Ancient Roman Ruins in Libya Hold Great Potential (Leptis Magna)

Africa News ^ | 9/27

[nickcarraway]

Founded by the Phoenicians and later conquered by the Romans, the ancient city of Leptis Magna in Lybia is often described as the "Rome of Africa".

UNESCO classified these ancient ruins as a World Heritage Site.

In 2016, this site along with four others were placed on the list of endangered sites.

For the head of the Leptis Magna Control Committee, neglect is the greatest enemy.

"The threats that this city faces are indirect. Such threats come in different forms such as the lack of supplies, which never existed in the first place, the fact that archaeological missions have been interrupted, the lack of means and support from the government, virtually non-existent", says Ezzedin Ahmed Fagi.

This ancient city, built on a site of about 50 hectares, is "a must for tourists"

[nickcarraway]

[EvilCapitalist]

I’m surprised the muslims haven’t dynamited these ruins.

[nickcarraway]

SunkenCiv

[nickcarraway]

I think they don’t have as many of those type of Muslims in Libya. Plus, Libyans are proud of their ancient past.

[Repeal The 17th]

...”a must for tourists”...
-
Yeah, who wants to go for a vacay to Libya?

[rfreedom4u]

Great potential for what? Reestablishing the Roman Empire?

[fidelis]

Wow. Beautiful architecture. This must have been one impressive city!

[EvilCapitalist]

There were those two women from Scandinavia who went to Morocco and were beheaded. Never think there isn’t someone stupid enough.

[Jamestown1630]

It seems that nobody builds anything really beautiful anymore.

[fidelis]

Leptis or Lepcis Magna, also known by other names in antiquity, was a prominent city of the Carthaginian Empire and Roman Libya at the mouth of the Wadi Lebda in the Mediterranean. Originally a 7th-century BC Phoenician foundation, it was greatly expanded under Roman Emperor Septimius Severus, who was born in the city. The 3rd Augustan Legion was stationed here to defend the city against Berber incursions. After the legion's dissolution under Gordian III in 238, the city was increasingly open to raids in the later part of the 3rd century. Diocletian reinstated the city as provincial capital, and it grew again in prosperity until it fell to the Vandals in 439. It was reincorporated into the Eastern Empire in 533 but continued to be plagued by Berber raids and never recovered its former importance. It fell to the Muslim invasion in c. 647 and was subsequently abandoned. Its ruins are within present-day Khoms, Libya, 130 km east of Tripoli.

Wikipedia

[Carriage Hill]

Obummer’s muslim(SPIT!) presidential temple in ChiCongo will be magnificent. Heh.

[Jamestown1630]

Please! Don’t encourage him to do Greek columns again.

[Veto!]

My daughter went to Libya, stayed almost a year. Found the people pleasant and even pro-American. But Syria, just to the east, was and remains a disaster area.

[Carriage Hill]

LMAO!
His plans are already on display and ready to build, after the zoning hearings.

https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3998762/posts?page=11#11

[Tennessee Nana]

PING

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks Tennessee Nana.

• Italians Discover Hoard Of Roman Statues (Libya) [06/11/2005]

[bravo whiskey]

I think you mean Lebanon. Just to the east of Libya is Egypt.

[Veto!]

My bad. She went to Tunisia. Speaks a little Arabic, enough to get around. Does not want to ever go back.

[SunkenCiv]

Buried for a millennium, Leptis Magna rose again to tell a bigger story than ruins. This film follows the digs that revealed an African Rome built by Septimius Severus. 

From Antonino di Vita uncovering a 15,000-seat amphitheatre to the restoration of the Arch of Septimius Severus, we trace a city where Latin, Punic and Greek met. See a marketplace calibrated in Punic cubits and Roman feet, Nemesis guarding gladiators, and letters from the Geriat frontier. Why did a glittering port choke with sand so fast? Was it an earthquake or a bankrupt city’s neglect? Politics intrudes too: Mussolini’s rush to claim Libya through archaeology, Berlusconi returning the Venus of Cyrene, and new 3D scans racing against leaks, vandalism and collapsing mosaics. 

Step inside the questions archaeologists still can’t fully answer and the clues they’re chasing across deserts, villas and churches reborn from pagan stones. Watch to discover what made Leptis thrive, why it fell, and how its future may be written in pixels as much as in marble. 

Leptis Magna: The Largest Roman Megacity Buried In The Desert | 52:13 
Odyssey - Ancient History Documentaries | 1.06M subscribers | 72,076 views | October 23, 2026