Battus I of Cyrene

Battus I of Cyrene (Ancient Greek: Βάττος), also known as Battus Aristottle (Βάττος Ἀριστοτέλης) or Aristaeus (Ἀρισταίος) was the founder of the Ancient Greek colony of Cyrenaica and its capital Cyrene. He was the first king of Cyrenaica, the first Greek king in Africa and the founder of the Battiad dynasty.

Battus was born in an unknown village on the Greek island of Thera. What is known of Battus’ family background is from the Greek historian Herodotus. His father, Polymnestus, was a Therean nobleman and his mother was named Phronima. She was a princess of Oaxus (a city on the Greek island of Crete). Her father, Etearchus or Eteachos, was King of Oaxus. When Phronima’s mother, then Queen of Oaxus (whose name is unknown) died, Etearchus remarried. Phronima’s stepmother (whose name is also unknown) became Queen. She did everything to torment Phronima, most notably by falsely accusing her of fornication. When Etearchus heard of this, he befriended a Therean merchant living in Oaxus called Themiston and convinced him to swear an oath that he would perform any task the king asked him to do. Etearchus fetched Phronima, had her put in Themiston’s charge, and asked him to throw her into the sea. Themiston, in order to clear himself of the obligation, took Phronima on his ship, lowered her into water with a rope, and hauled her back in the ship (i.e. he did not kill her as ordered). Themiston then sailed with Phronima back to his home island of Thera. There, Phronima became the mistress of a distinguished nobleman called Polymnestus, who was a member of the Minyan family of the Euphemidae. Phronima bore Polymnestus a son, Battus. Herodotus does not give his real name, but according to Pindar, his birth name was Aristotle. Justin gives him the name of Aristaeus and states after his death in Cyrene he was worshipped by the name of Aristaeus. In any case, Battus in ancient Greek means stammer (because he had a speech impediment as a child), while in the Libyan language battus means king. Herodotus opines that he was not known as Battus until he left for Libya.

In ca. 639 BC the king of Thera, Grinnus, travelled from the island to visit the oracle of Delphi, to seek advice on various matters. At that time, Thera had a severe drought and there was no rainfall for seven years. The population was also increasing and could no longer support its residents. One of the men that accompanied the king was Battus. When Grinnus asked for the priestess' advice, she gave him a seemingly irrelevant response. She told him that he must go to Libya and found a city there, on advice from the God Apollo. The king was too old for this journey and commissioned Battus to complete the task. The only problem was that neither of them knew where Libya was.

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