Sbeitla, Tunisia

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point for the esparto grass grown in the steppe country. The nearby site of Roman Sufetula ranks with Dougga, Bulla Regia and Maktar as one of the finest ancient sites in Tunisia.

History

Little is known about the early history of Sufetula. Only a small part of the site has been excavated, and the archeologists' work is hampered by the presence of Byzantine buildings overlying the earlier remains.

The town, situated near a river at the intersection of ancient roads, seems to have been founded by the Romans at the end of the first century A.D. Originally a municipium, it was later raised to the status of a colonia. Christianity came to the town in the third century, and a number of churches dating from this period have been found. The town survived the Vandal invasion unscathed, and it became a Byzantine stronghold against the Arab advance. Sufetula featured briefly on the world stage in 647, when the Byzantine governor, Exarch Gregorius, had himself proclaimed Emperor here in opposition to Constantine II. In the same year, however, he was killed in the first battle with the advancing Arabs.

The Arabs plundered the town but left it largely undamaged. It finally fell into Arab hands after the conquest of Carthage in 698, and its new rulers founded a new town, present-day Sbeitla, to the south of Sufetula, which was now abandoned. Thereafter its fine buildings gradually fell into ruin or were used as a quarry of building stone.

The existence of the site became known in Europe only in the 18th century, and the first excavations began in 1907. Only about a third of the town - which is estimated to have had a population of around 10,000 - has so far been excavated.

Access

Sbeitla lies near the junction of GP 3 (Kairouan-Kasserine) with GP 13 (Sfax-Kasserine), 40km/25mi northeast of Kasserine, 117km/73mi southwest of Kairouan and 165km/103mi northwest of Sfax. There are bus services from the town center to Maktar, Kairouan, Tunis, Kasserine, Gafsa and Tozeur.