Editing Cyrene, Libya (section)

===Byzantine period===
Another [[365 Crete earthquake|earthquake]] destroyed the city on 21 July 365. Skeletons crushed by falling masonry have been found and one tomb inscription mentions the earthquake.{{sfn|Kenrick|2013|p=7}} A contemporary historian, [[Ammianus Marcellinus]], describes Cyrene as "an ancient but deserted city."{{sfn|Kenrick|2013|p=7}} However, the damage may have been over-emphasised. Archaeology shows that most buildings were damaged, but also that many were rebuilt, including many temples, which were only closed by the [[Persecution of pagans under Theodosius I|Theodosian decrees]] in 395.{{sfn|Kenrick|2013|pp=7 & 150}} Settlement seems to have expanded east beyond Claudius Gothicus' fortification wall and a generation after the earthquake, Cyrene was a significant centre.{{sfn|Kenrick|2013|p=149}} [[Synesius]], a wealthy magnate who became bishop of Ptolemais and whose letters are preserved, grew up in Cyrene in the generation after the earthquake.{{sfn|Kenrick|2013|p=8}} Letter 67 of Synesius tells of an irregular episcopal ordination carried out by a bishop Philo of Cyrene, which was condoned by [[Athanasius]]. The same letter mentions that a nephew of this Philo, who bore the same name, also became bishop of Cyrene. 

The [[Central Church, Cyrene|Central]] and [[East Church, Cyrene|East Church]]es were built in the fifth or sixth century AD and renovated several times.{{sfn|Kenrick|2013|pp=150, 188, 225-226}} A bishop of Cyrene name Rufus attended the [[Robber Council of Ephesus]] in 449 and there was still a bishop of Cyrene, named Leontius, at the time of [[List of Greek Orthodox Patriarchs of Alexandria|Patriarch]] [[Eulogius of Alexandria]] (580–607).<ref name="Michel Le Quien">{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_86weAemI-e4C |author=[[Michel Le Quien]] |year=1740 |title=Oriens christianus in quatuor Patriarchatus digestus |place=Paris |publisher=Typographia Regia |volume=II |pages=621–624 |via=Internet Archive}} [https://books.google.com/books?id=86weAemI-e4C Via Google Books].</ref><ref name=Janin>Raymond Janin, v. ''Cyrène'' in [http://booksnow.scholarsportal.info/ebooks/oca2/4/dictionnairedhis13bauduoft/dictionnairedhis13bauduoft.pdf ''Dictionnaire d'Histoire et de Géographie ecclésiastiques''], vol. XIII, Paris 1956, coll. 1162–1164</ref> The city fell under [[Muslim conquest of the Maghreb|Arab conquest]] in 643. At some point thereafter it was abandoned, but the ancient name lived on as "Grennah" in the 19th century.{{sfn|Kenrick|2013|p=151}}