Once the most prosperous Roman city in this area, ancient Mactaris has lain in ruins since it was devastated by invading Arab tribes in 1050 AD. Before this, the town changed hands so many times that its history reads as a roll call of early Tunisian residents, from Numidian to Byzantine, and its remains show a hybrid of cultures as each blended into the next.
Originally beyond the bounds of Roman Africa, the initially Numidian town became a beacon for Punic refugees fleeing sacked Carthage in 146 BC. It was later scooped up as part of an extension of the Roman Empire into the area called Africa Nova. Having survived the Vandal invasion, Makthar became an important Byzantine fortress.
There's a small museum near the entrance, which houses a collection of gravestones, statues, coins and lamps that shows the gradual shift from Numidian to Punic to Roman culture. A large floor mosaic portrays a veritable menagerie, including peacocks, rabbits and ducks.
Immediately south of the museum are the remains of the town’s small amphitheatre, built in the 2nd century AD. The base and the gates to hold back contestants and animals before being sent into the ring have been restored, but none of the seating has survived.
The main path runs south from the amphitheatre towards Trajan’s Arch (AD 116), which has an ornate pediment, very well preserved because it became the foundations of a 6th-century Byzantine tower. On the south side, a triumphant Latin inscription is still partially legible, celebrating the conquest of the 'Germans, Armenians and Parthians'.
Trajan's Arch stands guard to the south of the stone-paved forum, of which hardly anything remains except its layout. The four columns at the northeastern corner of the forum mark the location of the town’s market, which also has an altar to Mercury, the Roman god of shopkeepers and merchants.
A path leads northeast from the forum to the scanty remains of the Temple of Hathor Miskar, dedicated to the Carthaginian god and notable because it shows how long Punic beliefs survived after the arrival of the Romans. Nearby are the remains of a Roman villa known as the House of Venus, named after the mosaic found here that’s now in the site’s museum.
Retracing your steps back to Trajan's Arch, look for two rows of columns to the south, which belong to the Basilica of Hildeguns, a small 5th-century Vandal church. The baptismal font, hidden behind the rounded apse at the eastern end, still has traces of the original mosaics.
The southern part of the site is dominated by the massive walls of the Grands Thermes Publics (Southeast Baths), one of the largest and best-preserved bathhouses in Roman Africa. Built in the 3rd century AD, they were converted into a fortress by the Byzantines. The star feature is the now-faded labyrinthine-style mosaic floor of the central hall, under its imposing arches.
Follow a stone-hewn path to the west. The jumble of full-length columns and huge blocks with Latin inscriptions standing at the southwestern corner of the site was the Schola Juvenum, a little-understood youth club where young men met socially but might have also banded together as a sort of police force or tax collection office. It's an uncommon find in ruins across the Roman Empire and one of Makthar's most intriguing spots. Making things more confusing, the structure was converted into a church in the 3rd century AD.
The area just south of the schola was the town’s cemetery, in use before the arrival of the Romans; it's dotted with Numidian tombs.
Makthar is on the bus line from Tunis to Kasserine, but it's most easily visited with your own wheels as a day trip from Le Kef.