Six down- four to go to!!: 4 faction slots left

[Brave Brave Sir Robin]

Cyrene attempted an invasion of the Nile heartlands of Ptolemaic Egypt under Magas, shortly after their rebellion from the Ptolemies in 276. It was possibly a joint operation with the Seleucids who attacked the Levantine regions at the same time. There were apparently some early successes on the Cyrenaic front but a rebellion of some Libyan subjects caused a setback which doomed any chance to reach Alexandria. There is some indication that Paraitonion possibly fell under Magas's control for some time during this invasion making him rather close to the capital indeed. In any event, they maintained independence until shortly after Magas's death in 250 when a marriage alliance cemented them back into the Ptolemaic Empire. Magas is also mentioned in the Edict of Ashoka as one of the major Hellenistic Kings. This presumably meant that at some point in our time-frame, he wielded respectable power and influence.

As far as gameplay is concerned however, Cyrene would position itself as a much needed threat to the Ptolemies in their western theater. They would play similar to the Ptolies, perhaps with a bit more reliance on lighter Libyan troops, but still a Hellenistic power nontheless. Comparing them with Syracuse is unfair. I don't think Syracuse had attacked any major power for some while in our timespan. In fact, I just noticed that the last major Syracusan attack on Carthage was jointly conducted with Cyrene, which had recently rebelled from Ptolemy I ! There was also a later Cyrenaic rebellion in the 160's(?) which lasted for some time. Clearly they were not loyal subjects.

This all being said, its just a guess on my part. I don't think Cyrene necessarily deserves the spot over a Belgae tribe, the Scordisci, or especially a Celtiberian tribe. However, gameplay somewhat demands a counterweight to the annoying Yellow Fever which ALWAYS happens (in my games at least) so I'd be willing to oversee one of those other factions for this very reason unfortunately. That is of course, unless we can do something with Meroe instead.