A trip to Leptis Magna

After a much needed doing nothing Friday, on Saturday, Mounir ( a Moroccan Colleague) and I headed to the famous Roman City of Leptis Magna about 120Km east of Tripoli.

The arch of Septimus Severus

Leptis Magna is one of the finest Roman cities in the Mediterranean and one of the few sites where one can vividly picture a living city. It is also known for being the greatest Roman city in Africa. Leptis was constructed of sturdy limestone that left it more resistant to earthquakes and the ravages of time. This city is a testament to extravagance with abundant examples of lavish decoration, grand buildings of monumental stature, indulgent bath complexes and forums of entertainment at the center or public life. It must have been a great place to live.

Mounir and I posing by the Arch

The arch of Septimus Severus built in 203AD to commemorate the visit of the Emperor and his family. The core of this arch is built in limestone, and covered in beautifully sculptured marble.

The first place we visited were the Hadrianic Baths. In front of the baths one can find the 'palestra' - translated into English meaning gym.... an open air swimming pool, cold baths, warm baths and hot baths.

The most uncomfortable toilets I've ever seen

One can also find the still whole latrines..... can you imagine a massive room with men sitting on these things one next to the other and having a chat about this and that, or reading their newspaper?!? Can you imagine sitting on marble in the middle of winter while relieving yourself... ah torture!

Empress Thea addressing the people...

We then headed off to the Severan Forum. The open-air Severan Forum measured 100m by60m and its floor was covered with marble. Ancient remnants of former glories are still strewn around the courtyard. It's easy to picture the forum in its heyday.

Marbles heads of sea nymphs... note the heart-shaped eyes, the necklaces of serpents and eyebrows of fish fins....

Finally we headed off to the Amphitheatre. I could have sat there for ever. It is majestic, with its large marble pillars and view of the Mediterranean on the horizon... a good book and nobody would have been able to tempt me into moving me from there.

This place once held 16,000 people and was hollowed out of a hill. The entertainment on offer in Roman amphitheatres was nothing like the Shakespeare plays or a Lloyd Webber Musical we'd see in modern day theatres.... a typical program consisted of people hunting rabbits and small rodents in the arena in the morning, followed by shackled criminals being left to the mercies of the lions.