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CYPSELUS GYRENE 617 cities. At the time of the crusades it was de- tached from the Greek empire, and made a kingdom for Guy of Lusignan. From his de- scendants it fell to the Venetians, and in 1570 -'71 was subdued by the Turks after a brave defence. From 1832 to 1840 it was governed by the viceroy of Egypt. Recently the interest of the public in the history and antiquities of Cyprus has been excited by the discoveries made by Gen. Cesnola, the American consul at that island. (See CESNOLA.) The decipher- ment of the Cypriote inscriptions was attempt- ed by De Luynes and Roth on a supposed iden- tification of the words Salamis and Amathus. The recent discovery by Lang of a bilingual in- scription in Phoenician and Cypriote proved it to be a wrong basis. The labors of Hesychius, Birch, George Smith, and of Brandis, whose discoveries were published in 1873 by Curtius, have shown that the language of the Cypriote inscriptions is a Greek dialect, approaching the Arcadian, but possessing many peculiarities. The writing, which is not Greek, but of un- known origin, is usually from right to left and syllabic. Some of the characters represent, however, different forms of the vowels, and others consonants only. CYPSELUS, a tyrant of Corinth, son of MQ- tion. His mother was one of the Bacchiadae, but so ill-favored that none of her own order would accept her in marriage, whereon she wedded ^Eetion. The Delphian pythoness having foretold that her child would prove for- midable to the aristocratic party, the Bac- chiadae attempted to murder him ; but his mother concealed him in a chest (Gr. KV^JJ). Cypselus overthrew the power of the oligarchs, expelled them from the city, and reigned 80 years (655-625 B. C.). Aristotle represents his rule as mild and popular, but according to Herodotus he was a cruel oppressor. He was succeeded by his son Periander. CYRENiICA, or Cyrenaea, an ancient country of Africa, in the N. E. part of modern Tripoli, bounded N. by the Mediterranean, E. by Mar- marica, S. by the desert, and W. by the Greater Syrtis, now the gulf of Sidra. In its widest limits it included Marmarica on the east, and extended to the Arse Philaanorum on the west, and thus corresponded with modern Barca. The centre is a moderately elevated table land, sloping gradually and in terraces down to the hilly coast land, which, from its position, cli- mate, and soil, is one of the most delightful regions of the earth. It abounds in excellent fruits, vegetables, flowers, and rare plants. Cyrenaica was one of the most flourishing col- onies of the Greeks, having been settled by Dorians from the island of Thera. Battus, the leader of the original colony, founded Cyrene in 631 B. 0., and a dynasty which numbered four kings of his name and four named Arcesi- laus. Battus IV. was killed about 450, and a republic was established, soon replaced by a new tyranny. When Alexander the Great in- vaded Egypt, the Cyrenajans were his allies. After his death the first of the Ptolemies an- nexed their country to Egypt, and his successors possessed it till about 96 B. C., when Apion, the last governor, an illegitimate son of Ptole- my Physcon, made it over to the Romans. Un- der the Ptolemies the country was also known as Pentapolis, from the five principal cities : Cyrene ; Apollonia, the port town of the pre- ceding; Ptolemais, on the site of the port of Barca, now Tolmeta; Arsinoe, more anciently Tauchira, now Taukra; and Berenice, more anciently Hesperides, now Benghazi, at the mouth of the Lathon. The Romans, who first proclaimed the freedom of the country, soon annexed it as a province, together with Crete, under the name of Cyrenaica. Under Con- stantine the Great it became a separate prov- ince, and was called Upper Libya. Bloody struggles with the revolted Jewish inhabitants under Trajan, repeated incursions of the noma- dic tribes of the interior, earthquakes and lo- custs, gradually destroyed the wealth of the province ; its invasion by the Persians, and soon after by the Saracens, in the 7th century, completed its ruin. Cyrenaica was the chief seat of the disciples of Aristippus, and in a later period of the African Gnostics. The whole re- gion abounds in remnants of antiquity. See Delia Cella, Viaggio da Tripoli alle frontieri occidentali deW Egitto (Genoa, 1819); Pacho, Voyage dans la Marmarique, la Cyrenalque, &c. (Paris, 1825-'9) ; Beechey, "Proceedings of the Expedition to Explore the Northern Coast of Africa " (London, 1828) ; Trighe, Res Cyrenensium (Copenhagen, 1828) ; Hamilton, " Wanderings in North Africa ;" and Rawlin- son's notes to Herodotus, book iv. CYRENAICS, a school of philosophers founded by Aristippus of Cyrenaica, a pupil of Socrates, about 380 B. C., who taught that enjoyment was the highest object, and that virtue con- sisted in the art of producing the highest pos- sible amount of agreeable feelings, by living in moderate activity, in the enjoyment of art and literature, with the careful shunning of pain. They despised, like the Cynics, all speculative philosophy, but as a rule were not immoral, limiting their practice to a gay, moderate, and amiable enjoyment of life. Among these phi- losophers, Arete, the daughter of Aristippus, his grandson Aristippus Metrodidactus, and Hegesias were the most renowned. This school was succeeded, a century later, by the kindred philosophy of Epicurus. CYRENE, the chief city of Cyrenaica, founded in 631 B. C. by TheraBans under Battus, around a fountain the native name of which was Cyre (Ki>py), consecrated to Apollo, which supplied the city with water. It was built on a high terrace of the Cyrenasan table land, about 9 m. from the coast at Apollonia, which became its port. The road which connected the city with the harbor, a vast necropolis, and ruins of streets, temples, theatres, tombs, and remnants of art, are still visible, the site of the ancient city having been identified with the modern