Libya: Lost Cities of the Roman Empire

by Antonio Divita, Ginette Divita-Evrard, Lidiano Bacchielli

English (translation)
Original German

Genres: Libya

256 pages, Hardcover

First published February 1, 1999

Reviews

[Lloyd Downey · Rating 2 out of 5]

At first glance this book promised so much. I'd just read a biography of Saint Augustine of Hippo and was rather interested in the cities and development of North Africa in the Roman period. The photo on the dust jacket was superb and just skiing through the pages, I could see that there were some seriously great photos. But I came away a bit disappointed. The book seems to be more like an archeological report on a series of individual cities. There is a paucity of information about the linkages of these lost cities to the other centres in North Africa...many of which are not "lost". It kind of lacks context from my perspective. And I looked in vain for any links with the city of Hippo that I had been reading about. It is fine as far as it goes. Nice photos, descriptions of the various lost cities that have been excavated but overall, I was disappointed.

[Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Photos by Robert Polidori and text by Antonio Di Vita, Ginette Di Vita-Everard and Lidiano Bacchielli. Bought this second hand in very good condition and what a bargain. The text is quite academic. The photos are very good, particularly the aerial shots and the detail of the theatre at Sabratha. I haven't been to Cyrene but it looks wonderful as presented here. Covers Oea (Tripoli), Lepcis Magna, Sabratha, Cyrene in detail and also has a small amount covering Apollonia and Ptolemais.