Is Leptis Magna the Most Beautiful Roman City?

UNESCO describes Leptis Magna as “one of the most beautiful cities of the Roman Empire”. The ruins of the city, about 70 miles east of Tripoli on Libya's Mediterranean coast, were declared a World Heritage Site in 1982. In the past decade more discoveries have been made at the site – including some of the most impressive artistic Roman mosaics to have been found anywhere in the empire. A team of archaeologists from the University of Hamburg were excavating along the Libyan coast just outside the ruins of Leptis in 2000, when they unearthed five large mosaics from the floor of a villa. They represent scenes of gladiators fighting each other, animals and one victorious gladiator resting after a battle while his opponent lies dead in front of him.

The find was initially kept secret to prevent looters but was eventually made public in 2005. At the time, one archaeologist who specialises in Roman art, Dr Mark Merrony, editor of Minerva magazine, described the mosaics as “absolutely extraordinary”. He told The Times : “I have examined hundreds of mosaics across the Roman Empire, but I have never seen such a vibrantly realistic depiction of a human.” The mosaics are now on display at the Leptis Magna museum.

So Leptis Magna - one of North Africa's best preserved Roman cities and a favourite of travel author Ethel Davies - is still full of surprises and continues to amaze those who venture there. It is extremely well preserved and the remains of many buildings are still visible (partially thanks to reconstruction work by Italian archaeologists in the early 20th century). Thanks to its preservation, it is one of the main tourist attractions in Libya and the buildings within Leptis include several monumental arches to various emperors (Vespasian, Trajan and Severus), pagan temples, two public baths and latrines, a Severan basilica (later a church), a theatre, gymnasium, amphitheatre, chariot racing tracks, two forums, a marketplace, a harbour and a lighthouse. There are also the private houses of the rich, highly decorated with mosaics – such as the villa near Wadi Lebda where the gladiatorial mosaics were found.

The Rise of Leptis Magna

So how did this African town rise to become one of the Roman empire's grandest cities? It was at times a strategic city for several reasons – throughout the empire it was the centre of the region's agricultural trade, which sent vast quantities of olive oil and grain back to Rome each year. Leptis Magna also played an important role in keeping stability within Tripolitania – which it turned out was also important to stability in Rome itself, as became apparent during the year of the four emperors in 69 AD.

Originally founded as Phoenician coastal trading posts, the cities of Leptis Magna, Oea (now Tripoli) and Sabratha came under Roman rule following the sack of Carthage in 146 BC. The whole of northern Africa became important to Rome for its agriculture – grains and olive oil were produced in vast quantities and shipped to the Italian peninsular. In his book Forgotten Africa: an introduction to its archaeology, the author Graham Connah writes: “Clearly, Leptis Magna and its two neighbouring cities were wealthy. Apparently they became so on the basis of highly successful agriculture, much of the produce of which was exported to Rome and other cities in the empire.”

Leptis also connected the Berbers of the Saharan interior with the rest of the Mediterranean where they were able to sell gold and ivory. Later it exported wild animals (hippos, lions, giraffes and zebras) to Rome for shows in the amphitheatres. It also traded with Arsinoe and Alexandria.

The Emperors That Shaped the City: The Julio-Claudians

During the reign of Augustus, Leptis Magna became increasingly Romanized and prospered. Augustus realised that if the provinces were allowed to do well, then Rome would benefit. He sent the III Augusta Legion to stabilise and keep peace in the province, which had become an important exporter to Rome. New houses and public buildings were built, as well as roads, paved streets and public areas. Trade with the rest of the empire increased.

According to the Web site livius.org, the earliest Latin inscription in Leptis dates from 8 BC and commemorates a certain Annobal Tapapius Rufus – the man responsible for building one of the city's marketplaces. Other structures built during the time of Augustus include the Chalcidicum (a porticoed building opening out onto the forum), a new temple and a new pavement for the marketplace. The temples were dedicated to Shadrapa (Dionysius) and Melk'ashtart (Hercules).

During the reign of Tiberius, the III Augusta Legion had to fight off a revolt from a Berber leader, Tacfarinas, in 17 AD. They were helped by another legion led by Scipio and a monument to Scipio was built at Leptis. The arch of Tiberius was erected during this period.

Claudius brought a rise in the number of Lepcitarians (native inhabitants of Leptis Magna) claiming Roman citizenship and in around 57 AD, during the reign of Nero, the first amphitheatre in Leptis Magna was hewn from a disused quarry just outside the city.

Following Nero's death there was a power struggle not only in Rome – with Galba, Otho and Vitellius fighting for the leadership – but also in Africa. The provincial commander at Leptis Magna was a potential contender to Galba for the role of emperor but he was assassinated. His successor lacked decisive command and the inhabitants at Oea decided to attack Leptis Magna, together with another Berber tribe, the Garamantes. The assault was eventually put down and many Garamantes were put to death in the amphitheatre – this episode is shown in a mosaic at the Villa Dar Buc Ammera – a villa outside Leptis Magna with highly detailed mosaics, many of which are at the Archaeological Museum of Tripoli.

Vespasian, Trajan and Hadrian

During the reign of Vespasian, Egyptian and Eastern shrines began to appear at Leptis Magna, following the trend also seen in Rome (there was an Iseum on the Capitoline hill during the rule of Vespasian). These include a temple to the 'Great Mother' in the old forum and a shrine to the Egyptian god Serapis. An arch was built and dedicated to Vespasian and was later incorporated into the Byzantine wall as the main entrance to the city.

During the rule of Trajan, Leptis was given the status of colonia and all of the inhabitants were accorded Roman citizenship. An arch to Trajan was built in around 109 AD. During this period some opulent villas were built with impressive mosaics – suggesting that the city was growing. Marble started to be used on public buildings and the rule of Hadrian then saw the building of a vital aqueduct that supplied the city with water from a reservoir about 20km away, via underground aqueducts.

Severus: Child of Leptis

Lucius Septimius Severus is the most famous native Lepcitarian of Roman times. He was born there in 145 AD and became emperor in 193 AD. Married to Julia Domna and father to Caracalla and Geta, Severus himself came from an influential local family but made a name and a career for himself in Rome. During his reign he conquered much of the desert region south of Leptis and increased security of the empire's borders in the region. In 201-202 AD, he brought some of the desert oases, including Ghadames, Bu Njem and Gheriat el-Garbia, under Roman control, building forts there to ensure that the Berbers were suppressed. This fortified border became known as the Limes Tripolitanus.

An arch was erected to Severus in around 200 AD. Apart from securing the empire's border south of Leptis, Severus also made other improvements to the city: he improved the aqueduct, made additions to the port and built a lighthouse, as well as making repairs to Hadrian's baths. He was also responsible for building a colonnaded street connecting the public baths with the port. Near this is the Severan basilica – which was converted into a church in the sixth century.

The Olive Oil Business

Although Caracalla built more public baths during 211-217 AD, urban development at Leptis slowed down considerably and few new buildings were erected in the third century. Although rich citizens continued to build their countryside villas, the only building work carried out in the centre of the city were repairs. This was symptomatic of the general decline of Roman cities throughout the empire during the third century AD – a reflection of the conflicts in the east and an economic crises that lasted for most of the century, until Diocletian introduced the tetrarchy in 293 AD.

During the reign of Constantine the Great (306-337 AD), the population of Leptis became increasingly Christian. The city suffered two natural disasters: an earthquake in either 306 or 310, then a tsunami in 365. However, Leptis survived and, largely thanks to the land that Severus had irrigated in the desert around the city, it was able to continue to prosper through its agricultural trade and by selling olive oil to the rest of the empire.

The city fell into terminal decline when the Vandals arrived in North Africa in the early fifth century. In 533 Justinian, emperor of the Byzantine empire, re-conquered Tripolitana but by this stage the city was already a shadow of its former self (the Sahara had already encroached on parts of it). The city was abandoned after the Arab conquest in 643 AD and this was mainly because there was no more demand around the Mediterranean for the city's olive oil.

Read or leave comments

About The Author

Bija Knowles (follow me: e-mail or )

Last three pieces by this author:

300 Looted Antiquities Displayed in the Colosseum | Hoard of 52,500 Roman Coins Discovered Near Frome by Metal Detectorist | Roman Villa Discovered Near Tewkesbury

Bija Knowles is a freelance journalist based outside Rome, Italy. She graduated in Italian and English Literature from the University of Birmingham, UK, and her main areas of interest are art, travel and history in Italy.