CLUB THAPSUS

The Medina - Sousse

by Zlur

Sousse was founded in the 9th century BC by the Phoenicians, who gave it the name Hadrumet. It’s one of the oldest ports of the Mediterranean. Later Hannibal used Hadrumet as his military base at end of the Second Punic War (218-201 BC) and was beaten. During the Third Punic War they changed over to the side of the Romans thus avoiding destruction and gaining status of a free city. In 46 BC Julius Caesar fought against Pompeii in Thapsus and the town of Hadrumet choose the wrong side. Caesar won the battle and imposed heavy taxation on the town. Later under the rule of Emperor Trajan (98-117), the town became a important commerce centre. There are no Roman sites in the town, only an archaeological museum containing mosaics and some statues.
Sousse is not a very large place, however still charming in its own little way, Phoenicians, Romans, Byzantines and Arabs settled in this lovely "fertile city" each leaving their imprint and heritage. . .

El Djem

by JLBG

El Djem is a gigantic Roman amphitheater in the middle of a country where olive orchards are grown as the only crop for dozens of kilometers. It is now a small city but the old Thysdrus was one of the wealthiest cities in Tunisia with about 40,000 inhabitants. The amphitheater is the third after Roma and Capoua for its size (149 x 124 m), larger than Nîmes and Arles (136 m). Besides El Djem, there were several amphiteaters in Roman Tunisia : Bararus, Carthage, Lepti Minus, Mactaris, Sufetula, Thapsus, Thignica, Thuburbo Majus and Ulissipira. It has been inscribed in 1979 on the world heritage list.

Actually my El Djem page is under construction and more will come soon.

Ruins by castle

by Willettsworld

Just to the west (medina side) of the Borj el-Kebir lie these ruins, of what I don't know. You can walk around then but watch where you're walking as there are some large holes which could've been wells as well as steep banks.

Mahdia is another summer resort I've visited

by aliante1981

It was an excursion of just a couple of hours, still it is a pleasant memory!

SO WHAT MAHDIA ACTUALLY IS, OR AN OFFICIAL VIEW

Mahdia - or Mahedia, town and fishing port on coastal strip, eastern Tunisia. It lies on the narrow rocky peninsula of Cape Ifriqiya. The town owes its name to the mahdi (Arabic: mahdi, “the rightly guided one”) Ubayd Allah al-Mahdi, founder of the Fatimid dynasty, who established the town in 912 and in 921 made it his capital. Abandoned about 973, Mahdia was reestablished as a refuge capital of the Zirid dynasty in the late 11th century. Sicilian Normans occupied the town in the mid-12th century, and thereafter it was no more than a small village and the principal place of southern as-Sahil. In the late 16th century it was absorbed into the Ottoman Empire. A contemporary minor port, its economic activities include olive cultivation, olive-oil milling, fishing and fish canning (sardines and mackerel), and handicraft industries. The site of a 10th-century mosque, Mahdia also contains a 16th-century Turkish fort and ruins of an ancient wall. Roads and a railway link it to Sousse, 20 miles (32 km) northwest. Pop. (1984) 26,602. This description comes from Britannica 2003