View source for Leptis Parva

{{Infobox ancient site
  |name = Leptis
  |native_name = 
  |alternate_name = Leptis Minor, Leptis Parva, Leptiminus
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  |map_type = Tunisia
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  |location = [[Tunisia]]
  |region = [[Monastir Governorate]]
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'''Leptis''' or '''Lepcis Parva''' was a [[Phoenician colony]] and [[Carthaginian Empire|Carthaginian]] and [[Roman Empire|Roman]] port on [[Africa]]'s [[Mediterranean]] coast, corresponding to the modern town [[Lemta]], just south of [[Monastir, Tunisia|Monastir]], [[Tunisia]]. In [[classical antiquity|antiquity]], it was one of the wealthiest cities in the region.<ref name="DGRG Leptis">''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography'', [https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofgree02smit/page/160 vol. II, pp. 161, 162 ("Leptis")].</ref>

{{anchor|Etymology|Names}}

==Name==
The [[Punic language|Punic]] name of the settlement was written {{sc|lpq}} ({{langx|xpu|𐤋𐤐𐤒}}) or {{sc|lpqy}} ({{lang|xpu|𐤋𐤐𐤒𐤉}}),{{sfnp|Ghaki|2015|p=67}}<ref name="Lipinski">[[Edward Lipiński (orientalist)|Edward Lipiński]], ''Itineraria Phoenicia'' (2004), [https://books.google.com/books?id=SLSzNfdcqfoC&pg=PA345 p. 345].</ref><ref name=OCD>Brogan, Wilson, "Lepcis" in: ''[[Oxford Classical Dictionary|The Oxford Classical Dictionary]]'' (4th ed. 2012), [https://books.google.com/books?id=bVWcAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA821 p. 821].</ref> signifying either a new "construction"<ref name="Lipinski"/> or a "naval station".<ref name="DGRG Leptis"/> [[Phoenician colonies]] often duplicated their names, as with the two "New Towns" distinguished in English as [[Carthage]] and [[Cartagena, Spain|Cartagena]]. This name was [[hellenization|hellenized]] ''Léptis'' ({{langx|grc|Λέπτις}}).{{sfnp|Head & al.|1911}} Under the Romans, the Punic name was [[latinization of names|Latinized]] as Lepcis or Leptis. It was known variously as {{nowrap|Leptis Parva}}, '''{{nowrap|Leptis Minor}}''', or '''Leptiminus''', all meaning "Lesser Leptis" to distinguish it from the "[[Leptis Magna|Greater Leptis]]" in what is now [[Libya]].<ref name="DGRG Leptis"/>

==Geography==
Leptis was located on the [[Gulf of Hammamet]], the classical Gulf of Neapolis ({{langx|la|Sinus Neapolitanus}}), between [[Hadrumetum]] and [[Thapsus]]. It was located in the fertile coastal district of [[Emporia (Roman district)|Emporia]], in the region of [[Byzacium]], the later Roman province of [[Byzacena]].<ref name="Pliny v 4">Pliny the Elder, v. 4. s. 3.</ref><ref>Pomponius Mela, i. 7. § 2.</ref>

==History==
===Phoenician colony===
Leptis was established as a [[Tyre, Lebanon|Tyrian]] [[Phoenician colonies|colony]], probably originally as a waypost on the trade route between [[Phoenicia]] and the [[Strait of Gibraltar]]. It appears in the [[periplus of Pseudo-Scylax]], written in the middle or latter part of the fourth century{{nbsp}}BC, as one of the cities in the country of the legendary [[lotus-eaters]].<ref>Pseudo-Scylax, ''Periplus'', 110.</ref>

===Carthaginian town===
Like other Phoenician colonies, Leptis came to pay tribute to [[Ancient Carthage|Carthage]].<ref name="DGRG Leptis"/><ref>Sallust, ''Bellum Jugurthinum'', 19.</ref>  After the [[First Punic War]], 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]] and [[Hanno the Great]] in 238{{nbsp}}BC.<ref>Polybius, i. 87.</ref>

Leptis recovered from the damage and, at the time of the [[Second Punic War]], was one of the wealthiest cities of Emporia. Its tribute to Carthage was equivalent to one [[Attic talent]] ({{convert|26|kg|lb|disp=or|sp=us|abbr=on}} of fairly pure [[silver]]) per day.<ref name="Livy xxxiv 62">Livy, xxxiv. 62.</ref> It was at Leptis that [[Hannibal|Hannibal's]] army disembarked on their return to Africa in 203{{nbsp}}BC.<ref>Livy, xxx. 25.</ref> 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 Gisco|Hasdrubal]].<ref>Appian, ''Bella Punica'', xiii. 94.</ref>

Following the conclusion of the war in 201{{nbsp}}BC, 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]] appointed a commission to look into the matter, including [[Scipio Africanus]], 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]]. Leptis itself, however, remained unconquered.<ref name="Livy xxxiv 62"/>

===Roman city===
The region around Leptis came under direct [[Roman Republic|Roman rule]] following the [[Third Punic War]] in 146{{nbsp}}BC.  In Roman times, Leptis was a [[Free city (classical antiquity)|free city]] ({{langx|la|civitas libera}}) with its own autonomous government.<ref name="Pliny v 4"/> Local coins were minted with Greek legends (viz. {{lang|grc|{{smaller|ΛΕΠΤΙϹ}}}});{{sfnp|Head & al.|1911}} later coins with Latin inscriptions may show its elevation to [[Colonia (Roman)|colony]] (''{{lang|la|colonia}}'') status or may have originated in [[Leptis Magna]].<ref name="DGRG Leptis"/>

The possession of Leptis became an important matter during [[Caesar's Civil War]].  In 49{{nbsp}}BC, [[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]] and opposed to [[Julius Caesar|Caesar]]. Caesar's lieutenant [[Gaius Scribonius Curio (praetor 49 BC)|Gaius Scribonius Curio]] deemed it safe to attack [[Utica, Tunisia|Utica]], as Juba had left his own lieutenant Sabura in charge of the surrounding countryside.  Curio [[Battle of Utica (49 BC)|routed a Numidian force]] with a night-time cavalry raid, but rashly engaged Sabura's main force and was annihilated at the [[Battle of the Bagradas (49 BC)|Bagradas]] as Juba approached from Leptis with reinforcements.<ref>Caesar, ''De Bello Civili'', ii. 37–44.</ref>

At the beginning of January 46{{nbsp}}BC, 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 [[Roman cohort|cohorts]] at Leptis under the command of [[Gaius Hostilius Saserna]].<ref>Hirtius, ''De Bello Africo'', 6, 7, 9, 10.</ref>

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 [[quinquereme]]s.  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]].  At Hadrumetum, he burned a number of Pompey's transports and captured or put to flight a number of galleys.<ref>Hirtius, ''De Bello Africo'', 61–64.</ref>

Leptis continued to flourish under the [[Roman Empire|empire]] before Byzacena was ceded to the [[Vandal Kingdom|Vandals]] in AD{{nbsp}}442.  The city was retaken by the [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] general [[Belisarius]] in 533, during the [[Vandalic War]]. It then formed part of the [[Praetorian prefecture of Africa|Praetorian Prefecture of Africa]] and later part of the [[Exarchate of Africa]].  The city was largely destroyed during the [[Muslim conquest of the Maghreb]] 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 [[Council of Carthage (256)|256]], [[Council of Carthage (411)|411]], [[Council of Carthage (484)|484]], and [[Council of Carthage (641)|641]].  The [[diocese]] was also involved in the great conflict of African Christianity as [[Catholic]] 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]], after the council of 484.<ref>Butler & Burns, ''Butler's Lives of the Saints: September'', p. 41.</ref>

==See also==
* [[Leptis Magna]]

==References==
===Citations===
{{Reflist|30em}}

===Bibliography===
* Pseudo-Scylax, ''[[Periplus of Pseudo-Scylax|Periplus]]''.
* [[Polybius]], ''[[The Histories (Polybius)|Historiae]]'' (The Histories).
* Gaius Sallustius Crispus ([[Sallust]]), ''Bellum Jugurthinum'' (The Jugurthine War).
* [[Julius Caesar|Gaius Julius Caesar]], ''[[Commentarii de Bello Civili]]'' (Commentaries on the Civil War).
* [[Aulus Hirtius]] (attributed), ''[[De Bello Africo]]'' (On the African War).
* Titus Livius ([[Livy]]), ''[[Ab Urbe Condita Libri (Livy)|History of Rome]]''.
* [[Pomponius Mela]], ''De Situ Orbis'' (On the Places of the World).
* Gaius Plinius Secundus ([[Pliny the Elder]]), ''[[Natural History (Pliny)|Historia Naturalis]]'' (Natural History).
* Appianus Alexandrinus ([[Appian]]), ''Bella Punica'' (The Punic Wars).
* ''[[Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography]]'', [[William Smith (lexicographer)|William Smith]], ed., Little, Brown and Company, Boston (1854).
* Alban Butler & Paul Burns, ''Butler's Lives of the Saints: September'', A&C Black, (1995).
* {{citation |last=Ghaki |first=Mansour |contribution=Toponymie et Onomastique Libyques: L'Apport de l'Écriture Punique/Néopunique |contribution-url=https://s3.amazonaws.com/academia.edu.documents/50105050/Toponymie_et_onomastique_Lapport_de_lecriture_punique_neopunique.pdf |pages=65–71 |date=2015 |location=Naples |publisher=Unior |editor=Anna Maria di Tolla |display-editors=0 |title=La Lingua nella Vita e la Vita della Lingua: Itinerari e Percorsi degli Studi Berberi |series=Studi Africanistici: Quaderni di Studi Berberi e Libico-Berberi |volume=4 |isbn=978-88-6719-125-3 |issn=2283-5636 |access-date=2018-11-02 |archive-date=2020-04-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200428044658/https://s3.amazonaws.com/academia.edu.documents/50105050/Toponymie_et_onomastique_Lapport_de_lecriture_punique_neopunique.pdf |url-status=dead }}. {{in lang|fr}}
* {{citation |last=Head |first=Barclay |editor=Ed Snible |author2=G.F. Hill |author3=George MacDonald |author4=W. Wroth |display-authors=1 |display-editors=0 |url=http://snible.org/coins/hn/index.html |title=Historia Numorum |contribution=Byzacene |contribution-url=http://snible.org/coins/hn/byzacene.html |page=876 |date=1911 |edition=2nd |location=Oxford |publisher=Clarendon Press |ref={{harvid|Head & al.|1911}} }}.

==External links==
* {{cite EB1911|last=Babelon  |first=E.C.F. |wstitle=Leptis#Leptis Parva |display=Leptis § Leptis Parva|volume=16 |page=482 |short=x }}

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