have also come to light.ДЄ number of Cyrenians figured in events of the NT. Exceptional examples of archaic sculpture and important inscrs. theater, numerous temples and shrines and a large Rom. The finds have included an archaic temple of Apollo, rebuilt several times, the tomb of Battus in the center of the agora, a Rom. The city was excavated by the Americans in 1910-1911 and by Italians just before World War II. Hadrian rebuilt much of the city, but its harbor Apollonia replaced it in importance. Pagan monuments were destroyed and over 200,000 (?) inhabitants were killed according to Cassius Dio (68.32).

A major revolt of the Jews of the city broke out in a.d. and joined to Crete as a senatorial province in 27 b.c. The city was bequeathed to the Romans in 96 b.c. times a large portion of the populace were Gr.-speaking Jews who encouraged other Jews to settle there. It surrendered to Alexander the Great in 331 and was soon incorporated into the Ptolemaic empire. The city was ruled by the Battiadae until the establishment of a democracy in the 4th cent. From a city of 100,000 in its greatest era, Cyrene was reduced to a vast ruin by the 5th cent. The five cities of the Pentapolis enjoyed great prosperity until competition from the Ptolemaic cities, internal disruptions and careless use of the soil caused them to decline. The land was very fertile particularly in the production of silphium, a spice which the ancients prized. The city derived its importance from trade with the natives of the interior, and agriculture. from the sea on a plateau, the city was settled by Gr. Chief city of the ancient district of North Africa, called Cyrenaica or Pentapolis.

Where is cyrene on the map