Leptis Magna (modern-day Khoms, Libya) is most famous for being the birthplace of Septimius Severus in A.D. 145.

Leptis Magna (modern-day Khoms, Libya) is most famous for being the birthplace of Septimius Severus in A.D. 145. Severus joined the Roman military and worked his way up in the ranks during the imperatorships of Marcus Aurelius and Commodus. In the chaos following the assassination of Commodus in A.D. 192, Septimius Severus managed to eliminate all of his rivals and have himself proclaimed Emperor.

. Severus joined the Roman military and worked his way up in the ranks during the imperatorships of Marcus Aurelius and Commodus. In the chaos following the assassination of Commodus in A.D. 192, Septimius Severus managed to eliminate all of his rivals and have himself proclaimed Emperor.

Severus consolidated his rule and then launched a campaign against the meddlesome Parthians in the east. Severus returned victorious and erected this magnificent quadrifrons arch over the intersection of the cardo maximus and the decumanus maximus in the very center of his hometown.

All four sides are of equal dimensions. The arch has a limestone core and is decorated with marble panels. A frieze running across the attic illustrates the accomplishments of the Emperor. The arch had fallen into ruins in late antiquity but was restored in 1928.