Boreum (Bu Grada)

Boreum: name of a Byzantine fortress in modern Libya, now called Bu Grada.

In the fifth century, new tribal federations threatened Roman Cyrenaica. Texts like Epistle 73 by Synesius of Cyrene, written in 409, describe the problems of the inhabitants, who felt abandoned by the central government. And probably, this was a correct evaluation, because it appears that there were only small garrisons in the area.

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The southern harbor of Bu Grada. Photo Jona Lendering.

The southern harbor; citadel to the right

By the end of Synesius' life, the barbarians were close to seizing the province, as is indicated in the lamentation that is known as the Catastasis (413). What happened exactly is unclear, but it is certain that the province was not or only briefly lost to the empire. Reinforcements were sent, and in the sixth century, there were permanent garrisons in Paraetonium (modern Marsa Matruh) and Antipyrgon (Tobruk).

Remains of a building

According to Procopius (Buildings, 6.2), the troops were sent to this province by the Byzantine emperor Justinian (527-565), who also fortified Ptolemais, Taucheira, Berenice/Euesperides (modern Benghazi), two monasteries, and a place called Boreion or Boreum, which has been identified by R.G. Goodchild -using aerial photography- with a promontory northeast of modern Marsa al-Brayqah. The town is also mentioned by Ptolemy of Alexandria (Geography, 4.4) and described by Procopius:

Remains of a cistern

Here the mountains press close upon one another, and thus forming a barrier by their crowding, effectively close the entrance to the enemy. This city, which had been without a wall, the Emperor enclosed with very strong defenses, thus making it as safe as possible for the future, together with the whole country round about it.

[Procopius, Buildings, 6.2.12-13]


The southern harbor	The western wall	Remains of a pier in the southern harbor	Tunnel between the eastern harbor and the citadel	The eastern harbor

The wall, from the outside	The wall from the inside	Remains of rock chambers	The southern moat	The eastern bastion

Remains of a cistern, close to the path across the site

The remark about the mountains betrays that Procopius' was never at Boreum, because the country is actually pretty flat. Between two harbors, several remains are clearly visible, like a wall with a moat, a pier, a tunnel from the citadel to the eastern harbor, rock chambers, and a large structure that has been called "bastion", although it is not known what it really is.

The site, which has not been excavated, is locally known as "Castle of Mary". It is 12¾ km Northeast of Marsa al-Brayqah; you must leave the main road about 8½ km east of this city, turn to the left, almost immediately turn to the right, continue to the North (later Northwest) for almost 4 km and, once you have reached the coast, turn right and continue to the Northeast for 4½ km. Visiting the site is not without danger, as there are several ancient cisterns hidden under the dunes.

Literature

Erwin Ruprechtsberger, Die römische Limeszone in Tripolitanien und der Kyrenaika, Tunesien - Libyen (1993 Aalen; Limes Museum).