While living in Tunisia, one of the sites I visited was Thuburbo Majus. Located about 60 km southwest from Carthage on a major thoroughfare connecting Carthage to the Sahara, it is a significant Roman site. Originally a Punic town, it was founded around 27 AD by the Romans as a place where army retirees could settle. Much of the trading town was built around 150-200 AD and prospered as a center for growing grain, olives, and fruit.
Excavations began around 1916 and again around 1925 and the 1950's. Like many Roman sites in Tunisia, there likely is much still that remains below the surface. Now, visitors to this very rural site will find sheep grazing nearby, perhaps even walking over the large mosaics still in situ. Most of the significant mosaics and baths, along with a massive head of Jupiter are now in the Bardo Museum. Despite it not being as well known as Carthage, many of the impressive pieces in the museum were from Thuburbo Majus. I visited the site several times, but found it most beautiful when the fields were green and yellow flowers abounded.
One of the more prominent structures at Thuburbo Majus is the Capitolium. Here, a fairly intact olive press can be found. At the center of the town was the forum. Many of its columns still stand. Near the forum can be found remnants of a market, shops, and a basilica.
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