Cyrenaica was a
Roman province on the northern coast of Africa between
Egypt and
Numidia. That area is now the eastern part of the
Mediterranean coast of
Libya. The province consisted classically of five cities, the Pentapolis, of which the chief was the eponymous
Cyrene. Having long been part of
Egypt, 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.
Although some confusion exists as to the exact territory Rome inherited, by 78 BC it was organised as a province with Crete, until the reforms of Diocletian in 300 changed all of the provincial administrations.
External links and references
- Cyrene and the Cyrenaica (http://www.livius.org/ct-cz/cyrenaica/cyrenaica)
- Cyrenaica in Antiquity (Society for Libyan Studies Occasional Papers). Graeme Barker, John Lloyd, Joyce Reynolds ISBN 086054303X
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