'
Cyrene' or '
Cyrenaica' was a
Greek colony on the
North African coast, in what is now northeastern
Libya, founded by settlers from Thera (modern
Santorini) in the
7th century BC.
Kings of Cyrene, 632 BC - 440 BC
★
Battus I 630 BC - 600 BC
★
Arcesilaus I 600 BC - 583 BC
★
Battus II 583 BC - 560 BC
★
Arcesilaus II 560 BC - 550 BC
★
Battus III 550 BC - 530 BC
★
Arcesilaus III 530 BC - 515 BC
★
Battus IV 515 BC - 465 BC
★
Arcesilaus IV 465 BC - 440 BC
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.
Kings of Cyrene, 276-249 BC
★
Magas 276 BC -
250 BC
★
Demetrius the Handsome 250 BC -
249 BC
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.
Kings of Cyrene, 163 BC - 30 BC
★
Ptolemy VIII Physcon 163 BC -
116 BC
★
Ptolemy Apion 116 BC -
96 BC
★ ''Roman Republic''
96 BC -
75 BC
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.