Apollonia, Cyrenaica

Apollonia was an ancient Greek port city in Cyrenaica, today Susah in the district of al - Jabal al - Akhdar in Libya.

Apollonia was probably founded in the late seventh or early sixth century BC as the harbor of Cyrene, but was only in the late Hellenistic period to an independent city. Only little remains of the early city, as it was built over by the Byzantine. Center of Apollonia were two ports, one in the east and a particularly protected by islands and headlands in the west, they were. On one of the islands was a lighthouse. The city proper had an Acropolis, which is poorly preserved, a theater and a bathroom. An aqueduct supplied Apollonia with water. In the second century BC, it received city walls, whose main task was to protect the port. In the first century BC Apollonia became Roman.

In the fifth century the provincial capital of Ptolemais was sent to Apollonia. At least since 359 the town was also a new name: so to speak. The city was hard hit by an earthquake of 365 affected, parts of the urban area sank into the sea. With the elevation to the provincial capital, the city received important buildings, such as various basilicas and the palace of the Dux resident here. Under Emperor Justinian I the city was re-attached, but lost even before the arrival of the Arabs in importance and was then completely abandoned.