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Leptis or Lepcis Magna, (Arabic: لبدة الكبرى, romanized: Libda al-Kubrā) 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.

Established as a Punic settlement prior to 500 BC, the city experienced significant expansion under Roman Emperor Septimius Severus (r. 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.

This name was hellenized as Léptis (Ancient Greek: Λέπτις), also known as Léptis Megálē (Λέπτις μεγάλη, "Greater Leptis") distinguishing it from the "Lesser Leptis" closer to Carthage in modern-day Tunisia. The latinization of these names was Lepcis or Leptis Magna ("Greater Leptis"), which also appeared as the "Leptimagnese City" (Latin: Leptimagnensis Civitas).

During the reign of Augustus, Leptis Magna was classified as a civitas libera et immunis, or a free community, over which the governor had an absolute minimum of control. Leptis Magna remained as such until the reign of the Roman emperor Tiberius, when the city and the surrounding area were formally incorporated into the empire as part of the province of Africa. His grandfather was a prominent local magistrate in Leptis Magna, which was elevated to colony status under Emperor Trajan.

In 439, Leptis Magna and the rest of the cities of Tripolitania fell under the control of the Vandals when their king, Gaiseric, captured Carthage from the Romans and made it his capital. Unfortunately for the future of Leptis Magna, Gaiseric ordered the city's walls demolished so as to dissuade its people from rebelling against Vandal rule.

Belisarius, general of Emperor Justinian I, recaptured Leptis Magna in the name of the Roman Empire ten years later, and in 533–4 it was re-incorporated into the empire.

During the decade 565–578 AD, Christian missionaries from Leptis Magna even began to move once more among the Berber tribes as far south as the Fezzan in the Libyan desert and converted the Garamantes.

Today, the site of Leptis Magna is the site of some of the most well preserved ruins of the Roman period. When Italians conquered Italian Libya in the early 20th century, they dedicated huge efforts to the rediscovery of Leptis Magna. One of the first buildings uncovered during Renato Bartoccini 1925-1926 excavation was the Arch of Septimius Severus at Leptis Magna. The mosaics decorated the walls of a cold plunge pool in a balneae within a Roman villa at Wadi Lebda in Leptis Magna. They are currently on display in the Leptis Magna Museum. There were reports that Leptis Magna was used as a cover for tanks and military vehicles by pro-Gaddafi forces during the First Libyan Civil War in 2011. Shortly after the war, Libyan archaeologist Hafed Walda reported that Leptis Magna, along with nearby Rasaimergib Fort and the western Tripolis of Sabratha, had "so far seen no visible loss" from either fighting on the ground or bombings conducted by international forces. In the midst of the Second Libyan Civil War and the disappearance of governmental and international support for the site, people living in the area organized to voluntarily protect and maintain Leptis Magna.

Since they are located on the coast, Leptis Magna ruins are vulnerable to sea level rise. Thus, it is a matter of time before the Leptis Magna ruins are threatened by rising water levels, unless they can be protected by adaptation efforts such as sea walls.

Quick Facts

• The latinization of these names was Lepcis or Leptis Magna ("Greater Leptis"), which also appeared as the "Leptimagnese City" (Latin: Leptimagnensis Civitas).
• Leptis Magna remained as such until the reign of the Roman emperor Tiberius, when the city and the surrounding area were formally incorporated into the empire as part of the province of Africa.
• Established as a Punic settlement prior to 500 BC, the city experienced significant expansion under Roman Emperor Septimius Severus (r.
• Belisarius, general of Emperor Justinian I, recaptured Leptis Magna in the name of the Roman Empire ten years later, and in 533–4 it was re-incorporated into the empire.
• Today, the site of Leptis Magna is the site of some of the most well preserved ruins of the Roman period.

Source material: Wikipedia - "Leptis Magna". Adapted and summarized for DiscoverScroll. Original contributors are credited through the linked Wikipedia article. Read original on Wikipedia. CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes were made from the original.