Swapna Sundari
(First Draft.)
Leptis Magna 3
We built this gate
the Gate/doorway of/to Africa
One fifth of the oil - we sent it back -
to Rome came from here
We built this city small
with all its beauties and baths
and small coliseum
and in the nights I would come home
to you
Our sweaty bodies
would reflect the torches' lights
- those stuck into the ground -
while we made love
Far away Rome to which all roads led raged
not knowing why or how we found it easy
to stick it out!
Coliseum, Leptis Magna 
Marcus Pompeius Silvanus Staberius Flavinus dedicated the coliseum of Lepcis Magna to emperor Nero in 56. The oval arena measuring 57 x 47 meters was excavated in a natural depression, or a former quarry, in the rocky terrace near the sea, about a kilometer southeast of the city, and could accommodate about 16,000 people. The elites populated the lower ranks, especially the southeastern side, where they could enjoy the smooth wind, and some sort of wooden portico containing the cheap seats probably surrounded the amphitheater. Shows started early in the morning, when animals like a bull and a bear fought each other, and at noon criminals were executed by being thrown to the beasts. In the afternoon the gladiators fought to the death. It contained an altar for Nemesis, the goddess of doom, a favorite deity in Roman amphitheaters, and an access to the southeast led to a sanctuary dedicated to Artemis (Diana to the Romans).
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