-like layout of the rest of the Roman city. At Leptis Magna, the forum is obliquely aligned on one side, undoubtedly because of preexisting Punic buildings, and the shape would be a square if the angle were eliminated. But, in other respects, the Old Forum (to distinguish it from the later Severan forum) featured a transversely-placed basilica and three temples at the opposite end, the most prominent of which was the Temple of Rome and Augustus. At later dates, three more temples were added along the opposite side of the forum--the last of these being built in 153 AD.
The Old Forum is a good example of the unity that the Romans were able to achieve in their provincial towns even when, as at Leptis Magna, the building took place over 150 years. The Romans stuck to the same general plan and were consistent in the materials they used. There were also very few traces of indigenous building styles or materials. The soft sandstone that had been the principal building material prior to the arrival of the Romans was used in the oldest of the temples on
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