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Barca

Greek city in Cyrenaica, Libya, besieged by a Persian army, probably about 513 BCE

In the game: Level 2: The Spear-bearer

Barca was a Greek city in Cyrenaica, founded from Cyrene, probably in the sixth century. Herodotus tells how a Persian force sent from Egypt by the satrap Aryandes besieged it for nine months and took it by a trick. Many of the survivors were deported to Bactria, a sign of how far the King could move conquered people.

In the game: Barca has no mechanic or level of its own. The game names it only in its event articles, chiefly the siege of Barca, which gives the nine months reported by Herodotus.

A city founded from Cyrene

Ancient account

Herodotus says Barca arose when brothers of the Cyrene royal house quarrelled with their ruling kinsman, left the city and founded a settlement among the Libyans. The story rests on Herodotus alone.

Herodotus 4.160

Why the Persians came

Ancient account

Herodotus says Arcesilaus III of Cyrene fled to Barca and was killed there. His mother Pheretime went to Egypt and asked the satrap Aryandes for help. Herodotus presents the avenging of the murder as the reason, and says Aryandes gave her an army and a fleet.

Herodotus 4.164-167

The nine months and the trick

Ancient account

Herodotus says the Persians dug mines, but a bronze worker detected them by listening with a bronze shield held against the ground. The Persians then offered terms and swore an oath that would hold while the ground beneath them stayed as it was. The Barcaeans came out, and the Persians broke the oath by letting the hidden covering of a trench give way.

Herodotus 4.200-201

Punishment and deportation

Ancient account

Herodotus says Pheretime had the guilty men impaled round the wall and the breasts of their wives cut off. The rest of the Barcaeans were taken to Bactria, where Darius gave them a village. Herodotus adds that it was still called Barca in his own day.

Herodotus 4.202-204

Date and scale

Disputed

Herodotus does not date the expedition closely, and many historians place it about 513. Historians also differ on how firmly Persia held Cyrenaica afterwards. No Persian inscription or tablet is known to mention the siege, so the account stays Greek.

P. Briant, From Cyrus to Alexander, 2002