The Kingdom of Cyrenaica
The first city of Greeks in the Northern reaches of Libya was founded by colonists from the volcanic island Thera, slowly moving away from their small, overcrowded cities, in favor of the fertile Libyan coast. In Libya they temporarily occupied Aziris, but were able to quickly conclude a treaty with the local Libyans, allowing them to found their first city: Cyrene.
Their earlier history was colored by tense relations with the local Libyans, which eventually culminated in a Libyan request for aid from the Egyptian Pharoah Apries. The second Cyrenaican King, Battus II, defeated the Egyptians and temporarily dominated the politics of the neighboring Libyans. During a period of political upheaval in the city, a large opposition party moved off to found the city of Barca, and allied itself with the Auschisaean and Asbystaean Libyans in conflict with Cyrene. A united Barcan-Libyan army defeated the Cyrenaican Greeks, leaving them to attempt a reorganization of their local political structure.
With the region in a fluidic state of warfare, the Cyrenaicans were repulsed from the region, but returned with an army from Samos and the patronage of the rising Persian Empire. Though they manage to retake their former possessions, their leader Arcesilas was a failure, and was eventually put to death. At this point, Cyrene came under the suzerainty of Persian's Egyptian Satrapy.
After nearly three centuries of alternating rebellion and subjigation, Cyrene found itself within the Ptolemaic fold. Despite the success of the Ptolemies, the Cyrenaicans rebelled once more, but eventually surrendered to the Ptolemaic General Magas. For his good service, Magas was made governor of Cyrenaica, but asserted the independence of his region shortly after his former commander's death. During his rule, Cyrenaica would eventually gain dominance in Egypt through an alliance with the Seleucids, and their eventual defeat of the Ptolemies (whose total destruction was avoided by a political marriage). So high was Cyrenaica in the ascendant by 272 that when King Ashoka in India sent announcement of his conversion to Buddhism, it was addressed specifically to Magas and his contemporaries.
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