Standing on the Mediterranean shore are the excavated and partially restored ruins of Leptis Magna, an ancient city in Libya that, like the more famous Carthage, was settled by Phoenicians. Leptis Magna was a city of merchants rather than warriors, so it was always a vassal to the reigning empire in North Africa. First it came into the Carthaginian sphere of influence, then it was incorporated into the Roman Empire, and in its waning days it was ruled by the Vandals and finally the Byzantines. At its peak it had a population of perhaps 100,000 and a thriving market in olive oil, thanks to a countryside made fertile by Roman irrigation. After the retreat of the Byzantines, Leptis Magna could no longer trade with Europe. It became a ghost town and was overtaken by the desert sands.