JOLEE-Power-Edition-2020

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Libya
Leptis Magna
By Susan Berger
New York / San Francisco / Hong Kong / London / Tokyo /
Rome / Toronto
One of the most beautiful cities in the Roman Empire, today Leptis Magna
contains some of its most complete and well-preserved ruins. Located 130
km from Tripoli, it began as a Phoenician colony in the 10th century BC,
ultimately becoming one of the Roman Empire’s most important cities after
being enlarged by Septimius Severus, who ultimately became emperor. As
Rome declined, Leptis Magna weakened. After being attacked by Vandals,
Berbers and Arabs, it was abandoned and forgotten in the 7th century AD,
covered by sand. Excavations began in the 1920s when the Libyan
Antiquities Service and Italian archeologists began studying and preserving
the site.
The first item seen when entering the ruins of the city is a gigantic arch
built in 203 AD in honor of Severus. The site contains 30 major
monuments including Hadrian’s baths, the Forum, a row of Medusa heads,
several basilicas, the port, temples, fountains, a marketplace and an
amphitheater seating 15,000 people, as well as shops and residential
districts. In 2005 a team uncovered a length of five colorful mosaics created
during the 1st or 2nd century which had decorated the walls of a pool in a
Roman villa.
The site is endangered due to several factors. Since 2011, when rebels
ended Colonel Gaddafi’s reign, the country has been mired in conflict.
Flooding has eroded many of the coastal buildings, and uncontrolled
growth of vegetation is taking over the ruins. A substantial number of the
600 marble columns from the colonnaded way and the Forum were
removed from the site and relocated to Windsor Castle, Versailles and
Saint-Germain-des-Pres in Paris, some thinned to fit French drawing
rooms. Many of the works of art uncovered at Leptis are on display the
nearby Leptis Magna Museum and at the Archeological Museum of Tripoli.
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