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El Jem, Tunisia - El Djem, Tunisia

El Djem is a town in the Mahdia Region of North Eastern Tunisia

We had visited El Djem, Tunisia as part of an excursion from Sousse and found it to be the home to some of the most impressive Roman ruins in Africa.

Amphitheatre, not Coliseum, El Jem Tunisia

El Djem is famous for its amphitheatre (often incorrectly called "a coliseum"), capable of seating 35,000 spectators. Only Rome's Coliseum (about 45,000 spectators) and the ruined theatre of Capua are larger.

The amphitheatre at El Djem was built by the Romans under proconsul Gordian, who was acclaimed Emperor at Thysdrus, around 238. El Djem was probably mainly used for gladiator shows and chariot races, like those seen in Ben-Hur! It is also possible that construction of the amphitheatre was never finished.

Until the 17th century it remained more or less whole. From then on its stones were used for building the nearby village of El Djem and transported to the Great Mosque in Kairouan, and at a tense moment during struggles with the Ottomans, the Turks used cannons to flush rebels out of the amphitheatre.

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

In a climate much less arid than today's El Djem the Roman settlement of Thysdrus prospered especially in the 2nd century, when it became an important center of olive oil manufacturing for export back to Rome. Thysdrus was the seat of a Christian bishop and El Djem is still home to a titular Roman Catholic bishop today.

By the early 3rd century AD, when the amphitheater was built, Thysdrus rivaled Hadrumetum, modern day Sousse, as the second city of Roman North Africa, after Carthage. However, following the abortive revolt that began there in 238 AD, and Gordian I's suicide in his villa near Carthage, Roman troops loyal to the Emperor Maximinus Thrax destroyed the city. A destruction from which it never really recovered.

El Jem - Gladiator Film - El Djem

In modern times it was believed that the El Djem amphitheater was used for filming some of the scenes from the Oscar winning film 'Gladiator' starring Russell Crowe as the lead actor. The scenes were however actually filmed in Fort Ricasoli on Malta, later used for filming of Troy, starring Brad Pitt as a leading actor.

Drifting desert sand is still preserving the ancient Roman market town of Thysdrus and the refined suburban villas that once surrounded it. The amphitheatre like a magnet attracts and occupies visiting archaeologists' attention where no digging is required! Some floor mosaics have been found and published, but field archaeology has scarcely been attempted.

In the world of writing materials, Thysdrus lay in the Empire of Papyrus, which preserves remarkably well if kept as dry as at El Djem.

During the second World War a major military airfield was located near El Djem, used first by the German Luftwaffe. It was attacked on numerous occasions and later used by the United States Army Air Force Twelfth Air Force as a transporter airfield. There are very few remains of the airfield today with the land being returned largely to agricultural uses outside of the town.