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LEPTIS

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Originally appearing in Volume V16, Page 483 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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LEPTIS , the name of two towns in See also:

ancient See also:Africa. The Est, Leptis Magna (Aerrrtsa'yva), the See also:modern Lebda, was in Tripolitana between Tripolis and Mesrata at the mouth of the Cinyps; the second, Leptis Parva (Abrres i1 j.ucpa), known also as Leptiminus or Leptis See also:minor, the modern Lamta, was a small See also:harbour of Byzacena between Ruspina (See also:Monastir) and See also:Thapsus (Dimas). I. LEPTIS MAGNA was one of the See also:oldest and most flourishing of the Phoenician See also:emporia established on the coasts of the greater Syrtis, the See also:chief commercial See also:entrepot for the interior of the See also:African See also:continent. It was founded by the Sidonians (See also:Sallust, See also:Jug. 78) who were joined later by See also:people of See also:Tyre (See also:Pliny, Hist. Nat. v. 17). See also:Herodotus enlarges on the fertility of its territory (iv. 175, V. 42). It was tributary to See also:Carthage to which it paid a contribution of a See also:talent a See also:day (See also:Livy xxxiv.

62). After the Second Punic See also:

War See also:Massinissa made himself See also:master of it (Sallust, Jug. 78; Livy xxxiv. 62; See also:Appian viii. Io6). During the Jugurthine War it appealed for See also:protection to See also:Rome (Sallust, Jug. 78). Though captured and plundered by See also:Juba, it maintained its See also:allegiance to Rome, supported the senatorial cause, received See also:Cato the younger with the remains of the Pompeian forces after Pharsalus 48 B.C. After his victory See also:Julius See also:Caesar imposed upon it an See also:annual contribution of 300,000 See also:measures of oil. Nevertheless, it preserved its position as a See also:free See also:city governed by its own magistrates (C.I.L. viii. 7). It received the See also:title of See also:municipium (C.I.L. viii.

8), and was subsequently made a colonic by See also:

Trajan (C.I.L. viii. Io). Septimius See also:Severus, who was See also:born there, beautified the See also:place and conferred upon it the Ius Italicum. Leptis Magna was the limit of the See also:Roman See also:state, the last station of the limes Tripolitanus; hence, especially during the last centuries of the See also:Empire, it suffered much from the Nomads of the See also:desert, the Garamantes, the Austuriani and the Levathae (Ammian. Marc. See also:xxviii. 6; Procop. De Aedif. vi. 4). Its See also:commerce declined and its harbour silted up. Justinian made a vain See also:attempt to rebuild it (Procop. ibid. ; Ch. Diehl, L'Afrique See also:byzantine, p.

388). It was the seat of a bishopric, but no mention is made of its bishops after 462. Leptis Magna had a citadel which protected the commercial city which was generally called Neapolis, the situation of which may be compared with that of Carthage at the See also:

foot of Byrsa. Its ruins are still imposing; remains of ramparts and docks, a See also:theatre, a See also:circus and various buildings of the Roman See also:period still exist. See also:Inscriptions show that the current See also:pronunciation of the name was Lepcis, Lepcitana, instead of Leptis, Leptitana (See also:Tissot, Geogr. comp. de la prov. d'Afrique, ii. 219; Clermont-Ganneau, Recueil d'archeologie orientale, vi. 41; COM pies rendus de l'Acad. See also:des Inscr. et B.-Lettres, 1903, p. 333; Cagnat, C.R. Acad., 1905, p. 531). The coins of Leptis Magna, like the See also:majority of the emporia in the neighbourhood, See also:present a See also:series from the Punic period. They are of See also:bronze with the See also:legend 'Dot, (Lepqi).

They have on one See also:

side the See also:head of Bacchus, See also:Hercules or See also:Cybele, and on the other various emblems of these deities. From the Roman period we have also coins bearing the heads of See also:Augustus, Livia and Tiberius, which still have the name of the See also:town in Neo-Punic script (Lud. See also:Muller, Numism. de l'anc. Afrique, ii. 3). The ruins of Leptis Magna have been visited by numerous travellers since the See also:time of See also:Frederick See also:William and See also:Henry William See also:Beechey (Travels, pp. 51 and 74) and Heinrich See also:Barth (Wanderungen, pp. 306, 360) ; they are described by Ch. Tissot (Geogr. comp. ii. 219 et seq.); CI. Perroud, De Syrticis emporiis, p. 33 (See also:Paris, 1881, in 8°); see also a description in the New See also:York See also:journal, The Nation (1877), vol. See also:xxvii.

No. 683. M. Maier de Mathuisieulx explored the site afresh in 1901; his See also:

account is inserted in the Nouvelles Archives des See also:missions, x. 245-277; cf. vol. xii. See also J. Toutain, " Le Limes Tripolitanus en Tripolitaine," in the Bulletin archeologique du comite des travaux historiques (1905). 2. LEPTIS PARVA (Lamta), 71 M. from Monastir, which is often confused by modern writers with Leptis Magna in their interpretations of ancient texts (Tissot, Geogr. comp. ii. 169), was, according to the Tabula Peutingeriana, 18 m. See also:south of See also:Hadrumetum. Evidently Phoenician in origin like Leptis Magna, it was in the Punic period of comparatively slight importance. Nevertheless, it had fortifications, and the See also:French LE See also:PUY, or LE PUY EN VELAY, a town of south-eastern See also:France, See also:capital of the See also:department of Haute-See also:Loire, 90 m.

S.W. of See also:

Lyons on the Paris-See also:Lyon railway. Pop. (1906) town, 17,291; See also:commune, 21, 420. Le Puy rises in the See also:form of an See also:amphitheatre from a height of 2050 ft. above See also:sea-level upon Mont Anis, a See also:hill that divides the See also:left See also:bank of the Dolezon from the right bank of the See also:Borne (a rapid stream joining the Loire 3 M. below). From the new town, which lies See also:east and See also:west in the valley of the Dolezon, the traveller ascends the old feudal and ecclesiastical town through narrow steep streets, paved with pebbles of See also:lava, to the See also:cathedral commanded by the fantastic See also:pinnacle of Mont See also:Corneille. Mont Corneille, which is 433 ft. above the Place de Breuil (in the See also:lower town), is a steep See also:rock of volcanic See also:breccia, surmounted by an See also:iron statue of the Virgin (53 ft. high) See also:cast, after a See also:model by Bonassieux, out of guns taken at Sebastopol. Another statue, that of Msgr de Morlhon, See also:bishop of Le Puy, also sculptured by Bonassieux, faces that of the Virgin. From the See also:platform of Mont Corneille a magnificent panoramic view is obtained of the town and of the volcanic mountains, which make this region one of the most interesting parts of France. The Romanesque cathedral (Notre-See also:Dame), dating chiefly from the first See also:half of the 12th See also:century, has a particoloured See also:facade of See also:white See also:sandstone and See also:black volcanic breccia, which is reached by a See also:flight of sixty steps, and consists of three tiers, the lowest composed of three high arcades opening into the See also:porch, which extends beneath the first bays of the See also:nave; above are three windows See also:lighting the nave; and these in turn are surmounted by three gables, two of which, those to the right and the left, are of open See also:work. The See also:staircase continues within the porch, where it divides, leading on the left to the See also:cloister, on the right into the See also:church. The See also:doorway of the south See also:transept is sheltered by a See also:fine Romanesque porch. The isolated See also:bell-See also:tower (184 ft.), which rises behind the See also:choir in seven storeys, is one of the most beautiful examples of the Romanesque transition period.

The bays of the nave are covered in by octagonal cupolas, the central See also:

cupola forming a See also:lantern. The choir and transepts are See also:barrel-vaulted. Much veneration is paid to a small See also:image of the Virgin on the high See also:altar, a modern copy of the See also:medieval image destroyed at the Revolution. The cloister, to the See also:north of the choir, is striking, owing to its variously-coloured materials and elegant shafts. See also:Viollet-le-Duc considered one of its galleries to belong to the oldest known type of cathedral cloister (8th or 9th century). Connected with the cloister are remains of fortifications of the 13th century, by which it was separated from the See also:rest of the city. Near the cathedral the See also:baptistery of St See also:John (11th century), built on the See also:foundations of a Roman See also:building, is surrounded by walls and numerous remains of the period, partly uncovered by excavations. The church of St See also:Lawrence (14th century) contains the See also:tomb and statue of See also:Bertrand du Guesclin, whose ashes were afterwards carried to St See also:Denis. Le Puy possesses fragmentary remains of its old See also:line of fortifications, among them a machicolated tower, which has been restored, and a few curious old houses dating from the 12th to the 17th century. In front of the See also:hospital there is a fine medieval porch under which a See also:street passes. Of the modern monuments the statue of See also:Marie See also:Joseph See also:Paul, See also:marquis of La Fayette, and a See also:fountain in the Place de Breuil, executed in See also:marble, bronze and See also:syenite, may be specially mentioned. The museum, named after See also:Charles Crozatier, a native sculptor and See also:metal-worker to whose munificence it principally owes its existence, contains antiquities, engravings a collection of See also:lace, and ethnographical and natural See also:history collections.

Among the curiosities of Le Puy should be noted the church of St See also:

Michel d'Aiguilhe, beside the See also:gate of the town, perched on an isolated rock like Mont Corneille, the See also:top of which is reached by a staircase of 271 steps. The church See also:dates from the end of the loth century and its See also:chancel is still older. The See also:steeple is of the same type as that of the cathedral. Three See also:miles from Le Puy are the ruins of the See also:Chateau de See also:Polignac, one of the most important feudal strongholds of France. Le Puy is the seat of a bishopric, a See also:prefect and a See also:court of assizes, and has tribunals of first instance and of commerce, a See also:board of See also:trade See also:arbitration, a chamber of commerce, and a See also:branch of the Bank of France. Its educational institutions include ecclesiastical seminaries, lycees and training colleges for both sexes and municipal See also:industrial See also:schools of See also:drawing, See also:architecture and See also:mathematics applied to arts and See also:industries. The See also:principal manufacture is that of lace and guipure (in woollen, See also:linen, See also:cotton, See also:silk and See also:gold and See also:silver threads), and distilling, See also:leather-dressing, malting and the manufacture of See also:chocolate and See also:cloth are carried on. See also:Cattle, woollens, See also:grain and vegetables are the chief articles of trade. It is not known whether Le Puy existed previously to the Roman invasion. Towards the end of the 4th or beginning of the 5th century it became the capital of the See also:country of the Vellavi, at which period the bishopric, originally at Revession, now St Paulien, was transferred hither. See also:Gregory of See also:Tours speaks of it by the name of Anicium, because a See also:chapel " ad Deum " had been built on the See also:mountain, whence the name of Mont Adidon or Anis, which it still retains. In the loth century it was called See also:Podium Sanctae Mariae, whence Le Puy.

In the See also:

middle ages there was a See also:double enclosure, one for the cloister, the other for the town. The See also:sanctuary of Notre Dame was much frequented by pilgrims, and the city See also:grew famous and populous. Rivalries between the bishops who held directly of the see of Rome and had the right of coining See also:money, and the lords of Polignac, revolts of the town against the royal authority, and the encroachments of the feudal superiors on municipal prerogatives often disturbed the quiet of the town. The See also:Saracens in the 8th century, the Routiers in the 12th, the See also:English in the 14th, the Burgundians in the 15th, successively ravaged the neighbourhood. I,e Puy sent the See also:flower of its See also:chivalry to the See also:Crusades in 1096, and See also:Raymond d'See also:Aiguille, called d'Agiles, one of its sons, was their historian. Many See also:councils and various assemblies of the states of See also:Languedoc met within its walls; popes and sovereigns, among the latter See also:Charlemagne and See also:Francis I., visited its sanctuary. Pestilence and the religious See also:wars put an end to its prosperity. See also:Long occupied by the Leaguers, it did not submit to Henry IV. until many years after his See also:accession.

End of Article: LEPTIS

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