Lepcis Magna, one of the greatest cities of North Africa and one of the most famous archaeological sites in the Mediterranean, was situated in the region (later province) of Tripolitania.

David J. Mattingly presents important new research on the pre-Roman tribal background, the urban centers, the military frontier, and the regional economy. Drawing on recent excavation and field surveys, he reinterprets many aspects of the settlement history of this marginal arid zone that was once made prosperous. Partly through large-scale olive cultivation, one of the least promising environments of the Mediterranean hosted, in Lepcis Magna, one of the wealthiest Roman provincial towns.

Dr. Mattingly also considers many wider themes in Roman provincial studies: Romanization, the military strategy on the frontiers, the economic links between provinces and the sources of elite wealth. The dramatic rise and premature decline of this region, over the 500 year period between Caesar's victory at Thapsus in 46 B.C. and the conquest of North Africa by the Vandals, make it one of the most unusual provincial histories of the Roman world.