Misplaced Pages

#596403

43-608: In 1911, Italy claimed the need to protect its citizens who lived in the Port of Tripoli. It declared war against the Ottomans, saying it would annex the city. A naval battle fought at Prevesa, Greece, ended in the destruction of three Ottoman ships and the recognition of Italian sovereignty over the Port of Tripoli. The Italians controlled the region until 1943. British forces governed the area after World War II until Libyan independence in 1951 World Ports History: Tripoli Since Roman Libya

86-571: A Roman province a couple of decades later in 74 BC. The Roman advance southward, however, was stopped by the Garamantes . Cyrenaica had become part of the Roman Egypt already from the time of Ptolemy I Soter , despite frequent revolts and usurpations. In 74 BC, the new province was established, governed by a legate of praetorian rank ( Legatus pro praetor ) and accompanied by a quaestor ( quaestor pro praetor ), but in 20 BC Cyrenaica

129-457: A seaplane facility. The port was severely damaged during WWII . In the 1970s the port was greatly improved: now the port of Tripoli contains many cargo terminals, and is capable of servicing many ships at once. The port also features a yacht club, and a fishing wharf. Libya has had a long history of port congestion. In 1977 the average waiting time for ships to be unloaded in Tripoli harbor

172-493: A Roman military commander's house, however the identification of the name and status of the man who built the palace is problematic. The well-preserved Greek theatre stands facing the sea outside the old city walls. This monument dates to the 3rd century BC and is therefore one of the oldest sites in Apollonia. The structure was modified under Domitian, suggesting its use as an arena for gladiatorial fights. The 5th century saw

215-497: A cosmopolitan state whose citizens shared a common language, legal system, and Roman identity. Roman ruins, like those of Leptis Magna and Sabratha in present-day Libya, attest to the vitality of the region, where populous cities and even smaller towns enjoyed the amenities of urban life – forum, markets, public entertainments, and baths – found in every corner of the Roman Empire. Merchants and artisans from many parts of

258-470: The Berber tribes would be finally broken by the talented general John Troglita . The last Latin epic poem of Antiquity , the de Bellis Libycis of Flavius Cresconius Corippus , was written about this struggle. Successively the province entered an era of relative stability and prosperity, and was organized as a separate exarchate in 584 AD. Eventually, under Heraclius , Libia and Africa would come to

301-620: The Ptolemaic Constitution of 248 BC. In some of these cities there was a huge minority of the population made of Hebrews , who were organized with their own rules. The few Roman citizens in the province were organized into the Conventus civium Romanorum. The territory of Tripolitania was characterized by the presence of a strong punic influence in the three main cities (Tripolitania means "land of three cities") of Oea (actual Tripoli), Sabratha and Leptis Magna , but by

344-597: The Roman Senate the famous: "I prevented Nasamoni to exist". Instead more serious was the Jewish revolt striking mainly the Pentapolis in the time of Trajan (in 115–116 AD). In Cyrenaica, the rebels were led by one Lukuas or Andreas, who called himself "King" (according to Eusebius of Caesarea ). His group destroyed many temples, including those to Hecate , Jupiter , Apollo , Artemis , and Isis , as well as

387-623: The Byzantine period. They are located at the south, center and east of the governor's palace. The eastern one, dating from the 5th century, was the most important. The marble columns used in the nave were reused as Spolia and come originally from Euboea. The Palace of the Dux was excavated by Goodchild between 1959 and 1962. It was last used as the Byzantine Duke's Palace and contains over 100 rooms. A marble inscription testifies to its use as

430-483: The Emperor Diocletian separated the administration of Crete from Cyrenaica and in the latter formed the new provinces of "Upper Libya" and "Lower Libya", using the term Libya as a political state for the first time in history. After the final conquest and destruction of Carthage in 146 BC, northwestern Africa went under Roman rule and, shortly thereafter, the coastal area of what is now western Libya

473-527: The Roman world established themselves in coastal Libya. Former soldiers were settled in the "Centenaria" area of Tripolitania, and the arid land was developed. Dams and cisterns were built in the Wadi Ghirza (then not dry like today) to regulate the flash floods. These structures are still visible As a consequence the area south of Leptis Magna became an important exporter of olive oil and cereals to Rome and

SECTION 10

#1732780998597

516-746: The abandonment of the theatre and the re-use of the columns from the stage as spolia in the eastern basilica. The cavea has 28 seat levels. Apollonia was the seat of a Christian bishopric of the Roman province of Libya Pentapolitana ( Cirenaica ). Today, Sozusa of Libya survives as a titular see of the Roman Catholic church , but the seat has been vacant since 11 December 1989. Known bishops include: Since 2011, vandals have smeared graffiti on columns. Artifacts have also been looted. Various treasures e.g. heads or entire torsos of statues listed in guidebooks issued in 2011 are stolen. According to

559-399: The accumulated deposits of previous periods. The existence of buildings in the sea was noted by Beechey (1827), with some rough drawings, and Goodchild (1950s) and André Laronde also published archaeological surveys of the site. In 1958 and 1959 Nicholas Flemming, then an undergraduate at Cambridge University, led teams of undergraduates trained in scuba diving and underwater surveying to map

602-451: The ancient site. The remains of the ancient port in Apollonia are extremely well preserved because they are underwater. The difference in sea level, indeed, was estimated to be around 3.70-3.80 m. The port is relatively early in date, dating from the 6th/7th Century BC, and this makes it unique as no other complete port is this old. Apollonia is particularly known for its ruins of three churches (out of five originally standing) dating from

645-554: The area except Oea . As part of his reorganization of the empire in 296 AD, the Emperor Diocletian separated the administration of Crete from Cyrenaica and in the latter formed the new provinces of "Upper Libya" and "Lower Libya", using the term Libya for the first time in history as an administrative designation. Indeed, the Tetrarchy reforms of Diocletian changed the administrative structure: In April 534 AD,

688-475: The civil structures that were symbols of Rome, including the Caesareum , the basilica , and the thermae (Imperial public baths). The Greek and Roman populations were massacred: the 4th-century Christian historian Paulus Orosius records that the violence so depopulated the province of Cyrenaica that new colonies had to be established by Hadrian: The Jews ... waged war on the inhabitants throughout Libya in

731-656: The end of Augustus time the coastal area was nearly fully Romanised . Few were the raids of nomadic tribes of the desert against the cities of the province for at least the first two centuries. We know that at the time of Emperor Domitian , the Nasamones (a Libyan tribe living south of Leptis Magna ) rebelled, bringing destruction and defeating the Legatus legionis of Augusta III Cneo Suelli Flacco, who had gone to meet them. But when he later returned with reinforcements, he crushed them all, so that Domitian could say before

774-420: The end of Gaddafi regime . The port can accommodate vessels up to 190 meters long with a maximum draft of 10.7 meters. 32°54′17″N 13°11′36″E  /  32.90472°N 13.19333°E  / 32.90472; 13.19333 This Libya location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Roman Libya The area of North Africa which has been known as Libya since 1911

817-512: The former Roman provincial system along with the full apparatus of Roman administration was restored, under a praetorian prefect . During the following years, under the smart general Solomon, who combined the offices of both magister militum and praetorian prefect of Africa, Roman rule in Libya was strengthened ( Theodorias was refounded ), but the fighting continued against the Berber tribes on

860-490: The harbour of Cyrene , 20 km (12 mi) to the southwest. Apollonia became autonomous from Cyrene at latest by the time the area came within the power of Rome , when it was one of the five cities of the Libyan Pentapolis , growing in power until, in the 6th century AD, it became the capital of the Roman province of Libya Superior or Libya Pentapolitana. The city became known as Sozusa , which explains

903-417: The head of the antiquities department of a parallel administration in charge of eastern Libya, "many artifacts have been smuggled abroad". There was better site protection before 2011. “There has been a lot of destruction in recent years,” said Ismail Miftah, a farmer living next to Cyrene. Apollonia is featured as the chief port city for Cyrene in the 2017 video game Assassin's Creed Origins . Apollonia

SECTION 20

#1732780998597

946-656: The heresy Arianism , came from Ptolemais . Some centuries later in Cyrenaica, Monophysite adherents of the Coptic Church welcomed the Muslim Arabs as liberators from Byzantine oppression. The best period of Roman Libya was under emperor Septimius Severus , born in Leptis Magna . He favored his hometown above all other provincial cities, and the buildings and wealth he lavished on it made Leptis Magna

989-469: The hinterland. Solomon achieved significant successes against them, but his work was interrupted by a widespread military mutiny in 536. The mutiny was eventually subdued by Germanus, a cousin of Justinian , and Solomon returned in 539. He fell, however, in the Battle of Cillium in 544 against the united berber tribes, and Roman Libya was again in jeopardy. It would not be until 548 AD that the resistance of

1032-459: The large sector of the city beneath the sea. The results of this work were published, complete with maps and diagrams of underwater buildings in the references cited below. Carlo Beltrame and colleagues have recently made an underwater photographic survey of some of the buildings. The Crete earthquake and tsunami of 21 July 365 AD apparently caused extensive damage to the city and harbor. The Apollonia (Susa) Museum houses many artifacts found on

1075-586: The modern name of Marsa Susa or Susa , which grew up long after the cessation of urban life in the ancient city after the Arab invasion of AD 643. Sozusa was an episcopal see and is included in the Catholic Church 's list of titular sees . The early foundation levels of the city of Apollonia are below sea level due to submergence in earthquakes, while the upper strata of the later Byzantine Christian periods are several meters above sea level, built on

1118-594: The most savage fashion, and to such an extent was the country wasted that, its cultivators having been slain, its land would have remained utterly depopulated, had not the Emperor Hadrian gathered settlers from other places and sent them thither, for the inhabitants had been wiped out. After Hadrian , Christianity started to be the most important religion in Roman Libya until the arrival of the Arabs. During

1161-714: The new Umayyad dynasty under Mu'awiya ushered in a new era of Muslim expansion. An official campaign to conquer North Africa began in 663, and the Arabs soon controlled most major cities in Libya. Tripoli fell again in 666 AD, and this time the Muslims ensured their control of their new lands by not immediately retreating to Egypt after the conquest. In 670 AD all Libya was in the hands of the Arabs: Roman rule since BC 2nd century finally ended. Only in Benito Mussolini 's time, more than one thousand years later, Libya

1204-514: The port of Tripoli (then called Oea ) was one of the main in coastal Mediterranean Africa. In the Middle Ages the port fell into disuse, but under Ottoman rule started to grow in importance. In the late 1920s, the Italian colonial authorities created the port that exists today. Other important infrastructures added in the 1930s were the enlargement of the port of Tripoli with the addition of

1247-427: The port's handling capacity to 12.5 million tons a year . Library of Congress Country study: Libya The "Socialist Ports Company" is the port authority responsible for managing and operating the Port of Tripoli, which handled general and bulk cargoes and passengers. Protected by two breakwaters of 2000 and 700 meters, the harbor covers about 300 hectares. About 600 huge vessels visited the Port of Tripoli each year until

1290-470: The province from the raids of nomadic tribes. He fulfilled his task quickly and successfully. As a consequence the Roman city of Ghirza , situated away from the coast and south of Leptis Magna, developed quickly in a rich agricultural area. Ghirza became a "boom town" after 200 AD, when Septimius Severus had better organized the Limes Tripolitanus. In late 202, Severus launched a campaign in

1333-482: The province of Africa. Anicius Faustus had been fighting against the Garamantes along the Limes Tripolitanus for five years, capturing several settlements from the enemy such as Cydamus , Gholaia, Garbia, and their capital Garama - over 600 km south of Leptis Magna . By 203 the entire southern frontier of Roman Africa had been dramatically expanded and re-fortified. Desert nomads could no longer safely raid

Port of Tripoli - Misplaced Pages Continue

1376-531: The province was greatly " romanized ", according to Theodore Mommsen . The level of this romanization can be deducted even from the survival of the African Romance : the 12th-century Arab geographer Muhammad al-Idrisi wrote that the people of the area of Gafsa (the Roman "Capsa", near northwestern Tripolitania) used a language that he called al-latini al-afriqi ("the Latin of Africa"). Tripolitania

1419-472: The region's interior and escape back into the Sahara . For another century the legacy of Septimius Severus gave peace and prosperity to Roman Libya. As a Roman province , Libya was prosperous, and reached a golden age in the 2nd century AD, when the city of Leptis Magna rivalled Carthage and Alexandria in prominence. For more than 400 years, Tripolitania and Cyrenaica were wealthy Roman provinces and part of

1462-640: The reign of Emperor Septimius Severus (born in Leptis Magna) there was sitting on the "Chair of Peter" Pope Victor I (181–191), also from Libyan Leptis Magna and probably its bishop. Until Victor's time, Rome celebrated the Mass in Greek : Pope Victor I changed the language to Latin , which was used in his native Roman Libya. According to Jerome , he was the first Christian author to write about theology in Latin. Furthermore, Arius , creator around 310 AD of

1505-657: The rescue of the Empire itself, deposing the tyrant Phocas and beating back the Sassanids and the Avars . But that was the last Roman achievement: in 642 AD Moslem Arabs started to conquer Libya. The Arabs succeeded in temporarily driving the Byzantines out of Tripoli in 645 AD, but they did not follow that conquest with the establishment of a permanent Arab presence in the city. No further raids were conducted until 661, when

1548-475: The third-most important city in Africa, rivaling Carthage and Alexandria . In 205, he and the imperial family visited the city and received great honors. Among the changes that Severus introduced to this city were to create a magnificent new forum and to rebuild the docks. He enriched all Libya, but mainly Tripolitania, defending it with an enlarged Limes Tripolitanus against the Garamantes : this powerful tribe

1591-409: Was 24 days. Consequently, since the mid-1970s, port improvements have been a top priority for the government. These improvements raised Libya's total dry cargo handling capacity from 10.5 million tons in 1976 to 13.7 million tons in 1980. In 1985 major cargo-handling ports were located at Tripoli, Benghazi, Tobruk, and Qasr Ahmad (near Misratah). Projects underway at Tripoli in 1985 were designed to raise

1634-621: Was a client state of the Roman Empire, but as nomads they always endangered the fertile area of coastal Tripolitania. Indeed, the limes was expanded under emperors Hadrian and Septimius Severus, in particular under the legatus Quintus Anicius Faustus in 197-201 AD. Anicius Faustus was appointed legatus of the Legio III Augusta and built several defensive forts of the Limes Tripolitanus in Tripolitania, among which Garbia and Golaia (actual Bu Ngem) in order to protect

1677-525: Was a major exporter of agricultural products, as well as a centre for the gold and slaves conveyed to the coast by the Garamentes, while Cyrenaica remained an important source of wines, drugs, and horses. After Septimius Severus Roman Libya slowly declined for the next century of so, before being destroyed by the tsunami of 365 AD . A recovery faltered, and well before the Arab invasion in the mid-7th century, Greco-Roman civilization had been collapsing in

1720-474: Was established as a province under the name of Tripolitania with Leptis Magna capital and the major trading port in the region. In 96 BC, Rome peacefully obtained Cyrenaica (left as bequeathing by the king Ptolemy Apion ) with the so-called sovereign pentapolis , formed by the cities of Cyrene (near the modern village of Shahat), its port of Apollonia , Arsinoe (Tocra), Berenice (near modern Benghazi) and Barce ( Marj ), that will be transformed into

1763-544: Was recreated as a political entity in 1934 (with a name borrowed from the Diocletian reforms). Life in Roman Libya was concentrated around a few coastal cities, mostly founded by Greeks and Phoenicians : Apollonia, Cyrenaica Apollonia ( Greek : Ἀπολλωνία ) in Cyrenaica (modern Libya ) was founded by Greek colonists and became a significant commercial centre in the southern Mediterranean . It served as

Port of Tripoli - Misplaced Pages Continue

1806-585: Was under Roman domination between 146 BC and 672 AD (even if in the meantime it was taken by the Vandals in 430 AD, and then recaptured by the Byzantines). The Latin name Libya at the time referred to the continent of Africa in general. What is now coastal Libya was known as Tripolitania and Pentapolis , divided between the Africa province in the west, and Crete and Cyrenaica in the east. In 296 AD,

1849-412: Was united to the island of Crete in the new province of Creta et Cyrenaica , because of the common Greek heritage. The territory of Cyrenaica was characterized by the contrast between the coastal towns of the Pentapolis, inhabited by Greeks, and the territories inhabited by Libyans. The first had preserved their own institutions and were joined in an association, while their independence was recognized by

#596403