Cyrene was a Greek colony on the North African coast, in what is now northeastern Libya, founded by settlers from Thera in the 7th Century BC. The early dates are largely conjectural, as are the individuals whose reigns they purport to indicate.

Kings of Cyrene, 632 - 440 BC

• Battus I c.632-c.600 BC
• Arcesilaus I c.600-c.583 BC
• Battus II c.583-c.560 BC
• Arcesilaus II c.560-c.550 BC
• Battus III c.550-c.530 BC
• Arcesilaus III c.530-515 BC
• Battus IV 515-470 BC
• Arcesilaus IV 470-440 BC

In 440 BC, Cyrene became a Republic, under Persian suzerainty (as had been the latter kings from Arcesilaus III). It was conquered by Alexander the Great in 331 BC, and fell to the portion of Ptolemy I in the division of Alexander's Empire. In 276 BC, it reasserted its independence.

Kings of Cyrene, 276-249 BC

• Magas 276-250 BC
• Demetrius the Handsome 250-249 BC

In 249 Cyrene again became a republic, but was restored to Ptolemaic control in 246 BC. From 163, Cyrene occasionally had its own rulers from the Ptolemaic dynasty. It fell to Rome in 75 BC.

Kings of Cyrene, 163 - 30 BC

• Ptolemy VIII Euergetes 163-145 BC
• to Egypt 145-100 BC
• Ptolemy Apion 100-96 BC
• Republic 96-75 BC

In 75, the city became part of a Roman province, but it was restored to the Ptolemies by Mark Antony in 37 BC. In 34 BC, Cleopatra and Antony's daughter, Cleopatra Selene, was made Queen of Cyrene, but the city returned to Rome following Augustus's conquest of Egypt in 30 BC.