there. Their border was set at Arae Philaenorum. To the West, the border between Cyrenaica and Egypt was at Catabathmus Magnus (Sallum).
By the end of the 5th Century, one Ariston took power in of Cyrene and killed 500 of its leading citizens. He might have sought to establish an Athenian-style democracy.
In 399, a group of 3000 Messanians, expelled from their capital, Naupactus, by the Spartans, fled to Euhesperides (Benghazi).
Egypt managed to break free from Persian domination from 404 to 343, during the 28th, 29th, and 30th Pharaonic dynasties. Cyrenaica might also have taken back its independence, but nothing is known of its history during this period. The Persians retook control of Egypt in 343.
Around 350, Cyrene built a treasury in Delphi.
In 332, Alexander the Great conquered Egypt. The Cyrenaican Greeks submitted to him, happy to have a Greek king who aspired to unite all Greeks.
After Alexander the Great’s death, in 323, his Empire was divided between his generals. The cities of Cyrenaica then reclaimed their autonomy.
Shorty after the death of Alexander the Great, the Spartan mercenary Thibron tried to conquer Cyrene. Cyrenaica then became part of Ptolemaic Egypt, while enjoying strong autonomy under governor Ophellas.
Around 320, during a famine in Greece, Cyrene sent 40 million litres of grain to the Macedonian royal family and to the Greek cities.
An independent Kingdom of Cyrenaica was formed briefly by Magas of Cyrene, but did not last.
After the death of Magas of Cyrene, his daughter Berenice married Ptolemy III Euergetes and became Queen of Egypt. The city of Euhesperides was renamed Berenice in her honor. Ptolemy III also founded a new Cyrenaican city, Ptolemais, as the seat of his governor.
In 163, Ptolemy VIII Physcon, after he was expelled from Egypt by his brother Ptolemy VI Philometor, reigned over Cyrenaica as his brother’s vassal. He was reestablished as King of Egypt in 145.
In 105, Ptolemy Apion, son of Ptolemy VIII, was proclaimed King of Cyrenaica. After he died in 96, as he had no heir, Cyrenaica was bequeathed to the Roman Republic. The region was part of the Roman Empire, from its foundation on.
