3-065-869 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

The Roman Coliseum of Thysdrus at El Djem, near Tunis, 1874. Engraving from a photograph by Mr. E. Ritchie. 'When Northern Africa was a province of Imperial Rome, the vast Flavian amphitheatre [in Rome] was copied at Thysdrus, a city of Byzacium...[It] was seen miles away, rising high above the plain, from amidst the surrounding olive groves. Mr. Ritchie says: "On the last day of our sojourn at El Djem we measured the length and breadth of the building two or three times, so as to be quite sure as to the accuracy of the dimensions. We found it to be 488 ft. in length by 404 ft. 6 in. in breadth...The thing that strikes one most on seeing the African Coliseum for the first time is its grandeur; and then, the wanton neglect and destruction of it by the Arabs. Somewhat more than a century ago it was in almost a perfect state of preservation, until the Arabs, in a rebellion about that time, made a fortification of it...[However] the interior is in an almost entire state of ruin as regards the seats; but the feature of this Coliseum, which excels all others, is in its exterior and circular façades. These, which constitute the chief characteristic beauty of such an edifice, are almost in a perfect state of preservation".' From "Illustrated London News", 1874.