Archaeological site of Oplontis | Italy

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Oplontis was an ancient Roman site near Pompeii in Italy. Today it refers to the group of villas in the middle of the modern town of Torre Annunziata. It is part of Unesco World Heritage site "Archaeological Areas of Pompeii, Herculaneum, and Torre Annunziata."

Oplontis is best known for the sumptuous Roman Villa Poppaea, once owned by the Emperor Nero. The eruption of Mount Vesuvius buried it under a deep layer of ash on August 24, AD 79.

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Felix Romuliana | Serbia

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This Late Roman fortified palace compound and memorial complex, in the east of Serbia, was commissioned by Emperor Caius Valerius Galerius Maximianus, in the late 3rd and early 4th centuries. It was known as Felix Romuliana, named after the emperor’s mother.

The complex is a UNESCO World Heritage site, inscribed under the name Gamzigrad-Romuliana, Palace of Galerius.

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Stećci Medieval Tombstones Graveyards is a UNESCO World Heritage site since 2016. The tombstones are located Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro and Serbia.

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Frontiers of the Roman Empire | Germany

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From the beginning of the 2nd century AD for approximately the next 150 years, the Limes marked the frontier between Rome’s Empire and the Germanic tribal territories. In Roman times, the Saalburg fort kept watch over a section of the Limes in the Taunus hills.

This fort is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site 'Frontiers of the Roman Empire'.

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Abbey of Corvey, Unesco World Heritage site from Germany. The pictures on the left are not stamps

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The ruins of Timgad | Algeria

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The ruins of Timgad in Algeria are an impressive set of ancient Roman remains and rank among the best such ruins in North Africa. Timgad was both a military colony and an incentive to the African people to serve in the Roman army, as anybody who did so for twenty-five years would have a home in the base. 

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The Temple of Hadrian | Turkey

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The Ancient City of Ephesus is an outstanding example of a Roman port city, with sea channel and harbour basin (http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1018).

The Temple of Hadrian, built around 118 AD, is one of the main attractions at Ephesus. Hadrian was a Roman emperor from 117 to 138.

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(left) The city of Safranbolu, a UNESCO World Heritage site (issue 2015). 

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The Ruins at Sarmizegetusa | Romania

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About 2,000 years ago the Roman Empire spread its territories towards eastern Europe. Sarmizegetusa Regia was the capital of the Roman Province of Dacia, located in today’s Romania.

Dacian Fortresses of the Orastie Mountains is an UNESCO World Heritage site. 

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Both stamps are part of a series of six stamps issued in 2013: “Flowers Clock”. Each stamp shows a flower and its blooming time on the clock featured on the stamp.    

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The Mausoleum of Mauretania | Algeria

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Tipasa, a city near the Algerian coast, was an ancient Punic trading-post conquered by the Romans and turned into a strategic base for the conquest of the kingdoms of Mauritania.

The mausoleum of the Mauritanian Royal Family is an archaeological site located in the surroundings of Tipasa. The Mausoleum is the tomb where king and queen of Mauretania are buried. Tipas is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

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A Roman Coliseum in the North African Desert: El Jem | Tunisa

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The impressive ruins of the largest amphitheatre in North Africa, which could hold up to 35,000 spectators, are found in the small village of El Jem. It is home to some of the most impressive Roman remains in Africa.

The ruins of the amphitheatre were declared a World Heritage Site in 1979.

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The stamp was issued in 2007 to highlight the Tabarka Jazz Festival.

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Porta Nigra in Trier | Germany

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The Porta Nigra is a large Roman city gate in Trier, Germany. It was built in grey sandstone between 186 and 200 AD. The stones blackened over time, hence its name. Porta Nigra means black gate in Latin. 

 

Together with other remains from the Roman period, the gate is on the list of Unesco World Heritage sites.

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Stolzenfels Castle is a Unesco World Heritage site. 

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The Temple of Venus, Baalbek | Lebanon

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The temple of Venus is located in Baalbek, a town in Lebanon’s Beqaa Valley. During the period of Roman rule the city was known as Heliopolis. 

Thx Steve!

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Ancient city of Carthage | Tunisia

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Carthage was founded in the 9th century B.C. as a Phoenician colony near modern Tunis. The Phoenicians were sea traders who ‘occupied’ large parts of the Mediterranean coast. Their major cities were Tyre, Sidon and Byblos on the coastline of modern Lebanon.

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One of two stamps depicting Villages of Tunisia. Ghazi Mustapha Fort, Djerba.

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St. Peter's Square | Rome

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St. Peter's Square or Piazza San Pietro, was created in the 17th century by Bernini, a prominent Roman architect. The square is a massive plaza located directly in front of St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican City, the papal enclave surrounded by Rome. 

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Amphitheatre of El Jem | قصر الجمّ , Tunisia

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The impressive ruins of the largest amphitheatre in North Africa, which could hold up to 35,000 spectators, are found in the small village of El Jem. It is home to some of the most impressive Roman remains in Africa.

The ruins of the amphitheatre were declared a World Heritage Site in 1979.

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The medina (old city) of Tozeur, an oasis and a city in south west Tunisia. 

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THe ancient city of Butrint, Albania

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Butrint was anancient Greek and later Roman city located in southern Albania, close to the Greek border. 

Inhabited since prehistoric times, Butrint has been the site of a Greek colony, a Roman city and a bishopric. Following a period of prosperity under Byzantine administration, then a brief occupation by the Venetians, the city was abandoned in the late Middle Ages after marshes formed in the area. The present archaeological site is a repository of ruins representing each period in the city’s development.

Butrint is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

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Red Cross stamp, issued 2013.

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Kourion Archaeological Site, Cyprus

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Cyprus, the third largest island of the Mediterranean, and standing on the border of the Eastern and Western worlds has always captured the interests and attentions of more powerful outside forces. Over the centuries, the island has been ruled by the Assyrians, Phoenicians, Persians, Greeks, Egyptians, Romans and Byzantines from the ancient world.

Kourion is one of the most spectacular archaeological sites on the island. Noted particularly for its magnificent Greco - Roman Theatre, Kourion is also proud home to stately villas with exquisite mosaic floors and an early Christian Basilica among other treasures.

           

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2012 issue about London Olympics.

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The pearl of the Syrian | سوريا desert: Palmyra

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Palmyra (or Tadmor in Arabic) lies in the heart of Syrian Desert. The city of palm trees was located along the Silk Route. Syria was a Roman (Byzantine) province from 64 BC to 636 AD. After the Romans conquered Syria, Palmyra flourished and became known as the city of palm-trees.

Syria is a country of 21 million people. It gained independence in April 1946. Damascus is the capital city of Syria and the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world. 

The wave of Arab unrest that began with the Tunisian revolution reached Syria on March 15, 2011, when residents of a small southern city took to the streets to protest the torture of students who had put up anti-government graffiti. The government responded with heavy-handed force, and demonstrations quickly spread across much of the country.

By the start of 2013, more than 60,000 people, mostly civilians, were thought to have died and tens of thousands of others had been arrested. More than 400,000 Syrian refugees had registered in neighboring countries. In addition millions of Syrians are in need of aid or are displaced domestically.

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Syrian President Bashar Assad.

The family of President Bashar al-Assad has been in power since his father, Hafez, took over in a coup in 1970. The country underwent some liberalisation after Bashar became president in 2000, but the pace of change soon slowed, if not reversed. 

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The Roman Empire in Libya | ‏ليبيا‎ : Leptis Magna

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Libya is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. The largest city and capital is Tripoli. Leptis Magna is a UNESCO World Heritage site located about two hour's drive east of Tripoli. 

Leptis Magna was a prominent city of the Roman Empire. The site is one of the most spectacular and unspoiled Roman ruins in the Mediterranean. Originally a Phoenician settlement, probably founded in the 6th century BC by Phoenicians from Tyre , Leptis Magna became a great metropolis under the Romans, particularly during the reign of Septimus Severus (193-211 AD).

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From a set of 5 stamps picturing children drawings.

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Archeoligical site Nora, Sardinia | Sardegna

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Sardinia is Italy's second largest island (after Sicily) and the second largest island in the Mediterranean Sea (after Cyprus). Numerous prehistoric castles, villages, temples and tombs dot the countryside.

Nora is an ancient Roman and pre-Roman town placed on a peninsula near Pula.

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A label.

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A Roman monument from Tyr, Lebanon

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These remains of an old Roman race track are located in the Lebanese city of Tyr. Situated approximately 50 miles south of Beirut, Tyr was founded by Phoenician settlers in the third millennium B.C.

“The Roman hippodrome, the largest in the world, will overwhelm you with its grandeur. You will be transported back into a bygone era as you envision the death-defying chariot races and hear the cheering crowd seated on the enormous stone stands.”

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THX Steve!

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