UNESCO & History
Thuburbo Majus
Zaghouan
A Roman town in open countryside
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About 60 km south-west of Carthage, in Zaghouan governorate, Thuburbo Majus was a Punic town that became a Roman colony under Augustus in 27 BC. Most of what stands today dates from the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD: the forum, the Capitolium (dedicated in AD 168), baths, temples and the House of Bacchus and Ariadne. It is ruins in fields, with no village around and few visitors.
- History
- Hadrian made it a municipium and Commodus a colony. It was restored in the 4th century after the troubles of the 3rd.
- Customs
- There is little shade on the site: bring water and a hat.
- Food
- Pack a picnic, or have lunch in Zaghouan.
- Best time
- March to May and October to November.
The city lived off grain, olives and fruit, and sat on a main route from Carthage towards the south.