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Cyrene |
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Overview of the Lower Town. | |
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The Fountain of Apollo in the Lower Town. When Synesius of Cyrene described a well as "gushing forth from the ground since its source is somewhere below, and leaping out of the earth's cavities" (Egyptian Tale, 1.1), he may have been thinking of this source. | |
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Temple of Zeus. | |
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Theater: "Even in the rôle of the old woman, if an actor shines in his art, he is crowned and heralded abroad, while if he disgraces himself in the rôle of a king, he is hooted and hissed, and on occasion is even stoned," Synesius writes (Egyptian Tale, 1.13). | |
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The agora in the lower town, seen from the fountain of Apollo. | |
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House of Jason Magnus | |
| Cyrene was the hometown of several famous Greek scholars and scientists. The mathematician Theodorus (c.465-399) developed the theory of irrational numbers (e.g., the root of three). His namesake Theodorus "the godless" (c.335-c.260) seems to have been one of the founders of atheism. His younger contemporary Callimachus is considered to be one of the most important poets of antiquity, and Callimachus' student Eratosthenes (276-193) will forever be remembered as the first one to measure the circumference of the earth (which he thought was 43,500 kilometers). In philosophy, the Cyrenaean school taught that the best thing in life is pleasure. | ||
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This inscription contains the will of Ptolemy VIII Euergetes Physcon, who in 155 BCE bequathed the Cyrenaica to the Romans in case he was to die without son (SEG IX 7). This move was meant to deter assassination. In fact, he had a heir, and when this Ptolemy Apion died in 96, the Romans declared the city to be free (Livy, Periochae, 70). The final annexation took place in 74. | |
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In the Roman baths, this statue of Alexander the Great was found. It is a copy of the statue by the Greek sculptor Lysippus, which showed the king with a spear and a thunderbolt, and is also known from coins (although these show the king fully dressed). This copy is interesting because it also shows the head of Alexander's horse Bucephalus, confirming that this statue was made to commemorate the king's victory at the Hydaspes, which coincided with the death of the horse. The portrait is close to the Azara herm. | |
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The ruins of Cyrene still offer many surprises.
The inscription below, from one of the bathhouses, commemorates how the city was rebuilt after the tumulto Iudaico, the disorders caused by the Jews in 117. |
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A satellite photo of the temple of Zeus can be found here. |
Livius.Org, 2006 Revision: // 2007 |
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