Leptis Magna in Libya

Leptis Magna is reputed to have the best preserved Greek and Roman architecture of the world. It is supposed to contain the most complete Roman ruins in the whole of North Africa.

Leptis Magna is an ancient city standing on the Mediterranean coast. It's just one hour's drive from the Libyan capital, Tripoli. Tripoli means "three cities" and derives that name from the three small communities founded by the Phoenicians, which were subsequently urbanized by the Romans, and what we know now as north-western Libya. The three comprise of: Sabratha, to the west of Tripoli, Oea, on the site of the present capital, and the third one being Leptis Magna to the east.

This city, established in 1100 BC by the Phoenicians, attained the heights of its affluence towards the end of the second century AD, with Lucius Septimus Severus, a native son of the soil, becoming the 21st Roman emperor.

The port came as a gift from Septimius Severus. Born in Leptis in 145AD, this local boy made so good that he became an emperor, the only African to have reached that level. (While on the subject, he died in York.) Leptis, by now rich from olive oil, greatly prospered further from his benefaction, a relationship celebrated in the triumphal arch.

The arch is still there, almost intact. You can see its obsequious marble fresco in the National Museum. Like many other colossal buildings, it has been rendered to its present state initially by the desert and much later by the Italians. Shattered by earthquakes, Leptis lay buried in sand till the 1920s, when the Italians excavated and meticulously restored it during their colonization of Libya.

As of date, just about 35 per cent of Leptis Magna has been excavated, and one can still see much of the city remains fairly intact. Highlights comprise the expansive forum, the Hadrianic baths and the imposing harbor, which to some extent is now sunken in the sea. Hadrianic baths are still stirring, with one of the pools of the size of 28X15 meters, remaining in one piece. This was one of the largest bath houses to be ever built outside of Rome.

The biggest attraction is the splendid amphitheatre, constructed on the outer edge of the city to facilitate the crowds travelling from different parts of the town for watching a spectacle. It had the capacity to accommodate 16 ' 000 spectators. Here, you can still witness the wild animal traps intact, while the acoustics of the stadium amplify the roar of the sea.