Cyrene lies on a ridge of theJebel Akhdar uplands. The archaeological remains cover several hectares and include several monumental temples, stoas, theatres, bathhouses, churches, and palatial residences. The city is surrounded by theNecropolis of Cyrene. Since 1982, it has been aUNESCO World Heritage Site.[1] The city's port wasApollonia (Marsa Sousa), located about 16 kilometres (10 mi) to the north.
The city was attributed toApollo and the legendaryetymonCyrene by the Greeks themselves but it was probably actually colonized by settlers fromThera (modernSantorini) in the late seventh century BC. It was initially ruled by a dynasty of monarchs called the Battiads, who grew rich and powerful as a result of successive waves of immigration and the export of horses andsilphium, a medicinal plant. By the fifth century BC, they had expanded their control over the other cities of Cyrenaica. It became the seat of theCyrenaics, aschool of philosophy in the fourth century BC, founded byAristippus, a disciple ofSocrates. In theHellenistic Age, the city alternated between being part ofPtolemaic Egypt and the capital of an independent kingdom. It was also an importantJewish hub. In 96 BC, it passed to theRoman Republic and became part of the province ofCrete and Cyrenaica. The city was destroyed by Jewish fighters in AD 115 during theDiaspora revolt, and slowly rebuilt over the following century. Earthquakes in 262 and 365 devastated the city, but some habitation continued through the early Byzantine period and theMuslim conquest of the Maghreb in 642, after which the site was abandoned until the establishment of an Italian military base on the site in 1913. Excavations have been ongoing since that time.
Cyrene is thelatinized form of theGreek nameKȳrḗnē (Κυρήνη) of uncertain origin. The Greeks themselvesattributed the name to the legendaryThessalian princessCyrene who supposedly founded the city with help from thesun godApollo.[2] Some modern scholars sometimes attribute the name to itsspring Cyra (Κύρα,Kýra), which was considered sacred to Apollo by the city's Greco-Roman inhabitants.[3] The legend of Thessalian Cyrene seems to long predate attestation of the spring, however, andJanko instead suggests that the existing legend and name were adopted by the early Theran settlers for this specific location after some unattested but similar local name in theLibu orGaramantian language.[3] Although both the Greek and Latin forms of the name were pronounced something like/kuˈreɪneɪ/koo-RAY-nay,[4] they are more often read in English as/kaɪˈriːni/ky-REE-nee or, in its Latin form,/saɪˈriːni/sy-REE-nee.[citation needed]
People have lived in Cyrenaica since thePalaeolithic. There is some evidence for settlement in the caves below the Acropolis which may pre-date Greek settlement. It is possible thatMinoans andMycenaeans visited Cyrene in theBronze Age, since it is on the easiest sea route from theAegean to Egypt, but the only archaeological evidence for this are separate finds of a small Minoan altar and a Minoan seal, which might have been brought over at a later date.[2][5]
AGreek myth first recorded byPindar in the early fifth century BC reports that the godApollo fell in love with the huntressCyrene and brought her to Libya, where she gave birth to a sonAristaeus.[2] Greek historical traditions, reported inHerodotus'Histories and in a fourth-century BC inscription found at Cyrene, say that a group ofCretan Greeks, who had been expelled fromSparta and settled on the island ofThera, founded Cyrene in 631 BC, under the leadership ofBattus I, at the prompting of theOracle of Delphi.[6][7] Some traditions say that the settlers left Thera because of a famine, others because of a civil war. Most say that the colonists first settled on an island at Aziris (east ofDerna) before relocating to Cyrene.[7] The historicity of these narratives is uncertain, particularly the idea that Thera was Cyrene's sole "mother city." Relationships with other cities, such as Sparta[8] and Samos,[9] mentioned in the foundation narratives, are uncertain.[6]
Archaeological evidence from the site, especially ceramic finds, confirm that Greek settlement began in the mid-seventh century BC. This early pottery derves from Thera, Sparta, and Samos, but alsoRhodes.[10] The initial area of habitation was a ridge stretching eastwards from the Acropolis to theAgora, but the city rapidly expanded eastwards.[11] The sanctuary of Apollo to the north of the Acropolis, of Demeter to the south, and of Zeus to the east all go back to the seventh or sixth centuries BC. Archaeological evidence shows that several other sites in Cyrenaica, such as Apollonia,Euesperides, andTaucheira (modernBenghazi andTocra) were settled at the same time as Cyrene.[10]
After its foundation, the city was ruled by a series of monarchs descended from Battus I. Over the course of the sixth century BC, Cyrene grew to become the most powerful city in the region.[12] In the first half of the sixth century BC,Battus II encouraged further Greek settlement in the city, especially from thePeloponnese and Crete. This sparked conflict with the indigenous Libyans, whose kingAdicran appealed to Egypt for help around 570 BC. ThepharaohApries launched a military expedition against Cyrene, but was decisively defeated at the Battle of Irasa.[13][14][7]
According to Herodotus, conflict with kingArcesilaus II "the Cruel" (ca. 560-550 BC) led his brothers to leave the city and found the city ofBarca to the west. Archaeological evidence shows that Greek presence at Barca predates this foundation, going back to the seventh century.[15] Arcesilaus was defeated by the Barcans and Libyans at the Battle of Leuco, killed by his brother and succeeded by his infant sonBattus III (ca. 550-530 BC), under whom Cyrene continued to suffer from continued internal conflict.[16] This was resolved through a reform of the city's laws byDemonax ofMantinea.[17] These reforms appear to have limited the authority of the king to religious matters, vested political power in the Cyrenaean people, and divided the Cyreneans into threetribes. He may also have mediated a peace with Barca and introducedtrial by combat.[16]
Battus III's sonArcesilaus III (ca. 530-515 BC) attempted to revoke Demonax's constitution and was driven into exile. He returned with an army fromSamos and regained control but forced out once more and was assassinated at Barca. His motherPheretime appealed to theAchaemenid governor of Egypt,Aryandes, who besieged and sacked Barca in 515 BC. According to Herodotus, Aryandes marched his troops through Cyrene and then, regretting that he had not taken the opportunity to conquer Cyrene, attempted to get back in, but was prevented. The story is strange; it may be that the city was actually conquered by the Persians.[17][12][18] Remains of an extramural temple destroyed by the Persians at this time have been found.[19]
In the fifth century BC, perhaps as a consequence of the Persian intervention, Cyrene's influence over the other Greek cities in Cyrenaica seems to have solidified into institutionalised political control.[12] The city was prosperous and construction of the Temple of Apollo,Temple of Zeus,Temple of Demeter, and structures in the Agora date to this time.[12] Cyrene's chief local export through much of its early history was the medicinal herbsilphium, which may have been used as anabortifacient; the herb was pictured on most Cyrenian coins. Silphium was in such demand that it was harvested to extinction by the end of the first century AD.[20] Cyrene also made money from raising of horses and the transhipment trade between Egypt, the Aegean, andCarthage. It was a landing point for Greeks seeking to visit the oracle ofAmmon atSiwah.[21]
Arcesilaus IV won the chariot race at thePythian Games in 462 BC and at theOlympic Games in 460 BC, in celebration of which Pindar wrote theFourth andFifth Pythian Odes. Following this victory, he organised a new wave of Greek settlement at Euesperides. Some time after this however, the Cyreneans monarchy was abolished in obscure circumstances and the tomb of his ancestor Battus I was destroyed.[22][23] In 454 BC, Cyrene gave refuge to the remnants of anAthenian army that had beendefeated by the Persians in Egypt.[23] In the following years, Barca seems to have become the dominant city in the region[24] and Cyrene was regularly in conflict with the other Greek cities of Cyrenaica and with the Libyans.[17] In 414 BC, during thePeloponnesian War,Spartan forces travelling toSicily were driven to Cyrenaica by adverse winds and Cyrene provided them with twotriremes andpilots to lead them to Sicily.[25][17]
Towards the end of the fifth century BC, one Ariston took control of the city, put five hundred leading Cyreneans to death and exiled others. It is possible that he attempted to establish a radicaldemocracy on the Athenian model. A group of 3,000Messenians who had been expelled fromNaupactus by the Spartans arrived in Cyrene in 404 BC and joined forces with the exiles, but were almost all killed in a battle, after which the Cyrenean exiles and the followers of Ariston reconciled. The surviving Messenians settled at Euhesperides.[26] There are some signs that civic conflict continued over the following century.[27]
During the fourth century BC, Cyrene clashed withCarthage over theSyrtis and the trans-Saharan trade routes that ended there. The border was established at theAltars of the Phileni. Cyrene may also have extended its control eastwards toCatabathmus Magnus. Cyrene constructed atreasury at Delphi between 350 and 325 BC.[27] WhenAlexander the Great conquered Egypt in 331 BC and marched west to visit the oracle atSiwah, the Cyreneans sent an embassy to declare their friendship; they did not come under Macedonian control. An inscription records that during a famine in the late 320s, Cyrene sent over 800,000medimni of grain (ca. 40,000,000litres) to the cities of Greece and the Macedonian royal family.[28]
The Cyrene bronze head in the British Museum (300 BC).
In 324 BC, a Spartan mercenary leader,Thibron, joined forces with Cyrenean and Barcan exiles on Crete and invaded Cyrenaica, capturing Cyrene's port and forcing Cyrene to accept his rule.[27] However, one of his officers, Mnasicles, defected to the Cyreneans and helped them to expel Thibron's troops and recapture the port.[29] Cyrene allied with the Libyans and Carthaginians, but Thibron returned in 322 BC and defeated them. A democratic revolution took place in Cyrene and the exiled aristocrats appealed toPtolemy I Soter for help. Ptolemy sent his generalOphellas to occupy the city and established a new constitution for the city, which is recorded on a large inscription,[30][31] which was heavily oligarchic and reserved a permanent role for himself in the city's administration.[32][29] The city was accepted by the other Macedonian leaders as part of thePtolemaic realm in theTreaty of Triparadisus in 321 BC. Cyrenean rebels attempted to expel the Ptolemaic garrison in 313 BC, but Ptolemy sent reinforcements who suppressed the revolt.[29] In 308 BC, Ophellas led Cyrenaean and Athenian troops west to joinAgathocles of Syracuse's attack on Carthage and was immediately murdered.[32]
Coin ofMagas as king of Cyrene, circa 282/75 to 261 BC.
Cyrene rebelled against Ptolemy again around 305 BC. Control was re-established in 300 BC by Ptolemy's step-sonMagas.[33] After Ptolemy's death in 282 BC, Magas refused to submit to his half-brotherPtolemy II and had crowned himself king by 276 BC. He marriedApama the daughter of theSeleucid kingAntiochus I and assisted him in an unsuccessful invasion of Egypt during theFirst Syrian War.[34][33] Inscribed accounts indicate severeinflation of food prices and a large fundraising campaign, possibly for repairs to the city walls.[33] After his death, Apama invited a Macedonian prince,Demetrius the Fair, to marry her daughterBerenice and take the throne, but he was murdered after a short conflict with Berenice. She marriedPtolemy III in 246 BC, bringing Cyrene back under Ptolemaic control.[35] In the process, the city of Euesperides was destroyed and re-founded as Berenice and the cities of Cyrenaica formed a federation, called the Pentapolis, which minted its own coinage.[36] Constitutional reforms by a pair ofArcadians, Ecdelus and Demophanes, may also belong in this period.[37]
Cyrene was reduced to subject status, a garrison was installed, and a succession of Ptolemaic courtiers were appointed to the city'spriesthood of Apollo.[37] Cyrene was established as a separate kingdom once more forPtolemy VIII in 163 BC after his siblings expelled him from Egypt.[38][39][40] The city rebelled against him but was defeated. It is possible that he granted Cyrene's port, Apollonia, independence from Cyrene at this time, as a reward for remaining loyal.[41] Ptolemy engaged in a wide-ranging construction project in the city, including the construction of a monumentalgymnasium.[40] He also had a will inscribed, promising Cyrene to theRoman Republic in the event that he died without heirs. However, he regained control of Egypt in 145 BC.[42] In the dynastic conflicts that followed, Cyrene probably remained under the control of Ptolemy VIII and then ofPtolemy IX.[40] It was apparently given to Ptolemy VIII's illegitimate sonPtolemy Apion as a separate kingdom ca. 105-101 BC. Apion made a similar will to that of his father and the territory passed to Rome when he died without heirs in 96 BC.[36]
The city became an important Jewish centre during the Hellenistic period. Thedeuterocanonical book2 Maccabees, is said by its author to be an abridgment of a five-volume work by a Hellenized Jew by the name ofJason of Cyrene who lived around 100 BC.
Marble bust of Emperor Antoninus Pius (r. 138–161 AD), from thehouse of Jason Magnus at Cyrene, now in The British Museum, London
After 96 BC, the Romans initially ignored the new territory.Plutarch mentions a tyrant of Cyrene,Nicocrates, who was deposed by his wifeAretaphila of Cyrene and succeeded by his brother Learchus, who was murdered in turn.[43][44]Lucullus visited the city in 87 BC, suppressed the tyranny and granted Cyrene a new constitution.[44] But it was only in 74 BC that the Romans first sent a governor, Publius Cornelius Lentulus Marcellinus.[36] At some point between 67 and 30 BC, Cyrenaica became part of theRoman province ofCrete and Cyrenaica. The provincial capital was on Crete, but Cyrene remained the chief city in Cyrenaica and enjoyed a highly prosperous period and much construction dates to the first century AD.[36] In the mid-first century AD, the Roman authorities launched an extensive surveying campaign to reclaim the public land around Cyrene that had slipped into private control and stopped paying dividends to thefisc.[45]
Because of its large Jewish population, Cyrene was anearly centre of Christianity. A Cyrenian namedSimon carried the cross ofJesus.[46]Acts claims that Jews from Cyrene heard the disciples speaking in their own language in Jerusalem on the day ofPentecost and later says that Jewish Christians from Cyrene and Cyprus were among those in Antioch who began spreading the gospel among Gentiles.[47] According to the tradition of theCoptic Orthodox Church, its founder,Saint Mark was a native of Cyrene and ordained the first bishop of Cyrene.
A massive Jewish revolt, theDiaspora revolt, broke out in Cyrenaica, Egypt, Mesopotamia, Cyprus and Judaea in 115 AD. Cyrene was sacked and almost all of the city's buildings were destroyed. Literary sources claim that 220,000 people were killed before the revolt was quelled byMarcius Turbo.[48][49] According toEusebius of Caesarea, the Jewish rebellion left Libya depopulated to such an extent that a few years later new colonies had to be established there by the emperorHadrian to maintain the viability of continued settlement. Restoration work is recorded in inscriptions and visible archaeologically; it was not completed until the reign ofCommodus.[45] The city was an early member of Hadrian'sPanhellenion and a long inscription records its attempts to block membership for one of its neighbours. Cyrene was once again prosperous by the third quarter of the second century AD and several palaces date to this period, including theHouse of Jason Magnus.[50]
In the mid-third century AD, Cyrene's economy began to decline. This was hastened by anearthquake of 262, which destroyed much of the city.[45] After the disaster, the city was raided by theMarmaritae, Libyan nomads, who were defeated in 269 byTenagino Probus, prefect of Egypt. The emperorClaudius Gothicus restored Cyrene, naming itClaudiopolis. Many buildings were subsequently rebuilt,[51] but a hurriedly built new defensive wall enclosed only the western half of the city.[49] The civic hub shifted north from the street of Battus to the Valley street and many of the old public spaces were filled in with housing and shops.[52] In the reforms ofDiocletian, Cyrene became part of the new province ofLibya Superior (also called Pentapolis).[45] TheRoman Martyrology[53] mentions under 4 July a tradition that in thepersecution of Diocletian a bishop Theodorus of Cyrene was scourged and had his tongue cut out. Earlier editions of the Martyrology mentioned what may be the same person also under 26 March.
Anotherearthquake destroyed the city on 21 July 365. Skeletons crushed by falling masonry have been found and one tomb inscription mentions the earthquake.[51] A contemporary historian,Ammianus Marcellinus, describes Cyrene as "an ancient but deserted city."[51] However, the damage may have been over-emphasised. Archaeology shows that most buildings were damaged, but also that many were rebuilt, including many temples, which were only closed by theTheodosian decrees in 395.[54] Settlement seems to have expanded east beyond Claudius Gothicus' fortification wall and a generation after the earthquake, Cyrene was a significant centre.[49]Synesius, a wealthy magnate who became bishop of Ptolemais and whose letters are preserved, grew up in Cyrene in the generation after the earthquake.[55] Letter 67 of Synesius tells of an irregular episcopal ordination carried out by a bishop Philo of Cyrene, which was condoned byAthanasius. The same letter mentions that a nephew of this Philo, who bore the same name, also became bishop of Cyrene.
TheCentral andEast Churches were built in the fifth or sixth century AD and renovated several times.[56] A bishop of Cyrene name Rufus attended theRobber Council of Ephesus in 449 and there was still a bishop of Cyrene, named Leontius, at the time ofPatriarchEulogius of Alexandria (580–607).[57][58] The city fell underArab conquest in 643. At some point thereafter it was abandoned, but the ancient name lived on as "Grennah" in the 19th century.[59]
The site was totally abandoned in the early modern period.Frederick andRichard Beechey visited and produced the first site plans in 1821-1822. The French consul at Benghazi looted part of a tomb later in the century for theLouvre. The first systematic excavations were undertaken byRobert Murdoch Smith and E. A. Porcher in 1860 and 1861; their findings mostly went to theBritish Museum.[60][61] They include the Apollo of Cyrene and a unique bronze head of an African man.[62][63] The AmericanRichard Norton began more scientific excavations in 1910, which were halted by theItalian invasion of Libya in 1911.[60] The tomb of the excavation's epigrapher, Herbert de Cou, who was shot in mysterious circumstances, is located on the site.[64]
The Italian colonial government established a military base at the site in 1913.[59] In the course of building the base, Italian soldiers found the "Venus of Cyrene", a headless marble statue representing the goddess Venus, a Roman copy of a Greek original, which prompted them to restrict their base to the Acropolis. The statue was transported to Rome, where it remained until 2008, when it was returned to Libya.[65] The village of Shahat grew up on the site as a result of the Italian presence.[59]
The Italians created an antiquities service and, after the discovery of the Venus of Cyrene, carried out excavations at Cyrene on a very large scale, which were closely connected with the regime's propaganda. The Italian archaeologists were expelled in 1943 when theAllies captured Cyrenaica.[60]Richard Goodchild, controller of antiquities from 1955 to 1966 moved the village of Shahat off the site and re-established it to the south; it has since expanded over much of the southern necropolis.[59] He also restored control of excavations at the site to the Italians, underSandro Stucchi [it]. Goodchild also The Italian mission has excavated much of the site and restored several buildings through the process ofanastylosis.[66]
The site was declared aUNESCOWorld Heritage Site in 1982.[67] Beginning in 2006, theGlobal Heritage Fund, in partnership with theSecond University of Naples (SUN, Italy), theLibyan Department of Antiquities, and the Libyan Ministry of Culture, worked to preserve the ancient site through a combination of holistic conservation practices and training of local skilled and unskilled labor. TheGHF-led team conducted ongoing emergency conservation on thetheater inside theSanctuary of Apollo.[68]
Cyrene is now an archaeological site north of the village ofShahhat and east ofBayda, on a ridge of the Jabal Akhdar, about 600 metres above sea level. The southern edge of the ridge and the city is formed by the Wadi Bil Ghadir and the northern edge by the Wadi Bu Turqiyah. The Acropolis, at the western edge of the ridge, was the original centre of Greek occupation. From there, a road referred to by modern scholars as the "Street of Battus" or "Skyrotà" runs along the ridge to the southeast for around 1 kilometre, past theAgora, theHouse of Jason Magnus and a number of other palatial residences, theStoa of Hermes and Heracles, theCaesareum, two theatres, a sacred area, and thecaravanserai until it reaches the gates of the city. Below the Acropolis to the north, the Springs of Apollo and Cyra emerge from the cliff-face onto a triangular plateau at the base of the Wadi Bu Turqiyah. This plateau contains theGreek Theatre, theSanctuary of Apollo, and theBaths of Trajan. From the sanctuary, a road known as "Valley Street" leads southeast up the Wadi Bu Turqiyah, roughly parallel to the "Street of Battus", lined by a stepped portico and theAqua Augusta, past theBaths of Paris to theMarket Theatre and theCentral Quarter, which contains several public buildings and palatial residences. To the northeast, on another ridge, but still inside the city walls, is the largely unexcavated northeastern quarter, containing the Temple of Zeus, the hippodrome, and the East Church. Outside the city walls to the south is theSanctuary of Demeter and Persephone. Thenecropolis of Cyrene covers about 20 km² to the south and north of the city.[70]
Archaeological finds are stored and displayed in a temporary museum in the eastern portion of the site. In 2005, Italian archaeologists from theUniversity of Urbino discovered 76 intact Roman statues at Cyrene from the 2nd century AD. The statues remained undiscovered for so long because "during the earthquake of 375 AD, a supporting wall of the temple fell on its side, burying all the statues. They remained hidden under stone, rubble and earth for 1,630 years. The other walls sheltered the statues, so we were able to recover all the pieces, even works that had been broken."[71]
TheAcropolis lies to the West of theAgora and South of the Sanctuary of Apollo at the Western end of the Route of Skyrota also known as the Street of Battus.[72] The acropolis was the location of the Royal Palace and the source of the sacred spring, known as the Fountain of Apollo, which ran through the sanctuary of Apollo to the North.[73]
One of its more significant features is thetemple ofApollo, which was originally constructed as early as 7th century BC. Other ancient structures include a temple toDemeter. There is a largenecropolis approximately 10 km between Cyrene and its ancient port of Apollonia.
TheTemple of Zeus was the largest ancient Greek temple at Cyrene, and one of the largest Greek temples ever built. The originalDoricoctastyleperipteral temple was constructed around 500-480 BC,[75] It faced east and stood atop a three-steppedcrepidoma, with a length of 68.3 metres and a width of 30.4 metres,[76] making it roughly the same size as theTemple of Zeus atOlympia and theParthenon atAthens.[75] The front porch (pronaos) was supported by two columnsin antis; the back porch (opisthodomos) by three columns in antis. Thecella was two stories high and two rows of columns divided it into three aisles. The external colonnade (peripteros) has eight columns at the front and rear and seventeen columns on each of the long sides. It was destroyed in 115 AD during the Jewish sack of the city. Around 172-175 AD it was partially rebuilt as a non-peripteral temple. Between 185 and 192 AD, a colossal cult statue, modelled on theStatue of Zeus at Olympia was installed.[77] The temple was destroyed once more in 365 AD by an earthquake and then burnt by Christians.[78]
The sanctuary to Demeter and Persephone, which includes atemple and theater complex, is located south of the Wadi Bil Ghadir ravine, outside the city walls. The Sanctuary comprised structures sprawled out over twenty miles and are divided into three terraces: the Lower, Middle and Upper Sanctuaries.[79] The archaeological remains date from the late seventh century BC to the mid-third century AD. During the time of this sacred activity at the Sanctuary a voluminous amount ofvotive material was accumulated in its interior: pottery, lamps, coinage, stone sculpture, jewellery, inscriptions, glass, as well as bronze andterracottafigurines. The pottery excavated at the Sanctuary provides useful evidence concerning both the question of its foundation and type of religious activity.[80]
The necropolis consists of graves, rock-cut tombs, temple-tombs, and sarcophagi, dating from the sixth century BC until the fifth century AD. It covers about 20 km² to the south and north of the city, making it one of the largest known Greek necropoleis.[81] The southern section has been encroached upon by the growing city of Shahat, especially after 2013, when many tombs were bulldozed.[82] The northern portion is better preserved. Several of the tombs of the Roman period have niches for portrait busts of the deceased. A common find are statues of the so-called "Goddess of Death", a female bust - often faceless - depicted in the process of unveiling herself.[83]
Cyrene contributed to the intellectual life of the Greeks, through renowned philosophers and mathematicians. The School of Cyrene, known as theCyrenaics, developed here as a minorSocratic school founded byAristippus (perhaps the friend ofSocrates, though according to some accounts a grandson of Aristippus with the same name).
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