Editing Cyrene, Libya (section)

===Roman period===
[[File:Marble bust of Emperor Antoninus Pius. 138-161 CE. From the house of Jason Magnus at Cyrene, modern-day Libya. The British Museum, London.jpg|thumb|Marble bust of Emperor Antoninus Pius (r. 138–161 AD), from the [[house of Jason Magnus]] at Cyrene, now in The British Museum, London]]
After 96 BC, the Romans initially ignored the new territory. [[Plutarch]] mentions a tyrant of Cyrene, [[Nicocrates]], who was deposed by his wife [[Aretaphila of Cyrene]] and succeeded by his brother Learchus, who was murdered in turn.<ref>{{cite book |author=Plutarch |title=De Mulierum Virtutibus |chapter=Bravery of Women (Part 2 of 2) |url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Moralia/Bravery_of_Women*/B.html |series=Loeb Classical Library edition, Plutarch |volume=III |year=1931 |access-date=14 February 2008}}</ref>{{sfn|Rosamilia|2023|p=30}} [[Lucullus]] visited the city in 87 BC, suppressed the tyranny and granted Cyrene a new constitution.{{sfn|Rosamilia|2023|p=30}} But it was only in 74 BC that the Romans first sent a governor, Publius Cornelius Lentulus Marcellinus.{{sfn|Kenrick|2013|p=5}} At some point between 67 and 30 BC, Cyrenaica became part of the [[Roman province]] of [[Crete and Cyrenaica]]. The provincial capital was on Crete, but Cyrene remained the chief city in Cyrenaica and enjoyed a highly prosperous period and much construction dates to the first century AD.{{sfn|Kenrick|2013|p=5}} In the mid-first century AD, the Roman authorities launched an extensive surveying campaign to reclaim the public land around Cyrene that had slipped into private control and stopped paying dividends to the [[fisc]].{{sfn|Kenrick|2013|p=6}} 

Because of its large Jewish population, Cyrene was an [[Early centers of Christianity#Cyrene|early centre of Christianity]]. A Cyrenian named [[Simon of Cyrene|Simon]] carried the cross of [[Jesus Christ|Jesus]].<ref>[[Gospel of Mark|Mark]] 15:21 and parallels</ref> ''[[Acts of the Apostles|Acts]]'' claims that Jews from Cyrene heard the disciples speaking in their own language in Jerusalem on the day of [[Pentecost]] and later says that Christians from Cyrene and Cyprus were among the assembled.<ref>''Acts'' 2.10, 11.20</ref> According to the tradition of the [[Coptic Orthodox Church]], its founder, [[Saint Mark]] was a native of Cyrene and ordained the first bishop of Cyrene.

[[File:Apollo Kitharoidos BM 1380.jpg|thumb|upright|left|[[Apollo of Cyrene|Apollo Kitharoidos]] from Cyrene. Roman statue from the second century AD now in the [[British Museum]].]]
A massive Jewish revolt, the [[Diaspora revolt]], broke out in Cyrenaica, Egypt, Mesopotamia, Cyprus and Judaea in 115 AD. Cyrene was sacked and almost all of the city's buildings were destroyed. Literary sources claim that 220,000 people were killed before the revolt was quelled by [[Marcius Turbo]].<ref>[[Cassius Dio]], lxviii. 32</ref>{{sfn|Kenrick|2013|p=149}} According to [[Eusebius of Caesarea]], the Jewish rebellion left Libya depopulated to such an extent that a few years later new colonies had to be established there by the emperor [[Hadrian]] to maintain the viability of continued settlement. Restoration work is recorded in inscriptions and visible archaeologically; it was not completed until the reign of [[Commodus]].{{sfn|Kenrick|2013|p=6}} The city was an early member of Hadrian's [[Panhellenion]] and a long inscription records its attempts to block membership for one of its neighbours. Cyrene was once again prosperous by the third quarter of the second century AD and several palaces date to this period, including the [[House of Jason Magnus]].{{sfn|Kenrick|2013|pp=6 & 163}}

In the mid-third century AD, Cyrene's economy began to decline. This was hastened by an [[earthquake]] of 262, which destroyed much of the city.{{sfn|Kenrick|2013|p=6}} After the disaster, the city was raided by the [[Marmarica|Marmaritae]], Libyan nomads, who were defeated in 269 by [[Tenagino Probus]], prefect of Egypt. The emperor [[Claudius II|Claudius Gothicus]] restored Cyrene, naming it ''Claudiopolis''. Many buildings were subsequently rebuilt,{{sfn|Kenrick|2013|p=7}} but a hurriedly built new defensive wall enclosed only the western half of the city.{{sfn|Kenrick|2013|p=149}} The civic hub shifted north from the street of Battus to the Valley street and many of the old public spaces were filled in with housing and shops.{{sfn|Kenrick|2013|pp=149 & 154}} In the reforms of [[Diocletian]], Cyrene became part of the new province of [[Libya Superior]] (also called Pentapolis).{{sfn|Kenrick|2013|p=6}} The [[Roman Martyrology]]<ref>''Martyrologium Romanum'' (Typographia Vaticana 2001 {{ISBN|978-88-209-7210-3}})</ref> mentions under 4 July a tradition that in the [[persecution of Diocletian]] a bishop Theodorus of Cyrene was scourged and had his tongue cut out. Earlier editions of the Martyrology mentioned what may be the same person also under 26 March.