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The story of the founding of cyrene as a colony of Greek immigrants from the island of Thera ( modern Santorin ) has been handed down to us as a mixture of legend and historical tradition . The date usually assigned to this event is 631 B.C. , and there can be little doubt that this is approximately correct . It seems that towards the middle of the seventh century B.C. a crisis due to over-population arose in the small Aegean island , and a seven -year period of drought caused such distress that forced emigration seemed the only solution . before deciding on so drastic a step the leaders of the community consulted the famed Oracle of Apollo at Delphi , and were told to found a colony in Libya .An expedition was organized and entrusted to a certain Aristoteles , who later took the name Battus and become first King of Cyrene . Some 200 young men were nominated to accompany Battus , and from there they sailed to Crete where they found a pilot to lead them to the shores of Africa .They founded their first settlement on a small island called Platea in the Gulf of Bomba , on the eastern outskirts of the fertile Cyrenaican plateau .
According to legend it was Battus himself who had consulted the Delphic Oracle , in order to seek a cure for a stammer . He was a little perplexed when the Oracle replied : " Battus , thou camest for a voice , but the lord Apollo sendeth thee to found a city in Libya , which giveth good pasture to sheep " . The advice proved , however , to be less irrelevant than it first seemed , for after his arrival in Libya Battus once encountered a lion and was so frightened that he yelled loudly and clearly , and never had trouble with his voice thereafter !

The first settlement on the island of platea was not a success . The isle was no larger than the later walled city of Cyrene , and there was but little water on the mainland . After two years the settlers decided to consult the Oracle again . " We have dwelt in Libya " , they protested , " but have fared no better for our dwelling there ". The Oracle replied sarcastically ; " If thou knowest Libya , which giveth good pasture to sheep , better than I ( thought I have been there , and thou hast not ) then I greatly admire thy wisdom ".

Convinced by such expert advice that they had yet to find the true Libya , the settlers returned to Africa and moved their settlement from arid Platea to a more favourable site called Aziris , situated on the mainland between Bomba and Derna ( at the mouth of the modern Wadi Khalij ) . Here they remained another six years , in the course of which they learned that even better sites lay on the high Plateau farther to the west . Friendly Libyans Offered to guide them to a place where they could establish their permanent settlement . These guides were , however , anxious to prevent the Greeks from seeing Irasa , the " finest part of the country " ( perhaps Derna itself , or Ain Mara ) , so the march was made at night , and when dawn broke the travelers found themselves on the future site of Cyrene . " Here , O Greeks, " said their guides " ye may fitly dwell , for in this place there is a hole in the heavens " .
The Libyans referred of course , to the abundant rainfall of the Cyrene area . Their own numbers were small , and the country was large : in all probability they themselves were only thinly scattered on the upper plateau , finding its winter climate too harsh for their African blood . But the Greeks were captivated by a landscape not unlike the Greek mainland , and relatively free suffered on Thera . There was good arable soil and ample pasture : most important of all , the Libyans were friendly and willing to give their daughters in marriage to these foreigners who had arrived without their own womenfolk .

King Battus the First ruled for forty years over his tiny immigrant community , and by all accounts ruled wisely and moderately . Although still a minute nucleus , in later years , Cyrene began to take shape . A temple to Apollo the " founder " was erected close to the spring which was named after the nymph Cyrene ( Kura or Kurana ) and a straight approach - road was laid down in the plain . When Battus died his tomb was venerated and a public of assembly ( the later Agora ) , grew up around it .
Of his son Arcesilaus I , who ruled for 16 years , we know little other than his name . Battus II , the third King of Cyrene ( circ. 583 - 560 B.C.) was surnamed the Fortunate ; but his reign was to mark the end of the peace that had previously attended Graeco-Libyan relations . Inspired again by the Delphic Oracle , and encouraged by the first settlers who promised a distribution of new land , immigrants began to arrive from many parts of Greece . To make room for them the Libyans were driven from their lands , and Adicran their King appealed for aid to the Egyptian Pharaoh Apries . An Egyptian army entered Cyrenaica but was defeated by the Greeks at Irasa ( circ. 570 B.C.).

The fourth Cyrenean King , Arcesilaus II ,the Cruel , lived up to his surname . Finding him impossible to live with , his brother left the city and moved west - ward down to the lower plateau . At Barca ( modern El-Merj ) they founded a new city ; and at the same time they encouraged the Libyans to revolt against Arcesilaus . In consequence a battle was fought in which 7,000 Cyreneans perished , and the king himself was shortly afterwards assassinated .His son Battus III the Lame , inherited the Dynasty throne , but on the understanding that reforms would be carried out .
The Delphic Oracle , once again consulted in the interests of Cyrene's future , advice the engagement of a constitutional expert from Mantinea , Demonax by name , to set things to rights . He divided the settlers into three tribes according to their land of origin , and reduced the size of the Royal domains .

Despite this settlement , Cyrene was not to enjoy tranquility for long . Arcesilaus III son of the third Battus , repudiated the reforms of Demonax and was forced to flee the country . Encouraged by his domineering mother Pheretima , he recruited an army in Samos by promises of free land , and fought his way back to his palace at Cyrene where he began to take vengeance on his enemies . But the opposition was such that he soon deemed it prudent to move his residence to Barca where his father - in - law Alazir was then ruler . The Oracle had warned him " Enter not into the land surrounded by water " and this had seemed to apply to Cyrene set amidst springs and winter torrents . But Arcesilaus had failed to bear in mind the floods that , every few years , cover the plain of Barca , leaving the site of that city as an island amidst the waters .Thus it was that his Cyrenean enemies slew both him and Alazir whilst they were walking in the streets of Barca .

Queen Pheretima wasted no time in seeking vengeance on the murderers of her son . She feld to Egypt where the Persians were then ruling and induced Aryandes , the governor , to send an army to Cyrenaica with naval support . The people of Barca who had accepted collective responsibility for the murder of Arcesilaus were besieged within their walls . The siege was long and the Persian losses heavy ; but the commander of the invading army at last ( circ. 515 B.C.) obtained possession of the city by an ignoble ruse .Pheretima had her revenge : her enemies were crucified on the walls of Barca and their wives mutilated . The less guilty were deported to Bactria , and only proved friends of the Battiad dynasty were spared .
But , in the words of an ancient chronicler , " when men take exceeding harsh revenge it stirreth up the indignation to Egypt shortly afterwards , perished of a foul malady , and in agony . The Persian soldiers , too , found the road back to Egypt long and disastrous : their stragglers and rearguards were killed off by Libyans for the sake of their clothing and accoutrements .

It was during this period that the Greeks made their first and only attempt to settle in Tripolitania . A Spartan expedition led by Dorieus set sail for western Libya , but neglected the customary precaution of consulting the Delphic Oracle .It may have been for this reason that their settlement , at the mouth of the river Cinyps ( the Wadi Caam , near Leptis Magna ) , lasted but briefly , the Libyans and Carthaginians joining forces to eject the newcomers .
Of more immediate concern to Cyrenean history was the foundation of a new Greek city at the western end of Cyrenaica . Established not long before the sack of Barca , this city - Euhes - perides by name - was sited on the edge of one of the lagoons that opened from the sea in the vicinity of modern Benghazi . Its founding in a region of very limited agricultural potentialities shows the increasing importance of commerce in the Cyrenaican economy ; and we may perhaps infer that this resulted from the development of the trade in the wild plant silphium which grew in the steppe areas from Bomba to Benghazi , and was picked by the Libyans who sold it to the Greeks for export . Highly valued for its medicinal properties , silphium was to be one of the main sources of Cyrenean prosperity before the Roman period .
After the death of Pheretima , Battus IV , the Handsome , became Jing of Cyrene and his realm now presumably included Barca . His reign was to be a long one ( 515 - 470 B.C. ) and Cyrene undoubtedly grew in wealth and splendour during its course ; but of political events during this era we have virtually no information . He was succeeded by Arcesilaus IV , who was to be the last of the Battiad dynasty in fulfillment of the Oracle's prediction that " Eight generations of men shall rule over Cyrene , four called Battus and four called Arcesilaus " .

We cannot but admire the unerring accuracy of the Oracle's known pronouncements , though we may suspect that the unfulfilled prophecies soon dropped from men's recollections .
Arcesilaus secured for himself a place in fame by sending his brother - in - law to participate as charioteer in honour of Apollo ( 462 B.C. ) . As a result of the royal victory in the chariot - race the poet Pindar dedicated to the King two of his famous odes . Though employing the usual panegyric , the poet uttered rather ominous words : " It is a small thing " he said " even for a slight man to shake a city , but to set it firm again in its place is a hard struggle indeed , unless with sudden aid God guide the ruler's hand " . It is clear that all was not well at Cyrene .
The king himself had no illusions as to the security of his throne : the history of his dynasty was eloquent enough in warnings . Like his grandfather many years before , Arcesiliaus set about arrangeing a retreat to which he could fly when affairs at Cyrene got out of hand .Barca was now a place of ill-omen to the Battied rulers ; but Enhesperides seemes sufficiently remote to offer safety . To develop that city and consolidate his own hold on it Arcesilaus sent to Greece for new colonists ,and it was his own brother - in - law ,the victorious charioteer , who brought them to Cyrenaica . These measures were , however , doomed to failure ; and in his allegedly safe retreat at Euhesperides the last King of Curene was assassinated by his internal enemies .His head was cut off and thrown into the sea , and a republican from of government was set up Cyrene ( circ. 440 B.C.).