Cyrenaica
Cyrenaica is a historical region located in the eastern part of modern-day Libya, stretching from the Gulf of Sirte to the border with Egypt. This area is characterized by its coastal landscape and was historically significant due to its connection to the Greek world, especially during antiquity. The region was home to the Pentapolis, a group of five Greek cities that included Cyrene, established around 630 BC, and Barce.
Cyrenaica experienced various shifts in control, beginning with Alexander the Great's takeover of Egypt, which brought the region under the influence of the Ptolemaic dynasty. While the local Greek population often resisted Ptolemaic rule, they established their independence for a time under Magas, an Egyptian viceroy, who declared himself king. The political landscape of Cyrenaica evolved further as it became a site of dynastic struggles, eventually leading to Roman intervention and the establishment of local governance under Ptolemy VIII Euergetes II.
Overall, Cyrenaica's rich history is marked by its cultural blend of Greek and indigenous influences and its strategic importance in the Mediterranean during ancient times.
Subject Terms
Cyrenaica
or Cyrene, Kyrene (now the eastern portion of the Libyan state), extending from the Gulf of Syrtes Major (Sirte) in the west to the borders of Egypt in the east
Being isolated from that country by deserts, it was nearer to the Greek world. Whereas the interior was dominated by tribes of pastoral Berbers, the northern coastal strip was later known as the Pentapolis, from its possession of five Greek cities, all situated on the coast except Cyrene (the earliest, c 630 BC) and Barce. From the seventh century agricultural expansion was rapid.
Alexander the Great's seizure of Egypt gave him virtual control of Cyrenaica, and in 332 Ptolemy I Lagus came in person to enforce his succession, yet the local Greeks never wholly acquiesced in their subjection to the Ptolemies. About 312/9 they revolted, and again c 306, after which the king's half-brother Magas was installed as Egyptian viceroy; but in 274 he declared himself independent and assumed the royal title, reigning, as viceroy and king, for a total of fifty years. Shortly after his death coins show the cities as a Republican League (koinon)—modeled on the Achaean confederacy, as Polybius and Plutarch suggest—but Ptolemy III Euergetes (246–221) reasserted Egyptian control by marrying Magas' daughter Berenice. Later, however, the Romans settled a dynastic quarrel by detaching Cyrenaica once again, setting up Ptolemy VIII Euergetes II (“Pot-Belly”) as its ruler (163–145). Later, he returned to the Egyptian capital Alexandria, but his will restored the independence of the Cyrenaican territory, which was allotted to Ptolemy Apion (116).