El Jem Amphitheatre: Africa's Colosseum Rising from the Steppe
The amphitheatre of El Jem rises from the ground in the heart of a little village surrounded by olive orchards in central Tunisia's flat plain. Built in the 3rd century AD, it is approximately 150 meters long, 124 meters wide, and 36 meters high, with a capacity of nearly 35,000 to 40,000 spectators. This makes it the third largest amphitheatre ever built in the Roman world, trailing only the Colosseum in Rome and the amphitheatre of Capua. UNESCO designated it a World Heritage Site in 1979, and it stands today as one of the best-preserved Roman constructions in the Mediterranean.
El Jem was known in Roman times as Thysdrus, a rich city that grew affluent in the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD thanks to the olive oil trade, as the fertile plains of this region provided much of the Roman Empire's oil consumption. The amphitheatre's staggering size reflects this wealth: a city of perhaps 30,000 people constructed an arena capable of seating more than its entire population. It projected Roman imperial power, civic pride, and entertainment spectacle in stone that has outlasted the empire by nearly eighteen centuries. Beyond gladiatorial combat, the structure was utilized as a military bastion during the Byzantine period and as a haven for local residents during subsequent conflicts; its gigantic walls absorbed cannonfire, leaving visible wounds that can still be seen today.
Visitors are struck by the structure's overwhelming, almost hallucinogenic improbability. Arriving from the surrounding flat landscape, the amphitheatre's three levels of arches abruptly fill the horizon, massive as a stadium dumped into the Tunisian steppe with no modern city nearby. You can descend into the underground corridors where gladiators and animals were kept before approaching the arena floor, feeling the ancient weight of the stone. Each summer, the arena hosts the International Symphonic Music Festival, where orchestras perform inside the historic walls, making it one of the world's most remarkable concert venues. Just a short walk away, the Archaeological Museum of El Jem houses one of the best collections of Roman mosaics in the world, featuring beautiful polychrome floor panels from the vast villas that formerly ringed the arena.
