Cyrene

P. L. 2. 904; Education 4. 390; Areopag. 4. 401. (See also Barca.) An ancient city of northern Africa, in the country now called The name Cyrenaica It was a seat of Greek learning. was applied to the district, nearly corresponding to the modern Tripoli. The immediate neighborhood was fertile, but to the south were deserts. Lucan Barca, under the rule of Cyrene. of the city describes a sand-storm in the neighborhood of Cyrene as follows Then with fresh might he [Auster] fell upon the host Of marching Romans, snatching from their feet The sand they trod. Had Auster been enclosed In some vast cavernous vault with solid walls And mighty barriers, he had moved the world Upon its ancient base and made the lands To tremble: but the facile Libyan soil By not resisting stood, and blasts that whirled The surface upwards left the depths unmoved. … Fearing the storm, prone fell the host to earth Winding their garments tight, and with clenched hands Gripping the earth: for not their weight alone Withstood the tempest which upon their frames Piled mighty heaps, and their recumbent limbs Buried in sand. (Pharsalia 9. 463-86.) 110