Archaeology, Volume 58, N. 5

Legend has it that, due to a severe drought in the Aegean island of Thera in the middle of the 7th century BC, the desperate islanders sent an ambassador to Delphi, to seek advice from the Oracle of Apollo. There, the priestess told them to found a colony in Libya.

Whether it is true or not, the article by Mark Rose, "Return to Cyrene", tells the story of the city founded in 630 BC. from a Greek colony that fused its traditions with those of the local population and becoming, for a millennium, the driving force of a rich culture and flourishing trade in the eastern Mediterranean.

Photographs by Araldo De Luca, ruins of temples, statues, views, mosaics, illustrate the city of Cyrene in all its splendor.