Homeric

Taking the definition of Homeric literally, to mean more than a place detailed in Homer’s surviving tales, this photograph is of Leptis Magna in Libya, taken in 2009.  It seems appropriate to choose it because of the historic changes that have taken place in Libya in recent days.

Leptis Magna was initially a Phoenician city on a promontory overlooking the sea and would have been active in Homer’s day. It was developed much later by Hadrian and then Septimus Severus as a Roman city, rival to Carthage and to Alexandria.  Septimus Severus apparently came from the city before becoming emperor in 193 AD, from which time he spent a great deal of time and energy investing in it, as well as a great deal of money.

This photograph shows a street called the Cardo viewed through the Triumphal Arch of Severus as it passes down to and under the Arch of Trajan.  The streets show the ruts from carts wearing the stone over the centuries.  On this day there were hundreds of thousands of starlings feeding on olives in the fields next to the city, any black dots visible are starlings not blobs!  It is hard to know what has been happening to this incredible place in the past few months, there were stories of weapons and tanks being stored amongst the ruins, all we can do is hope that there hasn't been a profound level of damage.