XLVIII Oudhna (Uthina)

What3words –  portrayal.dresser.dipstick

Construction - 1st Century AD

Capacity - 16,000

Visited September 2025

Status – well preserved/restored and substantial amphitheatre in an impressive remote setting.

Part of the Roman re-colonisation push southwards and lying at the halfway point between the city of Carthage and the mountain source at Zaghuoan which fed the great Aqueduct, and rising on an incline above the plains, the new town of Uthina announced itself to the surrounding lands by way of an enormous Capitol. The steps and stumps of the 18m high supporting columns remain and the Forum was re-purposed as a French Colonial farmyard. Beside this are massive vaulted water storage cisterns which were fed by a branch from the main Aqueduct. It was occupied by veterans of the Legio XIII (13th Legion) during the reign of Augustus and gets a mention from Pliny the Elder.

Much of the town is un-excavated but a villa provided one of the most spectacular mosaics in the Bardo Museum of Tunis.

The Amphitheatre is a gem, the piste, sections of Cavea, underground chambers, and part of the curtain wall are all standing and well preserved by the sands from which they emerged when excavated. The cavea is solid, being set into the hilltop with only the curtain wall rising above the surrounding ground level. There is a smart modern visitor centre and even a bridge over the Wadi that separates it from the Amphitheatre. On this bright, clear September morning with the temperature at about 28 degrees, there were two visitors to the entire site (us). A party of four more arrived an hour later.