Simon of Cyrene

Simon of Cyrene /saɪˈriːni/ (Hebrew: שמעון‎‎ "Hearkening; listening", Standard Hebrew Šimʿon, Tiberian Hebrew Šimʿôn; Greek: Σίμων Κυρηναῖος, Simōn Kyrēnaios) was the man compelled by the Romans to carry the cross of Jesus as Jesus was taken to his crucifixion, according to all three Synoptic Gospels.

His home town, Cyrene, in today's Libya, is located in northern Africa. Cyrene, a Greek colony, had a Jewish community where 100,000 Judean Jews had been forced to settle during the reign of Ptolemy Soter (323–285 BC) and was an early center of Christianity.

Cyrene was supposedly the destination of many "Sicari" (lit. dagger men) who fled the Roman legions at the time of the Jewish Revolt. This was later to precipitate further Jewish insurrection in the area in the reign of Hadrian and Trajan. The Cyrenian Jews had a synagogue in Jerusalem, where many went for annual feasts.

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