List of kings of Cyrene

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Cyrene or Cyrenaica was a Greek colony on the North African 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. [1]

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Kings of Cyrene (Battiad dynasty), 632–440 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.[ citation needed ]

Kings of Cyrene, 276–246 BC

In 249 BC Cyrene again became a republic, but was restored to Ptolemaic control in 246 BC by Ptolemy III who married to Berenice II, Queen of Cyrene. From 163 BC, Cyrene occasionally had its own rulers from the Ptolemaic dynasty.

Kings of Cyrene, 163–30 BC

In 96 BC, the city became part of the Roman Republic, 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.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cyrene, Libya</span> Ancient Greek and Roman city near present-day Shahhat, Libya

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The Battiadae, or Battiads, were the ruling dynasty of the Greek city-state of Cyrene, in modern Libya. Battus I, who founded Cyrene in 631 BC, was also the founder of the dynasty. The Battiads were overthrown in 440 BC.

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Magas of Cyrene was a Greek King of Cyrenaica. Through his mother’s second marriage to Ptolemy I he became a member of the Ptolemaic dynasty. He managed to wrest independence for Cyrenaica from the Greek Ptolemaic dynasty of Ancient Egypt, and became King of Cyrenaica from 276 BC to 250 BC.

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Critola was a Libyan Greek princess of Cyrenaica and its capital Cyrene and was a member of the Battiad dynasty.

Eryxo was a Greek woman, who was a Queen of Cyrenaica and was a member of The Battiads dynasty, the family that ruled Cyrenaica and Cyrene. From the ancient Greek sources, she appears to be the first Greek Cyrenaean Queen mentioned from the dynasty.

Battus III of Cyrene, surnamed The Lame was the fifth Greek Cyrenaean king and a member of the Battiad dynasty.

Arcesilaus III of Cyrene was the sixth Greek Cyrenaean King and was a member of the Battiad dynasty. He succeeded his father as king of Cyrene in 530 BC, ruling until he was killed by Cyrenaean exiles around 515 BC.

Pheretima or Pheretime, was the wife of the Greek Cyrenaean King Battus III and the last recorded queen of the Battiad dynasty in Cyrenaica. She was regent of Cyrene in place of her son, Arcesilaus III of Cyrene, circa 518–515 BC.

Apama II, sometimes known as Apame II was a Syrian Greek princess of the Seleucid Empire, queen of Cyrenaica by marriage to King Magas of Cyrene.

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.

References

  1. Pindar and the cult of heroes By Bruno Currie Page 245 ISBN   0-19-927724-9
  2. "Cyrenaica". UNRV.com. Retrieved 2024-11-13.