Along with Leptis Magna and Oea, otherwise known as modern Tripoli, Sabratha was part of the Tripolitania, part of the Roman trade network of North Africa.

Excavations, which began between 1923-1936 and continued in the 1950s, have uncovered the city’s Phoenician origins, Roman heyday and Christian Byzantine twilight years.

Phoenician Sabratha

Sabratha was originally a Phoenician settlement. Its name — variously recorded in pre-roman times as “Sabrat”, “Sabrathan”, and in Greek, “Abrotonos” — means ‘grain market’, a reflection of the city’s importance as a trade centre.

Archaeologists have identified the original settlement site under the Roman forum, with the earth floors of the first Phoenician huts covered with layers of sand. This feature indicates the original settlement was abandoned for a time before becoming resettled. Finds from this early phase of Sabratha’s life include Punic storage jars and Greek vases dated to the sixth and fifth centuries BC.

In the late fifth century BC, a permanent village was established, consisting of mud-brick huts surrounded by a defensive wall. The settlement outgrew the space within its walls quickly, with houses spilling out beyond its defences, a testimony to the rapid prosperity of Sabratha. This early trade was based on agricultural products such as olive oil and grain, which the city exported. A marketplace quickly grew up on the eventual site of the Roman forum.

Roman Sabratha

After the fall of the Punic Empire, Sabratha was absorbed into the Roman Empire in 146BC. The Romans enlarged the city, reorganising the haphazard Punic streets into a grid pattern. The first buildings constructed were commercial and administrative: the forum, basilica and several temples to both Roman and local deities.

This focus on the city’s business area reflects the Roman recognition of Sabratha’s importance to trade, which they nurtured. The city’s exports now centred around the export of ivory, slaves and wild animals from the African interior — and all-important grain. The city’s increased prosperity meant it achieved the status of Libertas in 7 BC, allowing it to mint its own coins. Finally, in 157 AD, Sabratha became a Roman colony.

The city’s heyday was marked by the construction of more monumental temples — such as the Temple of Hercules in 186AD, as well as places of entertainment.

Christianity, the Vandals, the Byzantine Empire and Decline

Sabratha became an important centre for North African Christianity, becoming a bishopric in 253AD. However, the city’s prosperity was affected by the third-century earthquake, which damaged the trade of nearby Leptis Magna. Unlike Leptis Magna, Sabratha recovered only to be overwhelmed by the Vandals in 455BC.

The city briefly became part of the Byzantine Roman Empire in 533AD. Its defences were reconstructed, and many churches were built, with impressive mosaic pavements that survive today. But with the fall of the eastern empire, Sabratha faded away until its rediscovery.

Sabratha’s Ancient Architecture

Notable features of Sabratha’s architecture include:

·      The Theatre. Built in 2nd c AD, this is the most complete theatre in the Roman world. It has 25 entrances and could accommodate an audience of 5000

·      The Mausoleum of Bes. Named after a Phoenician god who protected against ill-luck and guarded expectant mothers and the dead, parts of this third century BC tomb helped rebuild the cities defences in the Byzantine period

·      The Forum. Site of the original settlement, centre of Roman public life and later site of two Byzantine Christian churches and cemetery.

·      The Basilica of Apuleius or forum basilica became a Christian church in 440AD, although it was originally the city’s law court. It was the site of the witchcraft trial of the Roman writer Apuleius in 157 AD.

·      The Temples. Famous examples include the forum temples of Roman Liber Pater and the Temple of Serapis, the Antonine temple, Capitolium, and the Temple of Hercules

·      The City Baths. Five sets of baths have been excavated in Sabratha, including the monumental Seaward Baths, the Theatre Baths, the Baths of Neptune

·      The Christian churches.

Resources

Ward, Philip, Sabratha: A Guide for Visitors. Darf Publishers: London

Sabratha (2005) Dar Al-Anies Publishing