Arch of Septimius Severus and other Leptis Magna, Libya Things to Do Tips

Arch of Septimius Severus

The Triumphal Arch of Septimius Severus is the first monument you see when you enter Leptis Magna and that is as it should be, because the arch was built in 203 AD to greet the return of the greatest son of the city, the man who had been Emperor of the Roman Empire since 193 AD and the man responsible for turning his hometown into one of the grandest cities in the classical world, Lucius Septimius Severus.

The four-way arch is a magnificent structure built of limestone. It consists of four pillars supporting a domed roof. It is decorated with marble, corinthian columns and stone reliefs depicting scenes from the life of Septimius Severus. The centrepiece shows him shaking hands with his son, the next emperor, Caracalla.

The arch stands at the intersection of the city's two main roads, the Decumanus, which ran east-west through the city and connected Alexandria to Carthage, and the north-south axis, the Cardo Maximus.

This was not the only triumphal arch of Septimius Severus built in 203 AD. Another one was built in the Forum in Rome to celebrate his victory over the Parthians.

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Things To Do: Cardo Maximus

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Updated by iwys

on Nov 18, 2008

Cardo Maximus, Leptis Magna

The Cardo Maximus is the main north-south highway through Leptis Magna. It connected the coast to the interior villas and farms, which supplied the grain, olive oil and wine to the city and for export to Rome. Along it now you find the main entrance gate to the site, the Arch of Septimius Severus, the Arch of Trajan, the Arch of Tiberius, the Byzantine Gate and right at the northern end, the Old Forum.

Although Roman roads are usually straight, this one has a kink in it where a southerly extension was added on a new alignment. It is paved with limestone flagstones, which have been worn smooth by the thousands of feet that have trod them over the centuries.

In Roman cities, the Cardo was the centre of economic life, lined with shops and merchants' stalls: the equivalent of the modernday high street. It was also used for victory parades and celebrations.

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Things To Do: Hadrianic Baths

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Written by iwys

on Apr 6, 2007

by iwys

The building of this impressive Roman bath complex was commissioned by Emperor Hadrian in 126 AD. Some archaeologists believe they opened the following year, but the complex was developed over decades.

The arrival of both running water and marble in the early 2nd century AD meant that this complex of buildings could be the first in Leptis Magna to be built largely of marble and to make extensive use of piped hot and cold water. It was entered from an exercise area or palestra. On passing through the entrance, the first thing you see is the open air swimming pool, surrounded on three sides by porticos, paved with marble and mosaics and flanked by a pair of colonnaded halls, beyond which, on each side, was a latrine or forico, with marble seats.

Four doors from the swimming bath opened onto a corridor surrounding the cold room or frigidarium. The hall of the frigidarium measured 30m by 15m, was paved and panelled with marble and had a vaulted roof supported by eight cipolin columns. At each end of the hall arches opened onto cold plunge baths, surrounded by statues.

Other rooms are the apodyteria or changing rooms and cryptae or promenades.

Next comes the warm room or tepidarium,with a large central bath and two smaller baths at the side. The tepidarium is flanked by sweat rooms or laconica. Beyond the tepidarium is the calidarium or hot room. Finally, at the back, there are the basins for rinsing.

Each part of the complex is clearly signposted in English.

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Things To Do: Theatre

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Updated by iwys

on Apr 7, 2007

by iwys , 1 more photos

The Roman theatre at Leptis Magna is one of the oldest stone theatres in the world. It was built of limestone blocks in 1-2 AD and the columns at the back of the stage were added in 144 AD. The pulpitium or stage was decorated with statues and sculptures of gods and emperors. Only two of these remain: one of Hercules and one of Liber Pater. An inscription at the main entrance indicates that the theatre was originally paid for by a local citizen called Hannobal Rufus.

The theatre is 88.5 m in diameter. The curved rows of the cavea or seating area are still in excellent condition. The seating is divided into wedges by steps which lead up and down from the walk-way. High up at the rear of the auditorium were a colonnade and some small temples, icluding one dedicated to Ceres in 36 AD and another to the Di Augusti, or deified emperors, in 43 AD . There are 8,000 seats and from the upper rows there are beautiful views of the whole theatre and the Mediterranean Sea beyond.

Roman plays typically lasted two hours. Popular playwrights included Plautus and Seneca. The plays were sometimes about war but often comedies with mistaken identity between gods and humans being a common theme. The actors were dressed in a long robe called a chiton. For roles playing old men, actors wore white robes and grey wigs, for young male roles they wore purple robes and black wigs while yellow robes were for females. Audiences were usually rude and loud, often jeering the actors.

During reconstruction work, Phoenician tombs were discovered under the stage area, which indicated that the theatre stands on the site of a Punic necropolis dating back to the 3rd to 5th centuries BC.

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Things To Do: Nymphaeum

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Written by iwys

on Apr 7, 2007

by iwys , 2 more photos

The Nymphaeum at Leptis Magna is one of the best-preserved I have seen. Built in the early 3rd cenury AD, it stands two stories high and is decorated with pink granite and cipolin columns. A nymphaeum was a Roman temple consecrated to water nymphs. The building was designed to replicate a water-filled grotto, the habitat of the water nymphs. It was a partially-covered rotunda filled with plants and flowers, sculptures, ornamental fountains and paintings. The nymphaeum served as both a sanctuary and a reservoir. It was also used for wedding ceremonies.

It stands in Wadi Lebda and, like most nymphaea, was originally built around a natural spring. When this dried up, water was supplied, as it was to the neighbouring Hadrianic Baths, by aqueduct.

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Things To Do: Market

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Written by iwys

on Apr 7, 2007

by iwys , 3 more photos

The market is one of the most fascinating parts of Leptis Magna, because many of the original structures, including serving counters and measuring blocks, remain.

The most significant of these structures are two octagonal tholoi or serving kiosks. Each one is 20 m in diameter and surrounded by serving hatches from which goods were sold. One of these halls was for fruit and vegetables while the other was for textiles.

The market dates back to 9-8 BC. Its construction was paid for by a wealthy local citizen, Hannobal Rufus, who ten years later also funded the building the city's theatre. The marble columns and decorated facades were added around 200 AD, during the reign of Septimius Severus.

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Things To Do: Severan Forum

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Written by iwys

on Apr 7, 2007

The new Forum, built in the 2nd century AD during the reign of Septimius Severus, measures 100m by 60 m, that is a similar area to a football pitch. The floor was completely covered with marble. It was surrounded by colonnnaded porticoes, with arches above them. Looking in at the Forum, from between the arches, there were hundreds of marble heads of Medusa, the goddess Victory and various nymphs.

At the south-western end of the square is a stone staircase, which led up to a temple dedicated to the imperial Severan family. The Forum was a public meeting-place, where judicial and civic business could be discussed. It was also the site of the city's main civic offices, where public libraries and records were kept.

Today the massive forum, which was once the heart of the city, is a strewn with a jumbled mass of fallen masonry and columns.

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Things To Do: Severan Basilica

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Written by iwys

on Apr 7, 2007

by iwys , 2 more photos

Possibly the grandest of all the buildings in Leptis Magna is the Severan Basilica. It measures 90m by 40m and had a wooden roof over 30 m high. This was supported by the pink granite colonnades which flank the inner walls of the basilica. The whole structure resembles a vast cathedral, which it later became, but its original function was to be the city's courts of justice. The apse was where the presiding town magistrate or judge sat.

The basilica was started by Septimius Severus but completed by his son, Emperor Caracalla in 216 AD. It was converted into a Roman Catholic cathedral by Justinian in the 6th century AD, and an altar was placed in the apse.

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Things To Do: Old Forum

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Written by iwys

on Apr 13, 2007

by iwys , 2 more photos

The Old Forum, at the coastal end of the Cardo Maximus, was the original city centre, dating back to the 7th century BC, although most of what remains today was built in 2 AD. It is, like the newer Severan Forum, which replaced it, a large paved square, surrounded by public buildings, including the Civil Basilica, Curia or Senate House and the Temples of Trajan, Hercules and Liber Pater. On two sides it is flanked by the Byzantine wall.

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Things To Do: Amphitheatre

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Written by iwys

on Apr 13, 2007