An introduction to Leptis Magna in Libya

Alexander's presence in North Africa has been limited to Egypt, which in his days included Cyrene in modern Libya (see: Cyrene, founded by the Greeks). The king knew of the Phoenician colonies and Carthage further west, but they were not part of his plan then. 

My visit to Libya happened later, too, because the impressive ruins of Leptis Magna are far too Roman to fit into my Alexander picture. 

However, the opportunity to travel to Libya arose just before the outbreak of the Arab Spring. With hindsight, I've never been so lucky! Not only because of the timing of my visit but also because it was here at Leptis Magna that I really understood what the grandeur of Rome meant. It is an impression that the ruins of Rome itself cannot give us. 

Leptis Magna or Lepcis Magna is located on the coast of the Mediterranean, 120 km east of Tripoli. It was founded by the Carthaginians around the 7^th century BC at the mouth of the Wadi Lebda and at the end of the caravan route from the Sahara. Grain and olive oil were the primary export product, but wild animals from the hinterland were also traded and shipped. 

Carthage was involved in successive fights over the fertile lands of Sicily, facing the locals and the growing power of Rome. Carthage and Rome fought each other during the three Punic Wars, which ended with the total destruction of Carthage by the Romans in 146 BC.   

Thanks to the generosity of the local merchants, Leptis Magna already had numerous public buildings from the time of Augustus and Tiberius (first century AD).  

By the end of the second century, many Africans held high positions in Rome, and it is said that 15% of the Roman senators came from North Africa. Emperor Septimius Severus, who ruled from 193 to 211 AD, was born in Leptis Magna, and he wanted to build a city of imperial allure, a second Rome. 

He was an avid traveler and had visited every corner of his realm, casually crushing a rebellion here and conquering more land there. He spent the winter of 202-203 here in Leptis Magna. Septimius Severus had become wealthy from the goods he had confiscated from his enemies and could afford to undertake major construction projects. The best architects and sculptors of the time were brought here to build a new forum and a huge temple dedicated to the gods protecting the city. The harbor was expanded, the water supply was improved, and a richly decorated Triumphal Arch put Leptis Magna on the map. He brought peace and prosperity; the city counted at least 60 to 80,000 inhabitants in his heyday. Septimius Severus could afford some eccentricity because the population was on his side since he had granted them the ius italicum, an exemption from local taxes.

Despite all the prestige, Leptis Magna's days were numbered. The opulence of its people did not sit well with the Roman aristocracy and created a lot of envy. As a result,  most of the African property was confiscated, and soon decline set in. 

The city was seriously damaged by the earthquake of 262 AD. Emperor Diocletian ( see: Price list established by Emperor Diocletian) tried to restore order in the 3rd century by promoting Leptis Magna to the capital of the Province of Tripolitania. Yet, another devastating earthquake ravaged the city in 306 AD. 

With the Fall of the Roman Empire, Tripolitania remained part of the Western Roman Empire, i.e., under Rome's control, while the Cyrenaica was added to the Eastern Empire, i.e., Constantinople. By that time, the harbor of Leptis Magna silted up, and the Vandals moved from Rome to settle in the area. This definitely sealed the fate of the city. 

The Byzantine Empire took over and constructed the city wall, and many large buildings were converted into churches. After the Arab invasion in the 7th/8th century, Leptis Magna was still inhabited. Sadly, the grand city never reached its heyday from the 2nd and 3rd century AD. After the 11th century, Leptis Magna was abandoned and gradually disappeared into the sand. 

However, the magic lived on, and from the 17^th century onward, columns from Leptis Magna found their way to Europe. Versailles was a destination, together with the church of St-Germain-des-Prés in Paris. The Temple of the Gods, built in Windsor Great Park in 1826, has nine columns from Leptis Magna. 

In the 1920s and 1930s, Italian archaeologists excavated the site extensively, and the most beautiful artifacts were transferred to the Museum in Tripoli. Sadly, more recent diggings are at a standstill because of the political instability in Libya.

[Continue reading Leptis Magna or what Rome must have looked like - Part I]

Lawlessness is damaging ancient Cyrene

It seems that nowadays, only a handful of tourists wander around the imposing ruins of Cyrene in eastern Libya. I honestly envy them, having the site all to themselves. However, when I visited this landmark before the outbreak of the Arab Spring, I was not bothered by many visitors either (see: Cyrene, founded by the Greeks). 

However, these were still the days of Muammar Gadaffi, and the country knew at least some structure and form of control. Soon after the Revolution, everybody made his own laws, and even today, there is no firm government in place to reinforce law and order. This was and is the case all over Libya, with its rich Roman heritage in western Tripolitania with cities like Sabratha, Oea (Tripoli), and Leptis Magna, and in eastern Cyrenaica, where the main town is Cyrene. 

Basically, Libya still has laws in place to protect its ancient heritage, but in today’s political situation, they have little or no effect. Besides, the fines and prison sentences are minimal and don’t refrain anyone from trying. 

The heart of ancient Cyrene, excavated mainly by the Italians under Mussolini, is fenced off to mark the protected area. However, as always, the old town spreads further outside these borders where it is complicated, even under the best of circumstances, to protect the ruins. 

The residents of nearby modern Shahat are taking matters into their own hands and have decided to take possession of these border lands that the state holds in trust. Some areas are being invaded by treasure and fortune-seekers who intend to sell the looted artifacts abroad. They don’t hesitate to use bulldozers to dig up whatever they can and divide the booty among them. Other parcels are simply seized and sold to the property developers who build their housing blocks right on top of these priceless remains. It is estimated that at least 30% of the ancient city has been built upon! 

Nobody has any idea of the extent of damage and of the number of artifacts that disappeared forever. In this unstable war and peace situation, it is understandable that people have more important worries than protecting their heritage. They feel this is their land and are free to exploit it in any way they wish. As an example, Shahat with its 50,000 inhabitants, experiences a pressing need for housing, which takes priority over everything else. 

Besides the unofficial digs and to make the situation worse, there is a severe disfiguration of the ancient buildings with graffiti. The problem is the same everywhere (see: Still hope, though scant, for Libya’s cultural heritage). Museums can somehow protect their treasures, but not the many archaeological sites still holding so many hidden gems.

The Tripolitania

Even today, Libya is generally torn between the area around Tripoli in the west and Benghazi in the east. That division goes back far into antiquity when the Cyrenaica, with the capital Cyrene, belonged to Egypt, its eastern neighbor. This was the situation when Alexander received the delegation from Cyrene while he was on his way to Siwah. 

After the king died in 323 BC, Cyrene and Cyrenaica, fell to the Ptolemies. It was only in 96 BC that the Romans incorporated it into the Province of Crete and Cyrene. The history of Cyrene and Cyrenaica was treated in my earlier blog, Picking up Alexander’s traces in Cyrene. 

The situation in Tripolitania was entirely different. In the 10th century BC, Sabratha was founded by the Phoenicians, together with Oea (Tripoli) and Leptis Magna. It soon became a Punic settlement. The power of Rome was on the rise and clashed with these people. Several wars known as the Punic Wars were fought in 264-241 BC, 218-202 BC, and 149-146 BC. In 146 BC, Tripolitania became a Roman province with Leptis Magna as its new capital and the major port.

In the first century BC, Sabratha seems to have followed Greek culture. A severe earthquake created the ideal opportunity to rebuild the city following the Hippodamian plan. Roman architects had their chance after the earthquakes of 65 and 70 AD. They rebuilt the city on a grand scale, destroying much of the Punic and even Greek remains. By the late 2nd century AD, the spectacular theater was constructed, offering seating to 5,000 spectators, and many monuments were lavishly decorated with statues and fine marble. Unique are the many private houses that arose along the Mediterranean coastline.

Leptis Magna was the second Roman port in Africa, and although its wealth is beyond imagination, only a few private villas have been found. The Phoenicians founded the city that became famous under Emperor Septimius Severus, his hometown. By 193 AD, Leptis Magna was the third-largest city in Africa after Carthage and Alexandria. In those days, many Africans occupied high positions in Rome. It is said that 15% of the Roman senators came from this region and several emperors, among which Septimius Severus was best known. He conquered the new province of Numidia for Rome. It included western Tunisia and eastern Algeria. The Regio Tripolitania was created during his reign to underscore the power of cities like Sabratha, Tripoli, and Leptis Magna. Walking among the remains of this grand city, I realize for the first time what Rome must have looked like in its heyday. I never had that feeling in Rome, but I certainly did walking around in Leptis Magna.

Tripoli, today’s capital of Libya, has few remains of what once was Oea, founded in the 7th century BC by Greeks from Thera (Santorini). The city was shortly ruled by Cyrenaica but was then taken over by Carthage. Like its neighbors, Oea was conquered by the Romans. It is tough to find any remains of Oea in Tripoli because the city has been continuously inhabited. This means that the modern city stands on top of Oea. The contemporary city has been built over the rare remaining old monuments and walls. If not, the stones have been quarried and reused as construction material elsewhere.

At least one monument testifies to Roman occupation: the Arch of Marcus Aurelius from the 2nd century AD. It stood at the very center of the city, but today it looks lost in a narrow park-like square. 

The death blow of Tripolitania came in the 4th century when a series of earthquakes occurred successively in 306, 310, and 365 AD. Some of the heavily damaged temples and official buildings were patched up to no avail. Slowly the proud cities of Tripolitania sank into oblivion and were resuscitated only in the 1930s. The Italians wanted to build a second Roman Empire and engaged in excavations all along the North African coastline. Those are the remains we can see today.

Sabratha, an old Phoenician colony in North Africa

Since the toppling and execution of Muammar Gaddafi, Libya has been left in turmoil. The centralized government he had put into place has totally collapsed, and the country has fallen apart. The old Tripolitania in the west, with cities like Oea (Tripoli), Leptis Magna, and Sabratha, is separated from the Cyrenaica in the east around the modern city of Benghazi and old Cyrene. The deserts to the south have become a no man's land where smugglers, militias, and armed groups of all kinds roam and rule freely.

There is no room for archaeologists who fear the worst as the more than two thousand years old sites are the scene of armed conflicts or otherwise fall victim to urban expansion. Armed groups often gather inside archaeological sites from where they organize their attacks.

For decennia, the conservation and restoration of the antique sites were entrusted to Western experts and archaeologists, but the political and practical insecurity has kept them away. Recently, a Spanish archaeological mission visited Sabratha and reached an agreement to restore the site. Pending due security measures, however, their good intentions cannot materialize (see: Still hope, though scant, for Libya’s heritage). 

Meanwhile, looting is still occurring on a large scale. Taking advantage of the lack of security, smugglers have no difficulty collecting archaeological treasures (see: Cyrene and other Lybian sites defaced and left for grabs). Occasionally, some of these artworks are seized, but there is no overview of the looting. The fact that Sabratha has become the departure point for illegal migrants from Africa is not helping either.

All museums have closed, including the major one in Tripoli. Some of the most precious artifacts have been stored in safe locations, but that will never be enough to truly safeguard the vast and varied amount of artwork.

I have found no particular information about the situation at the Museum of Sabratha, which holds a rare collection of mosaics and frescoes.

One of the most striking mosaics is the Triumph of Bacchus which displays three inserted medallions. It appears that these medallions were created by specialized craftsmen in Alexandria who were famous for using tiny tesserae. Looking closely, one can easily notice the difference in size and style between the overall mosaic and the inserts. The top medallion shows Bacchus standing on a chariot that is pulled by two panthers. The central medallion contains a rather aggressive lion head, and the bottom one is a carefully executed panther head. 

Another remarkable piece of the museum is the sizeable mosaic retrieved from the Basilica of Justinian, which must have been exceptionally large. The work of art is filled with Byzantine-Christian symbolism, such as the vine surrounding an ostentatious peacock (representing immortality) and the bird in a cage (the human soul trapped in his body). The phoenix, in turn, stands for the resurrection. The mosaics that once covered the floor of the side naves of the Basilica are hung from the walls.

The frescoes, although rather small, are very well executed and very lively. Most of these pieces were recovered from the House of Leda.

The importance and significance of Sabratha deserve to be underscored. Few people realize that as early as the 10th century BC, Phoenicians from Lebanon founded three trading posts on the shores of North Africa. In time, these became known as the Tripolitania. It was the Greeks who founded the first colonies in the Cyrenaica in the 8th century BC, including cities like Cyrene (see: Picking up Alexander’s traces in Cyrene). After the death of Alexander, this area was ruled by the Ptolemies as the Cyrenaica was part of Egypt.

Click here to see all the pictures of Sabratha