Oea
Oea, known today as Tripoli, is a significant historical town located in north Africa, particularly within the region of Tripolitania, Libya. Founded as a trading post by the Carthaginians, it was originally named Wy’t and later became part of the Roman province of Africa after 146 BC. The city flourished due to its strategic location at the crossroads of coastal and inland trade routes, benefitting from a fertile coastal oasis and a small natural harbor. Oea was notable for its civic coinages, which featured the heads of Roman emperors, celebrating its status as a free community, particularly under Augustus.
Throughout its history, Oea experienced both conflict and growth, including a notable war with Lepcis Magna around 70 AD and its eventual designation as a Roman colony under Emperor Trajan. The city also played a role in early Christianity, becoming an episcopal see by 256 AD. Significant archaeological remains can be found in Oea, including the well-preserved triumphal arch dedicated to emperors Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus, as well as remnants of ancient temples. Today, Oea stands as the capital of modern Libya, continuing to reflect its rich historical tapestry.
Subject Terms
Oea
(Trablus, Tarabulus al-Gharb, Tripoli)
A town of Tripolitania in north Africa, situated on a rocky promontory between the Lesser Syrtes (Gulf of Gabes) (part of Libya) and Greater Syrtes (Gulf of Sirte). It was one of the three cities (treis poleis) which gave rise to the modern name of Tripoli, the others being Lepcis Magna and Sabrata. Situated in a fertile coastal oasis, and possessing a small natural harbor, Oea stood at the meeting place not only of roads along the coast but also of routes into the interior of the continent.
The settlement was founded as a trading station by the Carthaginians (under the name of Wy't). After passing into the Roman province of Africa (146 BC) it issued coinages inscribed with the names of its civic officials (suffetes). Two of these issues bear heads of Augustus and apparently celebrate his confirmation of Oea's status as a free community c 12–7 BC; and the series continued under Tiberius (AD 14–37), showing attributes of Apollo and Athena and depicting the empress Livia as Ceres (Demeter). In 70, Oea became involved in a war with Lepcis Magna, caused by the stealing of crops by peasants on both sides. The Oeans, outnumbered, enlisted the help of the brigand tribe of the Garamantes, who ravaged the territory of Lepcis Magna, but were driven off by a Roman force under Valerius Festus. Oea became a Roman colony under Trajan (98–117), perhaps receiving a settlement of veterans. About 155 the novelist Apuleius was accused of securing the affections of a rich widow of the city by bewitchment, and his Apologia is a defence against this charge. The place was a Christian episcopal see by 256, and in the later empire became part of a new province of Tripolitana—governed from Lepcis Magna—until the region was occupied by the Vandals c 450. Oea is the only one of the `three cities’ to have survived until today (as the capital of the Libyan state).
Two ancient streets converged at right angles near the harbor, at a point where a well-preserved four-faced triumphal arch was dedicated to the emperors Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus in 163. Nearby are the remains of a temple dedicated to the Genius of the Colony (183/4). The city walls, demolished in 1913, incorporated long stretches of the ancient fortifications. Three miles outside the town the grave of a female devotee of Mithras has been found; at the time of discovery it displayed the painted figure of a lioness, inscribed `a lioness lies here,’ i.e. the woman buried in the tomb was an initiate of the `Lion’ grade of the Mithraic hierarchy.