CARNEADES OF CYRENE

Carneades, (214–129/ BCE) was an Academic skeptic born in Cyrene. By the year 159 BCE, he had started to refute all previous dogmatic doctrines, especially Stoicism, and even the Epicureans whom previous skeptics had spared. As head of the Academy, he was one of three philosophers sent to Rome in 155 BCE, where his lectures on the uncertainty of justice caused consternation among leading politicians. He left no writings and many of his opinions are known only via his successor Clitomachus. He seems to have doubted the ability not just of the senses but of reason too in acquiring truth. His skepticism was, however, moderated by the belief that we can, nevertheless, ascertain probabilities of truth, to enable us to live and act correctly.
Carneades, the son of Epicomus or Philocomiis, was born at Cyrene, North Africa in 214/213 BCE. He migrated early to Athens, and attended the lectures of the Stoics, and learned their logic from Diogenes. He studied the works of Chrysippus, and exerted his energy of a very acute and original mind in their refutation.

He attached himself to the Academy, which had suffered from the attacks of the Stoics; and on the death of Hegesinus, he was chosen to preside at the meetings of Academy, and was the fourth in succession from Arcesilaus. His great eloquence and skill in argument revived the glories of his school; and, defending himself in the negative vacancy of asserting nothing (not even that nothing can be asserted), carried on a vigorous war against every position that had been maintained by other sects.

In the year 155 BCE, when he was 58 years old, he was chosen with Diogenes the Stoic and Critolaus the Peripatetic to go as an ambassador to Rome, in order to deprecate the fine of 500 talents which had been imposed on the Athenians for the destruction of Oropus. During his stay at Rome, he attracted great attention due to his eloquent speeches on philosophical subjects, and it was here that, in the presence of Cato the Elder, he delivered his several orations on Justice. The first oration was in commendation of the virtue of Roman justice, and the next day the second was delivered, in which all the arguments he'd made on the first were refuted, as he persuasively attempted to prove that justice was inevitably problematic, and not a given when it came to virtue, but merely a compact device deemed necessary for the maintenance of a well-ordered society. Recognizing the potential danger of the argument, Cato was shocked at this and he moved the Roman Senate to send the philosopher home to his school, and prevent exposure of Roman youth to the threat of re-examining all Roman doctrines. After this, Carneades lived 27 years in Athens.

Carneades was succeeded (137/136 BCE) by Polemarchus of Nicomedia, but he died 131/130 BCE and was succeeded by Crates of Tarsus. Carneades died at the advanced age of 85 (although Cicero says 90), in 129/128 BCE. After the death of Crates of Tarsus in 127/126 BCE Clitomachus became head of the Academy.

Carneades is described as a man of unwearied industry. He was so engrossed in his studies, that he let his hair and nails grow to an immoderate length, and was so absent at his own table (for he would never dine out), that his servant and concubine, Melissa, was constantly obliged to feed him. Latin writer and author Valerius Maximus, to whom we owe the last anecdote, tells us that Carneades, before discussing with Chrysippus, was wont to purge himself with hellebore, to have a sharper mind. In his old age, he suffered from cataract in his eyes, which he bore with great impatience, and was so little resigned to the decay of nature, that he used to ask angrily, if this was the way in which nature undid what she had done, and sometimes expressed a wish to poison himself.
Carneades is known as an Academic skeptic. Academic skeptics (so called because this was the type of skepticism taught in Plato's Academy in Athens) hold that all knowledge is impossible, except for the knowledge that all other knowledge is impossible.

Carneades left no writings, and all that is known of his lectures is derived from his intimate friend and pupil, Clitomachus; but so true was he to his own principles of withholding assent, that Clitomachus confesses he never could ascertain what his master really thought on any subject. In ethics, which more particularly were the subject of his long and laborious study, he seems to have denied the conformity of the moral ideas with nature. This he particularly insisted on in the second oration on Justice, in which he manifestly wished to convey his own notions on the subject; and he there maintains that ideas of justice are not derived from nature, but that they are purely artificial for purposes of expediency.

All this, however, was nothing but the special application of his general theory, that people did not possess, and never could possess, any criterion of truth.

Carneades argued that, if there were a criterion, it must exist either in reason (logos), or sensation (aisthêsis), or conception (phantasia). But then reason itself depends on conception, and this again on sensation; and we have no means of judging whether our sensations are true or false, whether they correspond to the objects that produce them, or carry wrong impressions to the mind, producing false conceptions and ideas, and leading reason also into error. Therefore, sensation, conception, and reason, are alike disqualified for being the criterion of truth.

But after all, people must live and act, and must have some rule of practical life; therefore, although it is impossible to pronounce anything as absolutely true, we may yet establish probabilities of various degrees. For, although we cannot say that any given conception or sensation is in itself true, yet some sensations appear to us more true than others, and we must be guided by that which seems the most true. Again, sensations are not single, but generally combined with others, which either confirm or contradict them; and the greater this combination the greater is the probability of that being true which the rest combine to confirm; and the case in which the greatest number of conceptions, each in themselves apparently most true, should combine to affirm that which also in itself appears most true, would present to Carneades the highest probability, and his nearest approach to truth.

Source: Wikipedia

THEODORUS OF CYRENE

Known as much for his pupils as for his other work, Theodorus of Cyrene worked on questions involving the square roots of 3 and 5. This led him to discoveries concerning irrational numbers, or numbers that continue indefinitely without any repeating pattern.

Theodorus was born in Cyrene, now part of Libya, which at that time was a Greek colony. Though he was in Cyrene when he died 67 years later, he must have spent part of his life in Athens, where he studied under Protagoras (c. 485-c. 410 BCE) and interacted with Socrates (c. 470-390 BCE). He later taught both Theaetetus of Athens (c. 417-c. 369 BCE) and Plato (427-347 BCE), the principal source of information regarding his work.

Plato later wrote that Theodorus showed his students that "the side of a square of three square units and of five square units" was "not commensurable in length with the unit length"—in other words, the square roots of 3 and 5 are irrational numbers.

As for Theodorus, little else is known about him aside from Plato's brief reference to his teachings regarding the irrational roots of 3 and 5. It is possible to infer from the Plato passage, located in his Theaetetus, that the irrational nature of √2 had already been established. Some claim that Pythagoras (c. 580-c. 500 BCE) showed that √2 was irrational, and certainly Theodorus must have used the Pythagorean theorem to construct lines of length √3 or √5 .

Most interesting, perhaps, is the role Theodorus played in the generalization of the idea of irrational numbers. This is indicated by this sentence in Plato: "The idea occurred to the two of us [Theaetetus and Socrates], seeing that these square roots appeared to be unlimited in multitude, to try to arrive at one collective term by which we could designate all these roots...." Using a method of reduction known at the time, he apparently proved that the roots of non-square numbers from 3 to 17 were irrational, and from this probably arrived at a general theorem that the square roots of all nonsquare numbers are irrational.

Source: http://www.bookrags.com/#gsc.tab=0

THE TEMPLE OF ZEUS IN THE GREEK CITY OF CYRENE IN LIBYA

The city of Cyrene was founded c.631 BCE as a colony of the Greek island of Thera. It became the most important Greek city in the region and got its name from the Greek princess, or Nymph, Kyrene. The God Apollo fell in love with her and took her to Libya, where they had a child together. This ancient Greek city ,which was known as the Athens of Africa, was the location of the Temple of Zeus. Dating to the 6th century BCE, this temple is larger than the Parthenon in Athens; a reflection of the wealth and importance of the region of Cyrene in the ancient Greek world.

The Temple was built in the Doric style, with two rows of 17 X 8 Doric columns, 70 X 32 meters. Though initially a Greek temple, later stonework on the temple shows evidence of Egyptian style workmanship.

 The temple was destroyed during a Jewish rebellion in 115 CE, which took place in various Roman districts as far as Cyprus and then was restored in 120 CE. During its restoration, it was given a new marble frontage and a high podium, in the traditional Roman style which was popular within the Empire.

In the great earthquake of 365 CE, the Temple suffered severe damage and was left abandoned for many centuries.In 1957,Italian archaeologists restored the building to its present state temple of Zeus to its present state. All work for restoration in Libya ceased in 1974. The temple is now an UNESCO World Heritage site. 

Archaeological evidence suggest that animal sacrifices were carried out within the temple. Also, numerous coins have been found in the area which depict Zeus- Ammon, a syncretic image of Zeus.This worship could have appeared during Hellenistic Times. Under Roman rule, the Temple was devoted to Zeus as Jupiter.

ERATOSTHENES OF CYRENE

Eratosthenes of Cyrene (c. 276 BCE–192 or 194 BCE) was an ancient Greek mathematician, poet, and astronomer who is known as the father of geography. Eratosthenes was the first person to use the word "Geography" and other geographical terms that are still in use today, and his efforts to calculate the circumference of the Earth and the distance from the Earth to the Sun paved the way for our modern understanding of the cosmos. Among his other many accomplishments were the creation of the first map of the world and the invention of an algorithm known as the sieve of Eratosthenes, which is used to identify prime numbers.
Eratosthenes was born around 276 BCE in a Greek colony in Cyrene, a territory located in present-day Libya. He was educated at the academies of Athens and in 245 BCE, after earning attention for his skills, he was invited by Pharaoh Ptolemy III to run the Great Library at Alexandria in Egypt. This was a major opportunity, and Eratosthenes was excited to accept the position.

In addition to being a mathematician and geographer, Eratosthenes was also a very gifted philosopher, poet, astronomer, and music theorist. He made several significant contributions to science, including the discovery that a year is slightly longer than 365 days, requiring an extra day—or leap day—be added to the calendar every four years to keep it consistent.

Geography

While serving as the Head Librarian and scholar at the Library of Alexandria, Eratosthenes wrote a comprehensive treatise about the world, which he called "Geography." This was the first use of the word, which in Greek means "writing about the world." Eratosthenes' work introduced the concepts of torrid, temperate, and frigid climate zones. His map of the world, though highly inaccurate, was the first of its kind, featuring a grid of parallels and meridians used to estimate distances between different locations. Though Eratosthenes' original "Geography" did not survive, modern scholars know what it contained thanks to reports by Greek and Roman historians.

The first book of "Geography" contained a summary of existing geographical work and Eratosthenes' speculations about the nature of the planet Earth. He believed it was a fixed globe whose changes only took place on the surface. The second book of "Geography" described the mathematical calculations he had used to determine the circumference of the Earth. The third contained a map of the world in which the land was divided into different countries; it is one of the earliest examples of political geography.

Calculating the Circumference of the Earth

Eratosthenes' most famous contribution to science was his calculation of the circumference of the Earth, which he completed while working on the second volume of his "Geography."

After hearing about a deep well at Syene (near the Tropic of Cancer and modern-day Aswan) where sunlight only struck the bottom of the well on the summer solstice, Eratosthenes worked out a method by which he could calculate the circumference of the Earth using basic geometry. Knowing that the Earth was a sphere, he needed only two critical measurements to calculate the circumference. Eratosthenes already knew the approximate distance between Syene and Alexandria, as measured by camel-powered trade caravans. He then measured the angle of the shadow in Alexandria on the solstice. By taking the angle of the shadow (7.2 degrees) and dividing it into the 360 degrees of a circle (360 divided by 7.2 yields 50), Eratosthenes could then multiply the distance between Alexandria and Syene by the result to determine the circumference of the Earth.

Remarkably, Eratosthenes determined the circumference to be 25,000 miles, just 99 miles over the actual circumference at the equator (24,901 miles). Although Eratosthenes made a few mathematical errors in his calculations, they canceled each other out and yielded an amazingly accurate answer that still causes scientists to marvel.

A few decades later, the Greek geographer Posidonius insisted that Eratosthenes' circumference was too large. He calculated the circumference on his own and obtained a figure of 18,000 miles—about 7,000 miles too short. During the Middle Ages, most scholars accepted Eratosthenes' circumference, though Christopher Columbus used Posidonius' measurement to convince his supporters that he could quickly reach Asia by sailing west from Europe. As we now know, this was a critical error on Columbus' part. Had he used Eratosthenes' figure instead, Columbus would have known he was not yet in Asia when he landed in the New World.

Prime Numbers

A noted polymath, Eratosthenes also made notable contributions to the field of mathematics, including the invention of an algorithm used to identify prime numbers. His method involved taking a table of whole numbers (1, 2, 3, etc.) and striking off the multiples of each prime, beginning with multiples of the number two, then multiples of the number three, etc. until only the prime numbers remained. This method became known as the sieve of Eratosthenes, as it works by filtering out the non-prime numbers in the same way that a sieve filters solids out of liquids.

Death

In his old age, Eratosthenes became blind and he died of self-induced starvation in either 192 or 196 BCE in Alexandria, Egypt. He lived to be about 80 to 84 years old.

Legacy

Eratosthenes was one of the greatest Greek polymaths, and his work influenced later innovators in fields ranging from mathematics to geography. Admirers of the Greek thinker called him Pentathlos, after the Greek athletes known for their prowess in a number of different events. A crater on the Moon was named in his honor.


https://www.thoughtco.com/

TAUCHEIRA / ARSINOE ~ AN ANCIENT GREEK CITY IN LIBYA

According to Greek researcher Herodotus of Halicarnassus, Taucheira (also known as Tauchira and Teuchira) was one of the five Greek cities in the Cyrenaica.He presents it rather matter-of-factly, as if it were an unimportant town. Excavation of the harbor area in the 1960s, however, has brought to light ceramics that are much older than expected (fourth quarter of the seventh century), and it is now obvious that the town in fact was one of the oldest Greek settlements in Africa.

The city, which was nominally independent but probably belonged to Cyrene informally, was built along a main road from the northwest to the southeast. To the southwest was Euesperides (modern Bengazi); to the east were Barca and Ptolemais, Cyrene, and Apollonia. Directly in front of the northeastern gate were the stone quarries where the characteristic, reddish limestone of Taucheira was found.

There were trade contacts between Taucheira and the Peloponnese, Corinth, and Athens. This can be deduced from the archaeological finds.

Hellenism

The towns of the Cyrenaica submitted to Alexander the Great in the winter of 332/331 BCE, and became part of the satrapy of Egypt. After Alexander's death, one of his commanders, Thibron, started a state of his own in the Cyrenaica, but he was expelled by Ophellas, a vice-commander serving Ptolemy I Soter.

Decree of Aleximachus

Ophellas founded a new port, Ptolemais, which must have been a very serious competitor for Taucheira. He was succeeded by a man named Magas, who made Cyrenaica independent again, but Ptolemy's grandson Ptolemy III Euergetes regained the region and renamed Taucheira Arsinoe, after his stepmother Arsinoe II.

In the first century BCE, when Ptolemaic power was crumbling and the Romans had not yet established control of this era, native tribes attacked Taucheira. An inscription in the little museum of Taucheira commemorates a man named Aleximachus son of Sostratus, who had provided the money to improve the walls of the city, and to import food during a famine.

Roman Empire

Arsinoe was to keep its name, although it was briefly to be called Cleopatris during the Roman civil wars, when Mark Antony wanted to honor his wife Cleopatra VII Philopator. During the Roman age, the city received the rank of colonia, but we know not much of its history. Still, several buildings can be identified, like a place where textiles were painted and the gymnasium.

Archaeological finds document the cults of Demeter and Kore. The cult of the Libyan deity Ammon is also attested, and we know that the Apollo, Dionysus, and the Phrygian goddess Cybele were venerated as well.

Byzantine Age

New walls were built by the emperor Justinian (r.527-565), who also fortified other cities in Libya and built nearby Theodorias (the overall project is known as Ananeosis). The massive walls of Taucheira/Arsinoe enabled the Byzantine commander Apollonius, when besieged by the Muslim forces who had invaded the Cyrenaica in 641, to hold out until 645. A fortress inside the city walls documents the presence of this garrison.


Although Taucheira/Arsinoe was small compared to Lepcis Magna and Cyrene, it had the longest history: from the seventh century BCE to the seventh century CE. Its modern-day name is Tocra.

Below there is a video about a discovery of ancient artefacts from the area of Tocra.

Source: Livius, YouTube

LIBYA ~ A COUNTRY NAMED AFTER A GRANDDAUGHTER OF ZEUS

Like all of the Mediterranean and beyond, Libya is another case of a territory with profound influence from Greek culture and ancient tradition. The name Libya is noted in Ancient Greek Religion, but also forms part of the Ancient Greek world. The Religion of the Greeks, which carries traces of history potentially dates back many thousand years BCE provides an explanation on how the area got its name.

 Libya is the daughter of Epafos (son of Zeus and Io) and Memphida (Memphis) and was the queen of the territory that took her name. Lybia had children with Poseidon; these were the twins Aginoras and Vilos and Lamia and Lelegas. Vilos has a son named Egyptos (Egypt, bordering Libya).

The most important point to note here is not so much the story, but the power of the ancient Greek Tradition and language that has allowed for the name to be maintained and to be assimilated in so many languages. This is one other piece of evidence of the profound influence of Greek culture in  North Africa. Although so many cultures invaded the Libyan territory, the Greek name of this territory has been maintained and adopted by the vast majority of languages.

One of the most famous Greek cities founded in Libya is Cyrene (pronounced Kirini in Greek) which, according to traditional historians, was founded in 630 BCE. Also, in ancient times the term “Libya” was used to describe all of northern Africa or the whole continent (e.g. Ptolemy).

Edited from https://www.historydisclosure.com/
Ancient Greece Map https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?msa=0&ll=28.536275,36.123047&spn=50.408124,88.857422&mid=1oRID23s4qQtM4a3EMLWZUpj7M5U