Severus' 3D Puzzle
Teams of Italian archaeologists are continuing to work at Leptis Magna and Sabratha, both abandoned Roman cities on the other side of Libya. Recently they announced a triumphant conclusion to the task of reassembling the triumphal arch of Septimius Severus.
Severus, Roman emperor from AD 193 to 211, came from Leptis Magna and naturally used his position to enrich and beautify his native city. Among the buildings he constructed was a large triumphal arch. Unfortunately the Roman empire was not as rich and successful as it had been under his predecessors, and instead of building the arch of marble throughout, it merely had marble facing slabs over a rubble core.
When the earthquake of AD 365 struck, the facing slabs were shaken loose and came crashing down to the ground, where they shattered into hundreds of pieces. The smaller bits were swept up and thrown away, but many of the larger ones were reused in a variety of ways. It has taken the archaeologiests nearly 40 years to find and identify them all and to retrieve them from their present resting places.
Once that had been done, the next step was to reassemble the giant 3D jigsaw puzzle, but at last the work is complete and visitors to Leptis Magna can now see the triumphal arch in something approaching its former glory.
© Kendall K. Down 2009
