Cyrenaica (Differently)

Kingdom of Cyrenaica
Ⲧⲉⲕⲙⲉⲧⲟⲩⲣⲟ Ⲕⲩⲣⲏⲛⲁïⲕⲏ
Timeline: Differently
Kingdom of Cyrenaica Ⲧⲉⲕⲙⲉⲧⲟⲩⲣⲟ ⲔⲩⲣⲏⲛⲁïⲕⲏTimeline: Differently
Flag	Coat of arms
Capital; (and largest city)	Berenice
Official languages	Berber
Other languages	Greek
Religion	Eastern Orthodox Church
Demonym(s)	Cyrenaican
Government	Unitary parliamentary theocratic monarchy
Establishment
Area
Population
Drives on the	right

Cyrenaica, officially the Kingdom of Cyrenaica, is a country in northern Africa. It is bathed by the Mediterranean Sea on the north and borders Carthage to the west, the Tuareg Confederation to the southwest, Kanem to the south, and Egypt to the east. It is a member of the League of Nations. Its capital is Berenice.

Cyrenaica's surface area of 338,791 square kilometers makes it the 27th-largest country in Africa and the 70th-largest in the world, while its 45.9 million inhabitants make it the tenth-most populous country in Africa and the 40th-most populous in the world.

History[]

Early History[]

The Berbers were the earliest recorded inhabitants of Cyrenaica. Remnants of the Berber languages spoken by their ancestors are still found in the Awjila language of the oasis of Awjila. The ancient Berbers founded a number of cities and settlements, both on the coast and in the inland oases. Egyptian records mention that during the New Kingdom of Egypt (thirteenth century BC), the Libu and Meshwesh tribes of Cyrenaica made frequent incursions into Egypt.

Greek and Persian Rule[]

Cyrenaica was colonized by the Greeks beginning in the 7th century BC when it was known as Kyrenaika. The first and most important colony was that of Cyrene, established in about 631 BC by colonists from the Greek island of Thera, which they had abandoned because of a severe famine. Their commander, Aristoteles, took the Libyan name Battos. His descendants, known as the Battiad dynasty, persisted in spite of severe conflict with Greeks in neighboring cities.

The eastern portion of the province, with no major population centers, was called Marmarica; the more important western portion was known as the Pentapolis, as it comprised five cities: Cyrene (near the modern village of Shahat) with its port of Apollonia (Marsa Susa), Arsinoe or Taucheira (Tocra), Euesperides or Berenice (near modern Benghazi), Balagrae (Bayda) and Barce (Marj) – of which the chief was the eponymous Cyrene. The term "Pentapolis" continued to be used as a synonym for Cyrenaica. In the south, the Pentapolis faded into the Saharan tribal areas, including the pharaonic oracle of Ammonium.

The region produced barley, wheat, olive oil, wine, figs, apples, wool, sheep, cattle and silphium, a herb that grew only in Cyrenaica and was regarded as a medicinal cure and aphrodisiac. Cyrene became one of the greatest intellectual and artistic centers of the Greek world, famous for its medical school, learned academies and architecture, which included some of the finest examples of the Hellenistic style. The Cyrenaics, a school of thinkers who expounded a doctrine of moral cheerfulness that defined happiness as the sum of human pleasures, were founded by Aristippus of Cyrene. Other notable natives of Cyrene were the poet Callimachus and the mathematicians Theodorus and Eratosthenes.

In 525 BC, after conquering Egypt, the Achaemenid (Persian) army of Cambyses II seized the Pentapolis, and established a satrapy (Achaemenid Persian province) over parts of the region for about the next two centuries. The Persians were followed by Alexander the Great in 332 BC, who received tribute from the cities after taking Egypt. The Pentapolis was formally annexed by Ptolemy I Soter, and through him passed to the diadoch dynasty of the Lagids, better known as the Ptolemaic dynasty. It briefly gained independence under Magas of Cyrene, stepson of Ptolemy I, but was reabsorbed into the Ptolemaic empire after his death. 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.

Roman Province[]

The Latin name Cyrenaica (or Kyrenika) dates to the 1st century BC. Although some confusion exists as to the exact territory Rome inherited, by 78 BC it was organized as one administrative province together with Crete. It became a senatorial province in 20 BC, like its far more prominent western neighbor Africa proconsularis, and unlike Egypt itself, which became an imperial domain sui generis (under a special governor styled praefectus augustalis) in 30 BC.

Diocletian's Tetrarchy reforms of 296 altered Cyrenaica's administrative structure. It was split into two provinces: Libya Superior or Libya Pentapolis, comprising the above-mentioned Pentapolis, with Cyrene as capital, and Libya Inferior or Libya sicca, the Marmarica, which had by then gained a significant city, the port Paraetonium. Each came under a governor holding the modest rank of praeses. Both belonged to the Diocese of the Orient, with its capital at Antioch in Syria, and from 370, to the Diocese of Egypt, within the praetorian prefecture of Oriens. Its western neighbor Tripolitania, the largest split-off from Africa proconsularis, became part of the Diocese of Africa, subordinate to the prefecture of Italia et Africa. Following the Crete earthquake of 365, the capital was moved to Ptolemais. After the Empire's division, Cyrenaica became part of the East Roman Empire (Byzantine Empire), bordering Tripolitania. It was briefly part of the Vandal Kingdom to the west, until its reconquest by Belisarius in 533.

The Tabula Peutingeriana shows Pentapolites to the east of Syrtes Maiores, indicating the cities of Bernice, Hadrianopolis, Tauchira, Ptolomaide, Callis, Cenopolis, Balacris and Cyrene.

Christianity[]

According to the Synoptic Gospels, Simon of Cyrene carried the cross of Jesus Christ to the crucifixion.

According to one tradition, Saint Mark the Evangelist was born in the Pentapolis, and later returned after preaching with Saint Paul in Colosse (Col 4:10) and Rome (Phil 24; 2 Tim 4:11); from Pentapolis he made his way to Alexandria.

Early Christianity spread to Pentapolis from Egypt; Synesius of Cyrene (370–414), bishop of Ptolemais, received his instruction at Alexandria in both the Catechetical School and the Museion, and he entertained a great deal of reverence and affection for Hypatia, the last pagan Neoplatonist, whose classes he had attended. Synesius was raised to the episcopate by Theophilus, patriarch of Alexandria, in AD 410. Since the First Council of Nicaea in AD 325, Cyrenaica had been recognized as an ecclesiastical province of the See of Alexandria, in accordance with the ruling of the Nicaean Fathers.The patriarch of the Coptic Church to this day includes the Pentapolis in his title as an area within his jurisdiction.

The Eparchy of the Western Pentapolis was part of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, as the Pope of Alexandria was the Pope of Africa. The most senior position in The Holy Synod of the Coptic Orthodox Church after the Pope was the Metropolitan of Western Pentapolis, although, since its demise as a major Archiepiscopal Metropolis in the days of Pope John VI of Alexandria, it was held as a Titular See attached to another Diocese.

After being repeatedly destroyed and restored during the Roman period Pentapolis became a mere borough, but was nevertheless the site of a diocese. Its bishop, Zopyrus, was present at the First Council of Nicaea in 325. The subscriptions at Ephesus (431) and Chalcedon (451) give the names of two other bishops, Zenobius and Theodorus.

Although it retained the title "Pentapolis", the ecclesiastic province actually included all of the Cyrenaica, not just the five cities. Pentapolis is still included in the title of Popes of the Coptic Orthodox Church and the Greek Orthodox Church of Alexandria.

Arab and Senussi Rule[]

In 1879, A horde of Arab Muslims who migrated to the area had created the Senussi Order which has established an Islamic/Ancient Egyptian style monarchy ruled by the Order's founder and first leader, the Grand Senussi Muhammad ibn Ali as-Senussi and his descendants as Pharaohs. Arab rule saw Islam instated as the official state religion, however, Christian influences from Egypt and Byzantium prevented Islam from securing a permanent foothold in the region. This encroachment of Islam into Byzantine maritime territory would cause a decade long tension between

The Senusiyya Islamic political order would be toppled after years of ruling Cyrenaica in 1886 upon the Byzantines invading the territory.

Ahmed Sharif es Senussi betrayed his own clan and converted to Christianity in order to retain power under Byzantine rule.

Scramble for Africa + Byzantine Conquest[]

The Byzantine Kingdom had conquered the Kingdom, after the conquest Cyrenaica remained a puppet state of Byzantium until 1949 when it gained independence.

Under Byzantine rule, the House of Senussi would fracture. Ahmed Sharif as-Senussi, the Muslim head of the Senussi order, mutinied and converted to Orthodox Christianity and order to remain in power under Byzantine rule. Junior members of the Senusiyya were outraged by this and staged an Islamic uprising against Ahmed in 1890 led by Omar al-Mukhtar. With the support of the Byzantines, Mukhtar's forces were suppressed by 1891 with the surviving Muslim Senusiyya retreating to Arabia and Ghana. Meanwhile, the Christian convert Senusiyya proclaimed the House of Benghazi, recognized by the Byzantine colonial authority. Ahmed Sharif as-Senussi was crowned King Victorinus I as the Orthodox Christian King of Cyrenaica.

Under Byzantine rule, Greek was made an official language of the Kingdom and Hellenophiles dominated the Cyrenaican government. This resulted in a suppression of Berber customs and non-Christian religions within Cyrenaica. This suppression was criticized by anti-colonial activists and Cyrenaican nationalists for its brutality. Reforms in the monarchy's structure also resulted in women being allowed to take the throne, the position of Prime Minister being established in 1930, and Cyrenaica monarch pledging full loyalty to the Monarch of Byzantium.

Despite minor reforms, suppression and a resurgence of Berber cultural nationalism led to King Victorinus II of Cyrenaica declaring independence from Byzantium on 7 June 1949. A year later, Victorinus II was forced to abdicate due to his ties to the Byzantine monarchy.