[15] The revolt spread by 17 February to Bayda, Tobruk, Ajdabya, Al Marj in the East and Zintan, Zawiya in the West, calling for the end of the Gaddafi regime.

The Greek historian Thucydides mentions a siege of the city in 414 BC, by Libyans who were probably the Nasamones: Euesperides was saved by the unexpected arrival of the Spartan general Gylippus and his fleet, who were blown to Libya by contrary winds on their way to Sicily.

The king used his chariot victory at the Pythian Games of 462 BC to attract new settlers to Euesperides, where Arcesilaus hoped to create a safe refuge for himself against the resentment of the people of Cyrene.

An inscription found there and dated around the middle of the 4th century BC states that the city had a constitution similar to that of Cyrene, with a board of chief magistrates (ephors) and a council of elders (gerontes).

[25] In 246 BC, during the power struggle following Magas' death, his daughter Berenice married Ptolemy III, bringing the region back under Ptolemaic control.

The move may have been due to the silting up of the lagoons, but there is no archaeological evidence for economic decline in the preceding period, and it is more likely that the refoundation was punishment for having opposed Berenice and Ptolemy's assumption of power.

The city superseded Cyrene and Barca as the chief center of Cyrenaica after the 3rd century AD[28] and during the Persian campaigns; by 642–643, when it was conquered by the Muslim Arabs and partially destroyed, it had dwindled to an insignificant village among magnificent historic ruins.

[32] In the early 1930s, the revolt was over and the Italians—under governor Italo Balbo—started attempts to assimilate the local population with pacifying policies: a number of new villages for Cyrenaicans were created with health services and schools.

During the fateful Battle of El Alamein–106 kilometres (66 miles) from Alexandria, Egypt–British troops led by general Bernard Montgomery again defeated the Afrika Corps which then made a long steady retreat westward passing through Benghazi for the final time.

Heavily bombed in World War II, Benghazi was later rebuilt with the country's newly found oil wealth as a gleaming showpiece of modern Libya.

Benghazi lost its capital status when the Free Officers under the leadership of Muammar Gaddafi staged a coup d'état in 1969, whereafter all government institutions were concentrated in Tripoli, Even though King Idris was forced into exile and the monarchy abolished, support for the Senussi dynasty remained strong in Cyrenaica.

President Ronald Reagan justified the attacks by claiming Libya was responsible for terrorism directed at the United States, including the bombing of La Belle discothèque in West Berlin ten days before.

[16] By 24 February, a committee made up of lawyers, judges and respected local people had been formed in order to provide civic administration and public services within the city.

[16][42] From 26 February to 26 August, Benghazi was the temporary headquarters of the National Transitional Council which is led by the former justice minister, Mustafa Abdul Jalil, until Tripoli was liberated.

Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens, Foreign Service Information Management Officer (IMO) Sean Smith, and CIA contractors and former Navy SEALs Tyrone S. Woods and Glen Doherty were killed during a series of raids, commencing at nightfall and continuing into the next morning.

During the closing months of the battle, between late-2016 and mid-2017, much of the urban center in and around the remaining Shura Council pocket in the central coastal quarters of Suq Al-Hout and al-Sabri suffered heavy bombardment and war damage.

Wilayat Barqa militants reportedly fled Benghazi in early January, while the LNA's General Khalifa Haftar declared the city cleared of the Shura Council on 5 July 2017.

[48] Despite Haftar's declaration of the liberation of the city, dozens of gunmen remained fortified and besieged in Sidi Akribesh, according to sources close to military.

[50] On 23 October 2020, the 5+5 Joint Libyan Military Commission representing the LNA and the GNA reached a "permanent ceasefire agreement in all areas of Libya".

The agreement, effective immediately, required that all foreign fighters leave Libya within three months while a joint police force would patrol disputed areas.

The often conservative nature of Benghazi creates a strong sense of family life in the city; most teenagers and young adults live at home until they get married, though that is changing in recent years.

International schools include: Benghazi is one of the sub-regions of the area referred to as Cyrenaica, the others being the Jebel Akhdar and the coastal plain running east of Apollonia.

Cyrenaica is surrounded by desert on three sides, hence in ancient times the most accessible civilisation was to the North, across the Mediterranean, in Crete and Greece, only 400 kilometres (250 miles) away.

On Gamal Abdel Nasser Street is 23 July Park, another large green space which faces the Tibesti Hotel and borders the waterfront.

Food processing is based on local fish, imported goods, and the produce of irrigated coastal lowlands and the nearby Jabal al-Akdhar Mountains, including cereal, dates, olives, wool and meat.

The majority of tourists that visit Eastern Libya use Benghazi as a base for which to explore the Greek ruins in Cyrene or to make desert excursions south in Kufra.

Benghazi's air transport uses Benina International Airport; numerous daily flights leave for Tripoli and connections are also available to other African, Asian and European cities.

An efficiently designed system of roads, bridges and underpasses cover Benghazi, however traffic jams and poorly maintained streets are not uncommon.

In recent years, a rapid increase in car ownership has meant that traffic jams, lack of parking spaces and overcrowding are also not uncommon, especially on smaller streets.

Another prominent example of modern architecture in Benghazi is the Da'wah al-Islamiyah Building, which has a series of distinctive cubes piled in the shape of a pyramid.