Leptis or Lepcis Parva was a Phoenician colony and Carthaginian and Roman port on

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

coast, corresponding to the modern town Lemta, just south of Monastir,

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

. In antiquity, it was one of the wealthiest cities in the region.''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography''
vol. II, pp. 161, 162 ("Leptis")

Name

The Punic name of the settlement was written () or (), Edward Lipiński, ''Itineraria Phoenicia'' (2004)
p. 345
Brogan, Wilson, "Lepcis" in: ''

The Oxford Classical Dictionary The ''Oxford Classical Dictionary'' (''OCD'') is generally considered "the best one-volume dictionary on antiquity," an encyclopædic work in English consisting of articles relating to classical antiquity and its civilizations. It was first pub ...

'' (4th ed. 2012)
p. 821
signifying either a new "construction" or a "naval station".

Phoenician colonies Colonies in antiquity were post-Iron Age city-states founded from a mother-city or metropolis rather than from a territory-at-large. Bonds between a colony and its metropolis often remained close, and took specific forms during the period of clas ...

often duplicated their names, as with the two "New Towns" distinguished in English as

Carthage Carthage was an ancient city in Northern Africa, on the eastern side of the Lake of Tunis in what is now Tunisia. Carthage was one of the most important trading hubs of the Ancient Mediterranean and one of the most affluent cities of the classic ...

and Cartagena. This name was hellenized ''Léptis'' (). Under the Romans, the Punic name was Latinized as Lepcis or Leptis. It was known variously as , , or Leptiminus, all meaning "Lesser Leptis" to distinguish it from the " Greater Leptis" in what is now

Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...

Geography

Leptis was located on the Gulf of Hammamet, the classical Gulf of Neapolis (), between

Hadrumetum Hadrumetum, also known by #Names, many variant spellings and names, was a Phoenician Phoenician colonies, colony that pre-dated Carthage. It subsequently became one of the most important cities in Roman Africa before Vandal Kingdom, Vandal and Uma ...

and Thapsus. It was located in the fertile coastal district of Emporia, in the region of Byzacium, the later Roman province of

Byzacena Byzacena (or Byzacium) (, ''Byzakion'') was a Late Roman province in the central part of Roman North Africa, which is now roughly Tunisia, split off from Africa Proconsularis. History At the end of the 3rd century AD, the Roman emperor Dioclet ...

.Pliny the Elder, v. 4. s. 3.

History

Phoenician colony

Leptis was established as a Tyrian

colony A colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule, which rules the territory and its indigenous peoples separated from the foreign rulers, the colonizer, and their ''metropole'' (or "mother country"). This separated rule was often orga ...

, probably originally as a waypost on the trade route between

Phoenicia Phoenicians were an Ancient Semitic-speaking peoples, ancient Semitic group of people who lived in the Phoenician city-states along a coastal strip in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily modern Lebanon and the Syria, Syrian ...

and the

Strait of Gibraltar The Strait of Gibraltar is a narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea and separates Europe from Africa. The two continents are separated by 7.7 nautical miles (14.2 kilometers, 8.9 miles) at its narrowest point. Fe ...

. It appears in the periplus of Pseudo-Scylax, written in the middle or latter part of the fourth centuryBC, as one of the cities in the country of the legendary

lotus-eaters In Greek mythology, lotophages or the lotus-eaters () were a race of people living on an island dominated by the lotus tree off coastal Tunisia (Island of Djerba), a plant whose botanical identity is uncertain. The Lotophagi race in the ''Odyss ...

Carthaginian town

Like other Phoenician colonies, Leptis came to pay tribute to

. After the

First Punic War The First Punic War (264–241 BC) was the first of three wars fought between Rome and Carthage, the two main powers of the western Mediterranean in the early 3rd century BC. For 23 years, in the longest continuous conflict and grea ...

, Leptis was at the center of the Mercenary War, a revolt of the Carthaginian mercenaries led by Mathos. This was suppressed with difficulty through the coöperation of

Hamilcar Barca Hamilcar Barca or Barcas (; – 228BC) was a Ancient Carthage, Carthaginian general and statesman, leader of the Barcid family, and father of Hannibal, Hasdrubal Barca, Hasdrubal and Mago Barca, Mago. He was also father-in-law to Hasdrubal the F ...

and

Hanno the Great Hanno the Great may refer to any of three different leaders of ancient Carthage: * Hanno I the Great (4th century BC) * Hanno II the Great (3rd century BC) * Hanno III the Great (2nd century BC) According to B. H. Warmington, the nickname was prob ...

in 238BC. Leptis recovered from the damage and, at the time of the

Second Punic War The Second Punic War (218 to 201 BC) was the second of Punic Wars, three wars fought between Ancient Carthage, Carthage and Roman Republic, Rome, the two main powers of the western Mediterranean Basin, Mediterranean in the 3rd century BC. For ...

, was one of the wealthiest cities of Emporia. Its tribute to Carthage was equivalent to one

Attic talent The Attic talent (a talent of the Attic standard), also known as the Athenian talent or Greek talent (, ''talanton''), is an ancient unit of weight equal to about , as well as a unit of value equal to this amount of pure silver.The exact mass of ...

( of fairly pure

silver Silver is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag () and atomic number 47. A soft, whitish-gray, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity of any metal. ...

) per day.Livy, xxxiv. 62. It was at Leptis that Hannibal's army disembarked on their return to Africa in 203BC. In the following year, Leptis was one of few cities under Roman control in north Africa, the rest of Africa still remaining under the control of the Carthaginian general Hasdrubal. Following the conclusion of the war in 201BC, Emporia was overrun by Masinissa, who claimed the district by ancient right. The Carthaginians appealed to Rome for adjudication of the matter, as they were obliged to do by the treaty ending the war. The

Roman Senate The Roman Senate () was the highest and constituting assembly of ancient Rome and its aristocracy. With different powers throughout its existence it lasted from the first days of the city of Rome (traditionally founded in 753 BC) as the Sena ...

appointed a commission to look into the matter, including

Scipio Africanus Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus (, , ; 236/235–) was a Roman general and statesman who was one of the main architects of Rome's victory against Ancient Carthage, Carthage in the Second Punic War. Often regarded as one of the greatest milit ...

, the general credited with Carthage's recent defeat. Although Scipio was uniquely positioned to resolve the dispute, the commission left the rightful possession of Emporia undecided and Masinissa was able to organize much of the territory into the kingdom of

Numidia Numidia was the ancient kingdom of the Numidians in northwest Africa, initially comprising the territory that now makes up Algeria, but later expanding across what is today known as Tunisia and Libya. The polity was originally divided between ...

. Leptis itself, however, remained unconquered.

Roman city

The region around Leptis came under direct Roman rule following the

Third Punic War The Third Punic War (149–146 BC) was the third and last of the Punic Wars fought between Carthage and Rome. The war was fought entirely within Carthaginian territory, in what is now northern Tunisia. When the Second Punic War ended in 20 ...

in 146BC. In Roman times, Leptis was a free city () with its own autonomous government. Local coins were minted with Greek legends (viz. ); later coins with Latin inscriptions may show its elevation to

(') status or may have originated in

Leptis Magna Leptis or Lepcis Magna, also known by #Names, other names in classical antiquity, 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 people, Puni ...

. The possession of Leptis became an important matter during

Caesar's Civil War Caesar's civil war (49–45 BC) was a civil war during the late Roman Republic between two factions led by Julius Caesar and Pompey. The main cause of the war was political tensions relating to Caesar's place in the Republic on his expected ret ...

. In 49BC, Juba I of Numidia was at war with the Leptitani when the war was first carried over into Africa. Juba had long been an ally of

Pompey Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (; 29 September 106 BC – 28 September 48 BC), known in English as Pompey ( ) or Pompey the Great, was a Roman general and statesman who was prominent in the last decades of the Roman Republic. ...

and opposed to Caesar. Caesar's lieutenant Gaius Scribonius Curio deemed it safe to attack Utica, as Juba had left his own lieutenant Sabura in charge of the surrounding countryside. Curio routed a Numidian force with a night-time cavalry raid, but rashly engaged Sabura's main force and was annihilated at the Bagradas as Juba approached from Leptis with reinforcements. At the beginning of January 46BC, Caesar arrived at Leptis and received a deputation from the city offering its submission. Caesar placed guards on the city gates to prevent his soldiers from entering the city or harassing its people and sent his cavalry back to their ships to protect the countryside, although the latter were ambushed by a Numidian force. Shortly afterward, Caesar moved his camp to Ruspina, leaving six cohorts at Leptis under the command of Gaius Hostilius Saserna. During the winter and spring of 46, Leptis was one of Caesar's primary bases and a source of provisions. A cavalry troop sent to Leptis for provisions intercepted a force of Numidian and Gaetulian soldiers, whom they took prisoner after a brief skirmish. Part of Caesar's fleet was anchored off Leptis, where they were taken unawares by Publius Attius Varus, one of Pompey's admirals, who burned Caesar's transports and captured two undefended quinqueremes. Learning of the attack, Caesar rode to Leptis and went in pursuit of Varus with his remaining ships, recapturing one of the quinqueremes along with a

trireme A trireme ( ; ; cf. ) was an ancient navies and vessels, ancient vessel and a type of galley that was used by the ancient maritime civilizations of the Mediterranean Sea, especially the Phoenicians, ancient Greece, ancient Greeks and ancient R ...

. At Hadrumetum, he burned a number of Pompey's transports and captured or put to flight a number of galleys. Leptis continued to flourish under the

empire An empire is a political unit made up of several territories, military outpost (military), outposts, and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a hegemony, dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the ...

before Byzacena was ceded to the

Vandals The Vandals were a Germanic people who were first reported in the written records as inhabitants of what is now Poland, during the period of the Roman Empire. Much later, in the fifth century, a group of Vandals led by kings established Vand ...

in AD442. The city was retaken by the

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

general

Belisarius BelisariusSometimes called Flavia gens#Later use, Flavius Belisarius. The name became a courtesy title by the late 4th century, see (; ; The exact date of his birth is unknown. March 565) was a military commander of the Byzantine Empire under ...

in 533, during the

Vandalic War The Vandalic War (533–534) was a conflict fought in North Africa between the forces of the Byzantine Empire (also known as the Eastern Roman Empire) and the Germanic Vandal Kingdom. It was the first war of Emperor Justinian I's , wherein the ...

. It then formed part of the Praetorian Prefecture of Africa and later part of the

Exarchate of Africa The Exarchate of Africa was a division of the Byzantine Empire around Carthage that encompassed its possessions on the Western Mediterranean. Ruled by an exarch (viceroy), it was established by the Emperor Maurice in 591 and survived until t ...

. The city was largely destroyed during the

Muslim conquest of the Maghreb The conquest of the Maghreb by the Rashidun and Umayyad Caliphates commenced in 647 and concluded in 709, when the Byzantine Empire lost its last remaining strongholds to Caliph Al-Walid I. The North African campaigns were part of the century ...

in the latter part of the seventh century, although a ribat was built there, probably on the ruins of an earlier Byzantine fortress. The city itself was abandoned and never resettled.

Religion

From the third century until its destruction, Leptis was represented by bishops in various councils of the Roman Catholic Church, including the Councils of Carthage in 256, 411, 484, and 641. The

diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, prov ...

was also involved in the great conflict of African Christianity as

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

and Donatist bishops for the town appear on the lists of participants in these councils. Among the noted bishops was Laetus, described as a "zealous and very learned man", numbered among those bishops killed by the Vandal king

Huneric Huneric, Hunneric or Honeric (died December 23, 484) was King of the (North African) Vandal Kingdom (477–484) and the oldest son of Gaiseric. He abandoned the imperial politics of his father and concentrated mainly on internal affairs. He was ma ...

, after the council of 484.Butler & Burns, ''Butler's Lives of the Saints: September'', p. 41.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* Pseudo-Scylax, ''

Periplus A periplus (), or periplous, is a manuscript document that lists the ports and coastal landmarks, in order and with approximate intervening distances, that the captain of a vessel could expect to find along a shore. In that sense, the periplus wa ...

''. *

Polybius Polybius (; , ; ) was a Greek historian of the middle Hellenistic period. He is noted for his work , a universal history documenting the rise of Rome in the Mediterranean in the third and second centuries BC. It covered the period of 264–146 ...

, '' Historiae'' (The Histories). * Gaius Sallustius Crispus (

Sallust Gaius Sallustius Crispus, usually anglicised as Sallust (, ; –35 BC), was a historian and politician of the Roman Republic from a plebeian family. Probably born at Amiternum in the country of the Sabines, Sallust became a partisan of Julius ...

), ''Bellum Jugurthinum'' (The Jugurthine War). * Gaius Julius Caesar, ''

Commentarii de Bello Civili '' Commentarii de Bello Civili'' (''Commentaries on the Civil War''), or ''Bellum Civile'', is an account written by Julius Caesar of his war against Gnaeus Pompeius and the Roman Senate. It consists of three books covering the events of 49– ...

'' (Commentaries on the Civil War). * Aulus Hirtius (attributed), '' De Bello Africo'' (On the African War). * Titus Livius (

Livy Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a Roman historian. He wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people, titled , covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome before the traditional founding i ...

), '' History of Rome''. *

Pomponius Mela Pomponius Mela, who wrote around AD 43, was the earliest known Roman geographer. He was born at the end of the 1st century BC in Tingentera (now Algeciras) and died AD 45. His short work (''De situ orbis libri III.'') remained in use nea ...

, ''De Situ Orbis'' (On the Places of the World). * Gaius Plinius Secundus (

Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/24 79), known in English as Pliny the Elder ( ), was a Roman Empire, Roman author, Natural history, naturalist, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the Roman emperor, emperor Vesp ...

), '' Historia Naturalis'' (Natural History). * Appianus Alexandrinus (

Appian Appian of Alexandria (; ; ; ) was a Greek historian with Roman citizenship who prospered during the reigns of the Roman Emperors Trajan, Hadrian, and Antoninus Pius. He was born c. 95 in Alexandria. After holding the senior offices in the pr ...

), ''Bella Punica'' (The Punic Wars). * ''

Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography The ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography'' is the last in a series of classical dictionaries edited by the English scholar William Smith (1813–1893), following '' A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities'' and the '' Dictionary of G ...

'', William Smith, ed., Little, Brown and Company, Boston (1854). * Alban Butler & Paul Burns, ''Butler's Lives of the Saints: September'', A&C Black, (1995). * . * .

External links

* {{Romano-Berber cities in Roman Africa Phoenician colonies in Tunisia Roman towns and cities in Tunisia