Is Leptis Magna the Most Beautiful Roman City?
UNESCO describes Leptis Magna as “one of the most beautiful cities of the Roman Empire”. The ruins of the city, about 70 miles east of Tripoli on Libya’s Mediterranean coast, were declared a World Heritage Site in 1982. In the past decade more discoveries have been made at the site – including some of the most impressive artistic Roman mosaics to have been found anywhere in the empire. A team of archaeologists from the University of Hamburg were excavating along the Libyan coast just outside the ruins of Leptis in 2000, when they unearthed five large mosaics from the floor of a villa. They represent scenes of gladiators fighting each other, animals and one victorious gladiator resting after a battle while his opponent lies dead in front of him. The find was initially kept secret to prevent looters but was eventually made public in 2005. At the time, one archaeologist who specialises in Roman art, Dr Mark Merrony, editor of Minerva magazine, described the mosaics as “absolutely extraord
