Archaeological site Makthar

Ancient Numidian settlement on a high plateau in central Tunisia, originally a strategic fortress controlling trade routes from the 3rd century BC. After the fall of Carthage in 146 BC, Punic refugees enriched the town with their culture and language. Under Trajan the city was fully Romanised, gaining a triumphal arch in AD 116 that survived by becoming the base of a Byzantine tower. Notable features include the Schola Juvenum, a rare militia-style youth brotherhood of about 70 members, and a 2nd-century amphitheatre. Megalithic dolmens attest to even earlier funerary traditions at the site.