List of Kings of Cyrene
Encyclopedia
Cyrene
or Cyrenaica
was a Greek
colony on the North Africa
n coast, in what is now northeastern Libya
, founded by Dorian
settlers from Thera
(modern Santorini
) in the 7th century BC
. Kings of Cyrene received a recurring posthumous hero cult like that of the Dorian kings of Sparta
.
In 440 BC
, Cyrene became a Republic, under Persian suzerainty (as had been the latter kings from Arcesilaus III). Cyrene was conquered by Alexander the Great in 331 BC
and fell to the portion of Ptolemy I
in the division of Alexander's Empire. In 276 BC
it reasserted its independence.
In 249 BC
Cyrene again became a republic, but was restored to Ptolemaic control in 246 BC
. From 163 BC
, Cyrene occasionally had its own rulers from the Ptolemaic dynasty.
In 75 BC
, the city became part of a Roman province, but it was restored to the Ptolemies by Mark Antony
in 37 BC
. In 34 BC
Cleopatra VII and Antony's daughter, Cleopatra Selene II, was made Queen of Cyrene, but the city returned to Rome following Augustus
' conquest of Egypt
in 30 BC
.
Cyrene, Libya
Cyrene was an ancient Greek colony and then a Roman city in present-day Shahhat, Libya, the oldest and most important of the five Greek cities in the region. It gave eastern Libya the classical name Cyrenaica that it has retained to modern times.Cyrene lies in a lush valley in the Jebel Akhdar...
or Cyrenaica
Cyrenaica
Cyrenaica is the eastern coastal region of Libya.Also known as Pentapolis in antiquity, it was part of the Creta et Cyrenaica province during the Roman period, later divided in Libia Pentapolis and Libia Sicca...
was a Greek
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
colony on the North Africa
North Africa
North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Northern Africa includes eight countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, and...
n coast, in what is now northeastern Libya
Libya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
, founded by Dorian
Dorian
The Dorians were one of the four major ethnē into which the Ancient Greeks, or Hellenes, of the Classical period considered themselves divided. Ethnos has the sense of ethnic group. Herodotus uses the word with regard to them...
settlers from Thera
Ancient Thera
Ancient Thera is an antique city on a ridge of the steep, 360 m high Messavouno mountain on the Greek island of Santorini. It was named after the mythical ruler of the island, Theras, and was inhabited from the 9th century BC until 726 AD...
(modern Santorini
Santorini
Santorini , officially Thira , is an island located in the southern Aegean Sea, about southeast from Greece's mainland. It is the largest island of a small, circular archipelago which bears the same name and is the remnant of a volcanic caldera...
) in the 7th century BC
7th century BC
The 7th century BC started the first day of 700 BC and ended the last day of 601 BC.The Assyrian Empire continued to dominate the Near East during this century, exercising formidable power over neighbors like Babylon and Egypt. In the last two decades of the century, however, the empire began to...
. Kings of Cyrene received a recurring posthumous hero cult like that of the Dorian kings of Sparta
Kings of Sparta
Sparta was an important Greek city-state in the Peloponnesus. It was unusual among Greek city-states in that it maintained its kingship past the Archaic age. It was even more unusual in that it had two kings simultaneously, coming from two separate lines...
.
Kings of Cyrene, (Battiad dynasty) 632 BC - 440 BC
- Battus IBattus I of CyreneBattus I of Cyrene was the founder of the Greek colony of Cyrenaica and its capital, Cyrene. He was the first king of Cyrenaica, the first Greek king in Africa, and the founder of the Battiad dynasty.-Background:...
630 BC - 600 BC - Arcesilaus IArcesilaus I of CyreneArcesilaus I or Arcesilaus I of Cyrene was the second Greek king of Cyrenaica and the second king of the Battiad dynasty.-Ancestry:...
600 BC - 583 BC - Battus IIBattus II of CyreneBattus II of Cyrene, sometimes called Eudaimon or the Latin equivalent Felix, was the third Greek king Cyrenaica and Cyrene and a member of the Battiad dynasty.-Ancestry:...
583 BC - 560 BC - Arcesilaus IIArcesilaus II of CyreneArcesilaus II of Cyrene or Arcesilaus II also known as Arcesilaus II The Oppressor, The Tough, The Severe or The Harsh. Arcesilaus was the fourth Greek Cyrenaean King and was a member of the Battiad dynasty...
560 BC - 550 BC - LearchusLearchus (regicide)Learchus was an adviser in the government of the Kingdom of Cyrenaica during the reign of king Arcesilaus II. Learchus is best known for perpetrating the murder of this very same Arcesilaus II.-Early life:...
550 (disputed) - Battus IIIBattus III of CyreneBattus III of Cyrene or Battus III, surnamed The Lame was the fifth Greek Cyrenaean king and a member of the Battiad dynasty....
550 BC - 530 BC - Arcesilaus IIIArcesilaus III of CyreneArcesilaus III of Cyrene or Arcesilaus III was the sixth Greek Cyrenaean King and was a member of the Battiad dynasty.-Ancestry:...
530 BC - 515 BC - Battus IVBattus IV of CyreneBattus IV of Cyrene or Battus IV, surnamed The Handsome or The Fair was the seventh and second to last Greek Cyrenaean King of the Battiads dynasty...
515 BC - 465 BC - Arcesilaus IVArcesilaus IV of CyreneArcesilaus IV of Cyrene or Arcesilaus IV was the eighth and last Greek Cyrenaean King and last Greek Cyrenaean King to serve as a client king under Persian rule...
465 BC - 440 BC
In 440 BC
440 BC
Year 440 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Macerinus and Lanatus...
, Cyrene became a Republic, under Persian suzerainty (as had been the latter kings from Arcesilaus III). Cyrene was conquered by Alexander the Great in 331 BC
331 BC
Year 331 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Potitus and Marcellus...
and fell to the portion of Ptolemy I
Ptolemy I Soter
Ptolemy I Soter I , also known as Ptolemy Lagides, c. 367 BC – c. 283 BC, was a Macedonian general under Alexander the Great, who became ruler of Egypt and founder of both the Ptolemaic Kingdom and the Ptolemaic Dynasty...
in the division of Alexander's Empire. In 276 BC
276 BC
Year 276 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Gurges and Clepsina...
it reasserted its independence.
Kings of Cyrene, 276-249 BC
- MagasMagas of CyreneMagas of Cyrene was a Greek Macedonian nobleman. Through his mother’s second marriage he was a member of the Ptolemaic dynasty. He became King of Cyrenaica and he managed to wrestle independence for Cyrenaica from the Greek Ptolemaic dynasty of Ancient Egypt.-Family Background & Early Life:Magas...
276 BC276 BCYear 276 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Gurges and Clepsina...
- 250 BC250 BCYear 250 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Regulus and Longus... - Demetrius the FairDemetrius the FairFor the similarly named Macedonian ruler, see Demetrius II of Macedon.Demetrius the Fair or surnamed The Handsome , also known in modern ancient historical sources as Demetrius of Cyrene, was a Hellenistic king of Cyrene.-Family:Demetrius was of Greek Macedonian descent...
250 BC250 BCYear 250 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Regulus and Longus...
- 249 BC249 BCYear 249 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Pulcher and Pullus...
In 249 BC
249 BC
Year 249 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Pulcher and Pullus...
Cyrene again became a republic, but was restored to Ptolemaic control in 246 BC
246 BC
Year 246 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Crassus and Licinus...
. From 163 BC
163 BC
Year 163 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Gracchus and Thalna...
, Cyrene occasionally had its own rulers from the Ptolemaic dynasty.
Kings of Cyrene, 163 BC - 30 BC
- Ptolemy VIII PhysconPtolemy VIII PhysconPtolemy VIII Euergetes II , nicknamed , Phúskōn, Physcon for his obesity, was a king of the Ptolemaic dynasty in Egypt. His complicated career started in 170 BC, when Antiochus IV Epiphanes invaded Egypt, captured his brother Ptolemy VI Philometor and let him continue as a puppet monarch...
163 BC163 BCYear 163 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Gracchus and Thalna...
- 116 BC116 BCYear 116 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Geta and Eburnus... - Ptolemy ApionPtolemy ApionPtolemy Apion or simply known as Apion was the last Greek Cyrenaean King and was a member of the Ptolemaic dynasty. Ptolemy was Greek Macedonian and native Egyptian in descent...
116 BC116 BCYear 116 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Geta and Eburnus...
- 96 BC96 BCYear 96 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Ahenobarbus and Longinus... - Roman Republic 96 BC96 BCYear 96 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Ahenobarbus and Longinus...
- 75 BC75 BCYear 75 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Octavius and Cotta...
In 75 BC
75 BC
Year 75 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Octavius and Cotta...
, the city became part of a Roman province, but it was restored to the Ptolemies by Mark Antony
Mark Antony
Marcus Antonius , known in English as Mark Antony, was a Roman politician and general. As a military commander and administrator, he was an important supporter and loyal friend of his mother's cousin Julius Caesar...
in 37 BC
37 BC
Year 37 BC was either a common year starting on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday or a leap year starting on Monday or Tuesday of the Julian calendar and a leap year starting on Monday of the Proleptic Julian calendar...
. In 34 BC
34 BC
Year 34 BC was either a common year starting on Friday, Saturday or Sunday or a leap year starting on Friday or Saturday of the Julian calendar and a common year starting on Friday of the Proleptic Julian calendar...
Cleopatra VII and Antony's daughter, Cleopatra Selene II, was made Queen of Cyrene, but the city returned to Rome following Augustus
Augustus
Augustus ;23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14) is considered the first emperor of the Roman Empire, which he ruled alone from 27 BC until his death in 14 AD.The dates of his rule are contemporary dates; Augustus lived under two calendars, the Roman Republican until 45 BC, and the Julian...
' conquest of Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
in 30 BC
30 BC
Year 30 BC was either a common year starting on Wednesday, Thursday or Friday or a leap year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar and a common year starting on Wednesday of the Proleptic Julian calendar...
.