 Cyrenaica, by contrast, was Greek before it was Roman.It was also known as Pentapolis, the "five cities" being Cyrene (near the village of Shahat) with its port of Apollonia (Marsa Susa), Arsinoe (Tocra), Berenice (Bengazi) and Barca (Merj).From the oldest and most famous of the Greek colonies the fertile coastal plain took the name of Cyrenaica.