CYRENE. — Ancient and most important city of Cyrenaica, from which the region took its name. It is situated on the edge of the plateau at 622 m. above sea level and 16 km. from the coast.
Various legends about the origin of Cyrene reported by Herodotus (IV, 164) agree in attributing its foundation to a Dorian colony of Theraeans between 650 and 640 B.C. From the 3rd century B.C. it remained, with brief interruptions, under the rule of the Ptolemies until the Roman age. From the time of Ptolemy I Soter numerous Jews settled there (Flavius Josephus, Antiquitates Judaicae, XIV, 7, 2; XVI, 6, 15; Bellum Judaicum, II, 14, 6; 1 Maccabees 15, 23).
The historian Jason (2 Maccabees 2, 23), and later Simon (Matthew 27, 32; Mark 15, 21), who was compelled to carry the cross of Jesus, were from Cyrene. At the first Christian Pentecost, Jews from Cyrenaica were present at Peter’s discourse (Acts 2, 10); in Jerusalem they had their own synagogue, whose members took part in the condemnation and martyrdom of St Stephen (Acts 6, 9). Some Hellenist Jews, “Cyprions and Cyrenians,” converted after escaping the persecution that followed the death of St Stephen, evangelized Greek pagans in Antioch (Acts 11, 20), of whose community Lucius the Cyrenian was a distinguished member. Later, Cyrene also had its martyrs; under the bishops Synesius (q.v.) it was invaded by the barbarian Macetae and Ausuriani, until in 642 it fell under Arab domination.