Arcesilaus IV of Cyrene ( el, Ἀρκεσίλαος, flourished 5th century BC) was the eighth King of Cyrene and last king of the

Battiad dynasty The Battiadae, or Battiads ( gr, Βαττιάδαι), were the ruling dynasty of the Greek city-state of Cyrene, in modern Libya. Battus I, who founded Cyrene in 631 BC, was also the founder of the dynasty. The Battiads were overthrown in 440 BC. ...

. He served as a

client king A client state, in international relations, is a state that is economically, politically, and/or militarily subordinate to another more powerful state (called the "controlling state"). A client state may variously be described as satellite state, ...

under

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

authority.

Biography

Arcesilaus was the only child of the seventh Cyrenaean king, Battus IV. When his father died in 465 BC Arcesilaus became the new king. In 462 BC, Arcesilaus won a chariot race at the

Pythian Games The Pythian Games ( grc-gre, Πύθια;) were one of the four Panhellenic Games of Ancient Greece. They were held in honour of Apollo at his sanctuary at Delphi every four years, two years after the Olympic Games, and between each Nemean and I ...

Delphi Delphi (; ), in legend previously called Pytho (Πυθώ), in ancient times was a sacred precinct that served as the seat of Pythia, the major oracle who was consulted about important decisions throughout the ancient classical world. The oracle ...

using native Libyan horses . His victory was celebrated by Greek poet

Pindar Pindar (; grc-gre, Πίνδαρος , ; la, Pindarus; ) was an Ancient Greek lyric poet from Thebes. Of the canonical nine lyric poets of ancient Greece, his work is the best preserved. Quintilian wrote, "Of the nine lyric poets, Pindar is ...

in the Fourth and Fifth Pythian

Odes Odes may refer to: *The plural of ode, a type of poem *Odes (Horace), ''Odes'' (Horace), a collection of poems by the Roman author Horace, circa 23 BCE *Odes of Solomon, a pseudepigraphic book of the Bible *Book of Odes (Bible), a Deuterocanonic ...

. Pindar advises Arcesilaus in his ode to reconcile with his opponents and stresses the legitimacy of his rule because his family has ruled in Cyrenaica for eight generations . His reign grew progressively more tyrannical, exiling many Cyrenaean nobles and bringing in mercenaries to support his rule. As a result of his actions, the Cyrenaeans rebelled, forcing Arcesilaus to leave Cyrene and flee to Euesperides (modern

Benghazi Benghazi () , ; it, Bengasi; tr, Bingazi; ber, Bernîk, script=Latn; also: ''Bengasi'', ''Benghasi'', ''Banghāzī'', ''Binghāzī'', ''Bengazi''; grc, Βερενίκη (''Berenice'') and ''Hesperides''., group=note (''lit. Son of he Ghazi ...

) with his son and only child, Battus V. Arcesilaus, along with his son, were killed by the Cyrenaean citizens in 440 BC. It is said that after Battus was killed, the Cyrenaeans cut off his head and threw his head into the sea. With Battus’ beheading, Battiad rule in Cyrenaica ended and the citizens proclaimed Cyrenaica a narrow democracy.Hornblower (2011): 66

References

Sources

*Herodotus, The Histories, Book 4 *Burn, A R. ''The Penguin History of Greece'', Penguin Books, Clay Ltd, St Ives P/C, England, 1990.
Pindar's odes to ArcesilausSmith dictionary
*https://www.livius.org/ct-cz/cyrenaica/cyrenaica.html *http://www.mediterranees.net/dictionnaires/smith/cyrene.html *https://web.archive.org/web/20070805144946/http://ancientworlds.net/aw/Article/762227 * Hornblower, S. (2011). ''The Greek World: 479-323 BCE''. Routledge. New York. {{DEFAULTSORT:Arcesilaus 04 Of Cyrene 5th-century BC Greek people Kings of Cyrene 440 BC deaths Ancient Pythian athletes Ancient Greek chariot racers Year of birth unknown Rulers in the Achaemenid Empire

Biography

See also

References

Sources