Norwich bulletin., 1916-06-14
THE WAR PRIMER By National Geographic Society

Submarine Bases in Cyrsnaica-The reported successful raid of an Italian
 fleet on the secret submarine bases es- ta ablished by Austria on the northern coast of Africa, just west Of Egypt, brings to the attention of the world an a'ncst forgotten province which was once dotted with magnificent cities Of culture and wealth. Concerning this region, known in ancient times as cSyrenaica and corresponding very closely to the modern province of Bar a, between Tripoli and Egypt, the l National Geographic Society from it's Headquarters :n WashingtCa, I-1ts is sued the following bulletin:
 'fCyrenaica, whose dangerous coast line, devoid of gccd haIfoors, is said to | have furnished excellent places of con- 1 c5almenI for stores of food and fuel | rceded by Austrian. submarines opeI-- ating in the southeastern end of the
 Mediterranean, was once the seat cf culture of enc of the most prosperous Greek colonies of the south. Today this territory, with an area equal to l that of Scotland, supports a popu' 'ation | of only 250.Gce, many of whom are mo- | mads.
 | 'Cyrene, capital of the ancient prov ;nce, is reputed to have been settled | by Battus, vl.o, seeking to avoid po- | iitical strife in the island of Thera, brought a few Colonists to the African | shore. He chose the site in accord l dIC0 W1ln d SuS5SSI.OL 1IO1iI l11G cle of Delphi, which commended a place between waters The four springs, which furnished an abundance of pure water, on a prominence ten miles from the seashore, was con strued to fit this description, after an
 earlier choice of a barren island had
 proved unhappy.
 '@The town took it's name from thai
 of a wood nyn1ph who is supposed tc
 have lived in the vicinity, on the slope
 of verdant hills where today numerous
 herds of nomads find unsurpassed pas.
 turage.
 'sFor more than five hundred year. ) after it's settlement in 631 B. c. Cyrent l flourished, but gradually it's com.
 merce began to wane under the sway
 of the Ptolemys much of it's trade be, ing diverted to Alexandria and Car thage. Finally the whole province wal 7 bequeathed to Rome by Ptolemy Apio4
 in 96 B. C., and it remained a provinc, | of that empire until the Arab invasion
 of the seventh century.
 "As early as the fourth century however, historians employed tn 3 phrase deserted towns in writing o
 Cyrene and others of the five citie
 which originally gave the name o
 Pentapolis to the region.
 "On these well wooded, amply wa ' tered shores of the Mediterranean 2 there was cultivated variety of bar . ley much pIfzed by the ancdents, wl1il
 fruits and flowers still grow here i n great luXuriance, almost on tn ! fringe of the Lfbyan Desert. One c \ the most famous products of Gree ' Cyrenaica was the silphfum plan E. whose reputed marvellous medicine ttcle of export. No plant grown q this part of the world today has pro = perties of a nature so remarkable a . to identify 1t as silphtum- Its cuiH s vat1on, therefore, may be regarded a : one oesthe lost arts. . Among CyrenesS native. sons who's names add 11stres to the histoxysof 9g1 '- ancfentg city. are Gsallimachus, the poe l-1 aud Aristlppus, a pupil of SocTate y who founded thes esGreek school of phi ~ Cyrenaic school, 8 foreEunner ofSEp A cureanism, held that p1easure6is att
 highest good and that virtue 1ssdhs
 course of conduct which 1s profaut lS tive pf the greatest len joymentL
 n Owing to the anti CFhstiRn actav s- ties Of the : powerful and populol .n SenEssis scot of Arahs,s exploration ! the ruins of sCyrene a11de her :neighhi
 fcif1es has tnotS Sbeen pursued w1th5grel
 thnroughuess. .Tn Gact Tur1dsh3 off
 ialsS have, as farsas spossfbless curtaik HRai .tEawe1 oe#FDuropean in Elala gecttcn re the Ottoman domain. About twel' tr1 years ago the ssite of the ancient cap !. tai was visited by a venturesome par
 of Englishmen who made a hurri V excursion, spending a single nagi 0k amid the dust tneapa Of sleparh
 grandeur, where tsae only st1slcaalr
 thai defy5 the raHages of stinne8 are ft at 4 great tiers of rock tonabS P1ayil a,- about the lofty Ionic and tDoric soc ' u1nns which marked the irnpressi = entrances to these last abodes of [ V '. sepultured great the visitors found t children of fifty sQualid nonad fan Ut FRnm mfSXA aMgaNr4NMwm N2 M Aa4sFeNas sa 7sas