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The Uthina amphitheater is located in the north of the former city. It is half dug into the hill and the seats were addorsed to the slope; only the upper part of the building with the arcs is above ground.
The edifice, which dates from the reign of Hadrian, measures 113mx90m and seated about 16,000. The amphitheater has undergone digging and renovations since the start of excavations in 1993. The central arena measures 58mx35m. An underground vaulted gallery aligned in a major axis provides access to the amphitheater basement with symmetrical vaults and rooms under the central arena.
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Roman sites in Tunisia Catholic titular sees in Africa Roman amphitheaters in North Africa Ancient Roman buildings and structures in Tunisia {{tunisia-stub
Uthina
:'' Uthina'' is also a spider genus ( Pholcidae)
Uthina or Oudna ( ar, أوذنة) was an ancient Roman-Berber city located near Tunis, Tunisia.
History
Uthina was a town in the province of Africa Proconsularis, now northern Tunisia.
Uthina beca ...
'' is also a spider genus (Pholcidae
The Pholcidae are a family of araneomorph spiders. The family contains over 1,800 individual species of pholcids, including those commonly known as cellar spider, daddy long-legs spider, carpenter spider, daddy long-legger, vibrating spid ...
)
Uthina or Oudna ( ar, أوذنة) was an ancient Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
- Berber city located near Tunis
''Tounsi'' french: Tunisois
, population_note =
, population_urban =
, population_metro = 2658816
, population_density_km2 =
, timezone1 = CET
, utc_offset1 ...
, Tunisia
)
, image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg
, map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa
, image_map2 =
, capital = Tunis
, largest_city = capital
, ...
.
History
Uthina was a town in theprovince
A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...
of Africa Proconsularis
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
, now northern Tunisia
)
, image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg
, map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa
, image_map2 =
, capital = Tunis
, largest_city = capital
, ...
.
Uthina became a Roman colony
A Roman (plural ) was originally a Roman outpost established in conquered territory to secure it. Eventually, however, the term came to denote the highest status of a Roman city. It is also the origin of the modern term ''colony''.
Character ...
of veterans of Legio XIII Gemina
, in English the 13th Twin Legion was a legion of the Imperial Roman army. It was one of Julius Caesar's key units in Gaul and in the civil war, and was the legion with which he crossed the Rubicon in January, perhaps the 10th, 49 BC. The legi ...
during the reign of Emperor
An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...
Augustus
Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pr ...
. Hence, it was mentioned by Ptolemy
Claudius Ptolemy (; grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος, ; la, Claudius Ptolemaeus; AD) was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist, who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were of importance ...
(IV, 3, 34), Pliny the Elder
Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/2479), called Pliny the Elder (), was a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic ' ...
, and the ''Tabula Peutingeriana
' (Latin for "The Peutinger Map"), also referred to as Peutinger's Tabula or Peutinger Table, is an illustrated ' (ancient Roman road map) showing the layout of the '' cursus publicus'', the road network of the Roman Empire.
The map is a 13th-ce ...
''.
From the accounts given by geographer
A geographer is a physical scientist, social scientist or humanist whose area of study is geography, the study of Earth's natural environment and human society, including how society and nature interacts. The Greek prefix "geo" means "earth" a ...
s the site seems to be the ruins
Ruins () are the remains of a civilization's architecture. The term refers to formerly intact structures that have fallen into a state of partial or total disrepair over time due to a variety of factors, such as lack of maintenance, deliberate ...
that form the archeological site of Oudna, near a station on the railway from Tunis
''Tounsi'' french: Tunisois
, population_note =
, population_urban =
, population_metro = 2658816
, population_density_km2 =
, timezone1 = CET
, utc_offset1 ...
to Kef
Kef may refer to:
Places
* El Kef (also transliterated as ''Al-Kāf'' or ''Le Kef''), a city in northwestern Tunisia
*Kef Governorate, Tunisia
Others
*''Aram Bajakian's Kef'', a 2011 album by guitarist Aram Bajakian
* ISO 639:kef or Ewe languag ...
and not far from what was the World War II Oudna Airfield. These ruins occupy a surface nearly three miles in circumference, covering a hilly plateau
In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; ), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. Often one or more sides ...
, and commanding the left bank of the Milian wady; there are remains of a fortress, cisterns, an aqueduct, a triumphal arch
A triumphal arch is a free-standing monumental structure in the shape of an archway with one or more arched passageways, often designed to span a road. In its simplest form a triumphal arch consists of two massive piers connected by an arch, cro ...
, a theatre
Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...
, an amphitheater, a basilica
In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica is a large public building with multiple functions, typically built alongside the town's Forum (Roman), forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek East. The building ...
with a circular crypt, and a bridge. Many mosaics are to be found there as well.
Uthina amphitheater
The Uthina amphitheater is located in the north of the former city. It is half dug into the hill and the seats were addorsed to the slope; only the upper part of the building with the arcs is above ground.
The edifice, which dates from the reign of Hadrian, measures 113mx90m and seated about 16,000. The amphitheater has undergone digging and renovations since the start of excavations in 1993. The central arena measures 58mx35m. An underground vaulted gallery aligned in a major axis provides access to the amphitheater basement with symmetrical vaults and rooms under the central arena.
Filming location
The site (credited as "Oudhna") served as the filming location for the 2001 film ''Murder in Mesopotamia
''Murder in Mesopotamia'' is a work of detective fiction by British writer Agatha Christie, first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on 6 July 1936 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company later in the same year. The UK edition ret ...
'' based on Agatha Christie's novel of the same name./ref>
See also
References
Roman sites in Tunisia Catholic titular sees in Africa Roman amphitheaters in North Africa Ancient Roman buildings and structures in Tunisia {{tunisia-stub