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Leptis Magna
Ancient site · Murqub District, Libya
THE STORY
A leading Roman city and an emperor's hometown
Leptis Magna, near Al-Khums 130 km east of Tripoli, began as a Punic settlement and became one of the leading cities of Roman Africa. Septimius Severus, emperor from 193 to 211, was born there and gave it a new forum, a massive basilica and rebuilt docks. Its ruins are among the best-preserved Roman sites in the Mediterranean.
Source: Wikipedia ↗Abandoned after 647, dug from the sand in the 1920s
Leptis declined after the 3rd-century crisis, fell to the Vandals in 439 and was retaken for the Eastern Roman Empire in 533, but never recovered from Berber raids. By the Arab conquest around 647 it was mostly abandoned. Buried and preserved under sand dunes, it was unearthed by Italian archaeologists in the 1920s, during Italy's occupation of Libya.
Source: Wikipedia ↗