Qualla: Arch of the Philaeni https://qualla.com/arch-of-the-philaeni en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:29 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/s/m/m/k/arch-of-the-philaeni-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Arch of the Philaeni https://qualla.com/arch-of-the-philaeni Arch of the Philaeni: Introduction https://qualla.com/arch-of-the-philaeni/ Photo credit Benito Mussolini, Public domain. Two brothers agree to be buried alive so that Carthage can claim more territory. Or so the story goes. The legend of the Philaeni brothers, first recorded by the Roman historian Sallust, describes a border dispute between Carthage and Greek Cyrene sometime in the fifth or fourth century BCE. The solution was a footrace: two teams of runners departed simultaneously from their respective cities, and the border would be set wherever they met. The Carthaginians ran farther and faster. The Cyrenaeans accused them of cheating and demanded a price: the Philaeni brothers must be buried alive at the meeting point. They accepted, and Carthage built altars on the spot. Twenty-four centuries later, Fascist Italy built a triumphal arch there instead.

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Image: Benito Mussolini | Public domain

]]> Fri, 27 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/m/m/k/arch-of-the-philaeni-wp/smmk-arch-of-the-philaeni-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Arch of the Philaeni: Empire in Travertine https://qualla.com/arch-of-the-philaeni/ Photo credit AnonymousUnknown author, Public domain. The Arch of the Philaeni was completed in February 1937 after six months of construction by 200 workers. Designed by the prominent colonial architect Florestano Di Fausto, it stood 31 meters tall with an opening 15.75 meters high and 6.5 meters wide, straddling the Litoranea -- t...

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Image: AnonymousUnknown author | Public domain

]]> Fri, 27 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/m/m/k/arch-of-the-philaeni-wp/smmk-arch-of-the-philaeni-empire-in-travertine.mp3 0:06 2 full Arch of the Philaeni: A Seven-Course Dinner in the Desert https://qualla.com/arch-of-the-philaeni/ Photo credit AnonymousUnknown author, Public domain. Mussolini inaugurated the arch on 15 March 1937, arriving by convoy as Libyan troops lined the road. The ceremony took place at dusk, the arch surrounded by flaming tripods and lit by spotlights while aircraft flew overhead. At the seven-course banquet that followed -- described ...

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Image: AnonymousUnknown author | Public domain

]]> Fri, 27 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/m/m/k/arch-of-the-philaeni-wp/smmk-arch-of-the-philaeni-a-seven-course-dinner-in-the-desert.mp3 0:06 3 full Arch of the Philaeni: The Marble Arch at War https://qualla.com/arch-of-the-philaeni/ Photo credit Moosmüller, CC BY-SA 3.0 de. During World War II, the Litoranea became the main artery for moving troops and equipment through Libya, and the arch sat squarely on it. The British Long Range Desert Group found a route through the Great Sand Sea -- thought by the Axis to be impassable -- and established an obs...

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Image: Moosmüller | CC BY-SA 3.0 de

]]> Fri, 27 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/m/m/k/arch-of-the-philaeni-wp/smmk-arch-of-the-philaeni-the-marble-arch-at-war.mp3 0:06 4 full Arch of the Philaeni: Demolition and the Debris of Ideology https://qualla.com/arch-of-the-philaeni/ Photo credit Arcangelo Ghisleri, Public domain. After Libyan independence in 1951, the arch's Latin inscriptions were replaced with Arabic verse written by the poet Ahmed Rafiq al-Mahdawi. But the structure itself remained standing, its Fascist bas-reliefs and bronze statues intact. That changed when Muammar Gaddafi, who seize...

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Image: Arcangelo Ghisleri | Public domain

]]> Fri, 27 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/m/m/k/arch-of-the-philaeni-wp/smmk-arch-of-the-philaeni-demolition-and-the-debris-of-ideology.mp3 0:06 5 full