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Ptolemais or Ptolemaida was one of the ancient capitals of Cyrenaica
Cyrenaica

Cyrenaica or Cirenaica is the eastern coastal region of Libya and also an ex-province or state of the country in the pre-1963 administrative system....
. It was most probably named after Ptolemy III Euergetes
Ptolemy III Euergetes

Ptolemy III Euergetes, was the third ruler of the Ptolemaic dynasty in Egypt. He was the eldest son of Ptolemy II Philadelphus and his first wife, Arsinoe I, and came to power in 246 BCE upon the death of his father....
. Its Latin name in Roman times was Tolmeta, from which is derived the name of the nearby modern town of Tolmeitha
Tolmeitha

Tolmeitha is a small town in northeastern Libya. Its name appears to be derived, through the Latin Tolmeta, from the Greek name of the classical city whose ruins are nearby, Ptolemais ....
 (Arabic ??????) in Libya
Libya

Libya , officially the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya , is a country located in North Africa. Bordering the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Libya lies between Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
.

The town was most probably founded in 7th
7th century BC

The 7th century BC started the first day of 700 BC and ended the last day of 601 BC.The Assyrian Empire continued to dominate the near east during this century, exercising formidable power over neighbors like Babylon and Egypt....
 or 6th century BC by settlers from Barka
Barca

Barca or Barce was an ancient Greek colony and later Roman, Byzantine Empire, city in North Africa. It occupied the coastal area of what is modern day Libya....
. Soon it became one of the founding city-state
City-state

A city-state is an independent country whose territory consists solely of a single major city and the area immediately surrounding it. Examples include the city-states of ancient Greece , the Phoenician cities of Canaan , the Sumerian cities of Mesopotamia , the Mayans of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica , the central Asian cities along the Silk Roa...
s of the Pentapolis
Pentapolis

A pentapolis, from the Ancient Greek words penta 'five' and polis 'city' is geographic and/or institutional grouping of five cities....
 federation.






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Ptolemais or Ptolemaida was one of the ancient capitals of Cyrenaica
Cyrenaica

Cyrenaica or Cirenaica is the eastern coastal region of Libya and also an ex-province or state of the country in the pre-1963 administrative system....
. It was most probably named after Ptolemy III Euergetes
Ptolemy III Euergetes

Ptolemy III Euergetes, was the third ruler of the Ptolemaic dynasty in Egypt. He was the eldest son of Ptolemy II Philadelphus and his first wife, Arsinoe I, and came to power in 246 BCE upon the death of his father....
. Its Latin name in Roman times was Tolmeta, from which is derived the name of the nearby modern town of Tolmeitha
Tolmeitha

Tolmeitha is a small town in northeastern Libya. Its name appears to be derived, through the Latin Tolmeta, from the Greek name of the classical city whose ruins are nearby, Ptolemais ....
 (Arabic ??????) in Libya
Libya

Libya , officially the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya , is a country located in North Africa. Bordering the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Libya lies between Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
.

The town was most probably founded in 7th
7th century BC

The 7th century BC started the first day of 700 BC and ended the last day of 601 BC.The Assyrian Empire continued to dominate the near east during this century, exercising formidable power over neighbors like Babylon and Egypt....
 or 6th century BC by settlers from Barka
Barca

Barca or Barce was an ancient Greek colony and later Roman, Byzantine Empire, city in North Africa. It occupied the coastal area of what is modern day Libya....
. Soon it became one of the founding city-state
City-state

A city-state is an independent country whose territory consists solely of a single major city and the area immediately surrounding it. Examples include the city-states of ancient Greece , the Phoenician cities of Canaan , the Sumerian cities of Mesopotamia , the Mayans of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica , the central Asian cities along the Silk Roa...
s of the Pentapolis
Pentapolis

A pentapolis, from the Ancient Greek words penta 'five' and polis 'city' is geographic and/or institutional grouping of five cities....
 federation. In 331 BC the union was dissolved after all of its towns surrendered to Alexander the Great
Alexander the Great

Alexander the Great , also known as Alexander III of Macedon was an ancient Greeks King of Macedon . He was one of the most successful military commanders of all time and is presumed undefeated in battle....
. After his death the area formed part of the Ptolemaic empire
Ptolemaic Egypt

Ptolemaic Egypt began when Ptolemy I Soter declared himself Pharaoh of Egypt in 305 BC and ended with the death of queen Cleopatra VII of Egypt and the Aegyptus in 30 BC....
. In early 1st century the region was conquered by Rome
Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was the Roman Republic phase of the Ancient Rome, characterised by an autocracy form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
 and became a separate province. Roman Tolmeta had no local water supply, but Roman architects built a conduit from the hills and stored the water in eighteen huge galleries under the forum, about fourteen feet high by ten feet wide. These are in perfect repair and were rediscovered during the Italian occupation. In the course of military operations against rebels, it was discovered that the rebels used the underground as a place of hiding; two or three hundred men could easily be hidden in them.

In 365
365

Events...
 a major earthquake
Earthquake

An earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes are recorded with a seismometer, also known as a seismograph....
 struck the region and destroyed all of the five major cities of the area (Cyrene
Cyrene

Cyrene may refer to:* Cyrene , a Greek mythological figure* Cyrene, Libya, an ancient Greek colony in North Africa* The USS Cyrene , a motor torpedo boat tender...
, Apollonia
Apollonia

Apollonia may be:People:*Saint Apollonia, of Alexandria*Apollonia Kotero, musician & actressPlaces::In Albania::In Bulgaria::In Greece::* Apollonia , an inland city in Epirus, founded by Corinth.:* Apollonia , an inland city near modern Apollonia, Thessaloniki, visited by the apostle Paul:* Apollonia , a coastal city near Th...
, Arsinoe
Arsinoe

Arsinoe , sometimes spelled Arsino?, may refer to:...
, Berenice
Benghazi

Benghazi or Bengasi is the second largest city in Libya and the main city of the Cyrenaica region . It is also a Districts of Libya of Libya of the wider city area....
 and Barca
Barca

Barca or Barce was an ancient Greek colony and later Roman, Byzantine Empire, city in North Africa. It occupied the coastal area of what is modern day Libya....
). Ptolemais survived the tragedy in a relatively good shape and it was there that the most important authorities were moved. It served the role of a capital of Cyrenaica until 428, when it was destroyed by the Vandals
Vandals

The Vandals were an East Germanic tribe that entered the late Roman Empire during the 5th century. The Goths Theodoric the Great, king of the Ostrogoths and regent of the Visigoths, was allied by marriage with the Vandals as well as with the Burgundians and the Franks under Clovis I....
. During the reign of Justinian I
Justinian I

Flavius Petrus Sabbatius Iustinianus , AD 482 or 483 ? 13 or 14 November 565, was the second member of the Justinian Dynasty and List of Roman Emperors from 527 until his death....
 the city was rebuilt, but it never regained its powers and was again destroyed by the Arabs in 7th century.

Covered with sand, the town's ruins survived in a relatively good shape to our times. West of the city stands a conspicuous and tower-like Hellenistic mausoleum, and there's also a Greek theater cut into the hillside behind the city. It is probably the only well-preserved Roman capital of a province in the world. In 2001 the archaeological mission from the Warsaw University started the excavations there. It is estimated that the town covers 2.5 square kilometers, excluding the city walls and large necropolis surrounding it.

External links

  • (Polish, English)
  • (nondestructive archaeology)