The Roman amphitheatre of El Jem

Authors Skander Zarrad (profesional photograph) & Vincent

The well-preserved amphitheatre of El Jem : Permanent trace of the Romans in their historical “province of Africa”

The roman amphitheatre of el Jem is located in the city of El Jem just 2 hours’ drive southeast of the capital Tunis is without doubt one of the several must-see places to visit if you are on holiday in Tunisia.

The amphitheatre of El Jem is known as the Colosseum of Thysdrus and is the largest amphitheater built outside Italy, after the Colosseum in Rome, the amphitheatre of Capua and the amphitheatre of Pozzuoli. It was built in 238 A.C by the proconsul Gordianus, under the reign of Emperor Maximinus the Thracian.

Historically, it is well known that the Roman presence in Tunisia was very important, much more so than in its two western neighbors Algeria and Morocco. It was in the 2nd century A.C that the Romans conquered Carthage and the territory of modern Tunisia was then administered almost entirely under the name of the Roman province of Africa and became one of Rome’s granaries. 

Tunisia has been the land of Berbers, Carthaginians, Romans, Phoenicians, Vandals, Ottomans and Arab civilizations and it is worth noting that even today the locals of Arab-Berber origin call foreigners “romis” and this name may have originated, more than 1500 years later, with the Roman presence in much of the Maghreb.

The impressive amphitheatre of El Jem is one of the 8 UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Tunisia

My friend Skander (@Skazar), a French-Tunisian professional photographer who was generous enough to lend me these two beautiful photos, told me that he had the opportunity to admire this coliseum from up close and from the sky, and he confirmed that its size is even more impressive (it is 147.9 meters long and 122 meters wide, much larger than a football pitch).

The Colosseum of El Jem is undoubtedly the most important and best-preserved Roman footprint that you can visit in Tunisia all year round (except during the summer, July-September when it is too hot). 

Moreover, El Jem is a magnificent stop on the way to the Sahara desert of Tunisia which is unique because it allows you to get to know the 2 types of Sahara, the Sahara desert of the great sand dunes that most of us know (the eastern erg) whose gateway is Douz and then turning its back (“dahar” in Arabic) the desert of rocks and stones of the wild and sublime region of the Dahar mountains (“Djebel Dahar” in Arabic) with its precious Berber villages.