Mactaris (Makthar)
Mactar
Numidian to Byzantine (8th c BCE-10th c CE; peak 2nd-3rd c CE)·Numidian / Punic / Roman / Byzantine·🇹🇳 Siliana Governorate, Tunisia
About
About Mactaris (Makthar)
Mactaris (Makthar) is a 25-ha Numidian-Roman hilltop city at 920 m on the Tunisian Dorsal, famous for 10-m high megalithic dolmens and Libyco-Punic mausoleum predating Rome. The 2nd-c BCE Hoter Miskar Punic-Neo-Punic temple and later Roman forum replacement illustrate religious continuity. Twin Trajanic arches, large arch of Bab el-Ain, Capitolio, baths, schola of the Juvenes (youth college with >500 inscriptions documenting Romanization of Libyan elite), and late-Roman basilica cluster around paved decumanus. Amphitheatre and vast necropolis with Hautus-type dolmen galleries extend south.
Why it mattersSchola Juvenes inscriptions are cornerstone for study of native auxiliary youth colleges and Latinisation.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Function of 10,000-dolmen necropolis
- 02Meaning of Juvenes bilingual Neo-Punic/Latin dedications
Theories
- 01Mactaris as model for voluntary Numidian adhesion to Roman cults
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- Numidian town 8th c BCE; Roman municipium under Trajan 113 CE; colonia Aurelia Augusta
- Period
- Numidian to Byzantine (8th c BCE-10th c CE; peak 2nd-3rd c CE)
- Culture
- Numidian / Punic / Roman / Byzantine
- Builders
- Numidian / Roman
- Purpose
- Highland stronghold and youth-college centre controlling Kairouan-Sicca road
- Excavation
- Excavation ongoing
Numidian town 8th c BCE; Roman municipium under Trajan 113 CE; colonia Aurelia Augusta
Initial construction
c. 1075 CE
Rediscovery
On the ground
Structures & features
35.8580° N · 9.2007° E · 920 m · 2 mapped features
Forum of Mactaris (Makthar)
forumForum
35.8590° N · 9.2017° ETemple of Mactaris (Makthar)
templeTemple
35.8570° N · 9.1997° E
Gallery