(now Shahhat, Libya), an ancient city 15 km from the Mediterranean coast, chief center of Cyrenaica. It was founded circa 630 B.C. by Greek settlers from the island of Thera; later its population became mixed Greek and Libyan. Until 460 it was ruled by the royal dynasty of the Battiadae, whereupon a slave-holding democracy was established. Circa 331 the city was conquered by Alexander the Great, and in 322 it became part of the empire of the Ptolemies. Beginning in 96 B.C. it was under Roman rule.
Cyrene was one of the major commercial and cultural centers of the classical world. It was important for the export of the Cyrenaican vases, grain, wine, fruits, and especially silphium, a medicinal plant. During the fourth and fifth centuries A.D., however, the city began to decline in importance, and in the seventh century it was destroyed by the Arabs.
Excavations conducted in the 20th century have revealed the remains of several ancient structures, including the complexes of the acropolis, the capitolium, the Caesareum, and agora; the temples of Apollo (late seventh century B.C., rebuilt in the fifth and fourth centuries B.C., second century A.D., and later), Artemis (sixth century B.C.), and Olympian Zeus; large and small thermae (first and second centuries A.D.); and a theater. Outside the city walls is a Christian basilica of the Byzantine era. Also discovered were ceramic items and stone sculptures. There is an archaeological museum.