Cyrenaica Cyrenaica Court Category="Ancient Roman provinces"Category="Former Italian colonies"Category="Italian colonies"Category="Libya"Category="Maghreb"[image]

Cyrenaica is the eastern coastal region of Libya.

Ancient history

Cyrenaica was a Roman province on the northern coast of Africa between Egypt and Numidia; it had been formerly Greek. That area is now the eastern part of the Mediterranean coast of Libya.

The east of the province was called Marmarica (no major city), but the important part was in the west, comprizing five cities, hence known as the Pentapolis- Cyrene (near the village of Shahat) with its port of Apollonia (Marsa Susa), Arsinoe (Tocra), Berenice (modern Benghazi) and Barca (Merj)- of which the chief was the eponymous Cyrene. After the earthquake of 365 the capital was moved to Ptolemais. In the south Cyrenaica faded into the Saharan tribal areas, including the pharanoic oracle Ammonium.

Conquered by Alexander the Great, it passed to the diadoch dynasty of the Lagids, better known as Ptolemies, then to Rome. It was separated from the main kingdom by Ptolemy VIII and given to his son Ptolemy Apion, who, dying without heirs in 96 BC, bequeathed it to the Roman Republic. It became a senatorial province in 20 BC, like its far more prominent western neighbour Africa proconsularis, unlike Egypt itself which became an imperial domain sui generis (under a special governor style Praefectus Augustalis) in 30.

Although some confusion exists as to the exact territory Rome inherited, by 78 BC it was organised as one adminsitrative Province with Crete.

Roman Imperial Provinces, AD 120 		[image]
Achaea | Aegyptus | Africa | Alpes Cottiae | Alpes Maritimae | Alpes Poenninae | Arabia Petraea | Armenia Inferior | Asia | Baleares | Britannia | Bithynia | Cappadocia | Cilicia et Cyprus | Commagene | Corsica et Sardinia | Creta et Cyrenaica | Dacia | Dalmatia | Epirus | Galatia | Gallia Aquitania | Gallia Belgica | Gallia Lugdunensis | Gallia Narbonensis | Germania Inferior | Germania Superior | Hispania Baetica | Hispania Tarraconensis | Lusitania | Italia | Iudaea | Lycaonia | Lycia | Macedonia | Mauretania | Moesia | Noricum | Numidia | Osroene | Pannonia | Pamphylia | Pisidia | Pontus | Raetia | Sicilia | Sophene | Syria | Thracia

The Tetrarchy reforms of Diocletian in 296 changed all of the administrative structure. Cyrenaica was split into two provinces: Libya superior comprized the abvementioned Pentapolis, Libya Inferior Marmarica (only significant city now the port Paraetonium), each under a governor of the modest rank of praeses. Both belonged to the same diocesis (originally as part of Oriens) as Egypt itself (from the strat three provinces, later more), within the Praetorian prefecture of Oriens (also comprizing Oriens proper -mainly Syria- and, both in Asia Minor, Asiana and Pontiana). Its western neihbour Tripolitania, the laregst split-off from Africa proconsularis, became part of Africa, a diocesis of the western emperor's home prefecture "Italia et Africa"

Under Byzantium it remained the westernmost regular area in Nortyh Africa, while Tripolitania was part of the more militarized prefecture -later exarchate- Africa (renoquered on the Arian Vandal kingdom).

Muslim history

In modern times it was conquered by Arabs for Islam by the first caliph, Abu Bekr, in 643/44, and became known henceforth as Barka after its new proincial capital, the ancient Barca. After the breakdown of the caliphate it kept that name, essenstially as an annex to Egypt, under the Fatimid caliphs (till 1171) and next under the Ajjubid (till 1250) and Mamluk sultanates untill annexation by the Turkish Ottoman Empire in 1517; its main cities became Bengazi and Derna.

It was a hartland of the Muslim Senussi order, and ended up amagalgamated with Tripolitania (in the west) and Fezzan (in the south) into Libya, first as an Italian colony (occupied since 1911; it had two of the four provices: Bengazi and Derna), later as independent kingdom in 1951, finally a republic in 1969.

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