Roman North Africa is one of the richest sources of architectural remains from the empire. This good fortune is largely because of to the climate, the subsequent political history of the region, and the fact that some centers, such as Leptis (or Lepcis) Magna and Sabratha, were abandoned fairly early and were soon covered over with sand. The architectural ruins of Leptis Magna reflect the once-flourishing city's history under Roman domination and fall into two general periods--those of Augustan Rome and of Septimius Severus. The contrasts between the remains of the older part of the city and the unusual monumental quarter built by Septimius tell the viewer a great deal about the history of imperial architecture in the provinces.
The city of Leptis Magna was, with Sabratha and Oea (now Tripoli), one of the three towns that made up Tripolitania in what is now Libya. Leptis Magna, a semi-autonomous city, had dominion over Sabratha and Oea but paid a city-tax to Carthage, the principal Phoenician city in North Africa. After Carthage was destroyed by Rome in the Third Punic War (146 BC), Leptis Magna came under Roman protection as part of Numidia. In 46 BC, Julius Caesar incorporated the triple cities into Africa Nova, and then Augustus made them part of the Province of Greater Africa in 23 BC. From this point, the city flourished even more than it had under Carthage, and, by the reign of Septimius Severus (r. 193-211 AD), who had been born in Leptis Magna, it became one of the great wealthy provincial centers. In 203, Septimius granted Leptis Magna, and the rebuilt Carthage, "the ius Italicum, or immunity from provincial taxation" and initiated his splendid building program (Wells 262).
Leptis Magna stood at the end of the trading routes that crossed the Sahara and controlled a vast trade in gold, carbuncles, ivory, slaves, and the wild animals used in amphitheaters throughout the empire. Agricultural exports were the sec...