Carthage - Amphitheater

One km/0.75mi northwest of the Byrsa Hill in Carthage, on the left of the road to Tunis (and opposite the La Malga cisterns), can be found the second century Roman amphitheater, a five-story structure with seating for some 50,000 spectators - i.e. about the same as the theater of El Djem. The arena could be flooded for naumachias (mock naval battles). Apart from its massive foundations and a few underground rooms, however, the whole structure has been destroyed.

During the persecution of Christians, on March 17th 202, St Perpetua, her slave-girl Felicitas and others were martyred here by being trampled to death by a wild cow. They are commemorated by a marble column erected by the Pères Blancs. St Cyprian was beheaded here in 258, the first African bishop to be martyred, and St Augustine lectured in the arena.