El Jem is a small Tunisian town with a very large building. Rising out of the flat plain of the Sahel, the amphitheatre of Thysdrus, as the Romans called the place, is one of the biggest ever built, a three-tiered oval of pale limestone more than a hundred and thirty metres long, and it was designed to hold some thirty-five thousand spectators. Construction began in the early third century, probably under the rule of the wealthy local landowners who grew rich on olive oil, and it was never fully finished, because the African governor who encouraged it was killed in a revolt in 238.
The amphitheatre stands almost whole, and you can walk through the passages beneath the arena where animals and gladiators waited, climb the tiers for a view over the plain, and see the arches that frame the sky. Little stands between you and the ancient world. The building has played a part in films, including Gladiator and Monty Python's Life of Brian, and each summer a music festival fills the stone seats. Nearby, a museum shows beautiful Roman mosaics found in the town's villas, with scenes of the seasons, the gods and the beasts of the arena.
For motorcyclists, El Jem is an easy stop on the main road between Sousse and Sfax, with flat, straight highways and olive trees to the horizon. The amphitheatre is in the middle of town, so parking is easy, and locals will offer to watch your bike for a small tip. Traffic on the main road includes heavy lorries and shared taxis that stop abruptly. Summer heat is severe, and midday visits to the exposed stone can be exhausting, so go early or late.
El Jem has about twenty thousand people, with fuel stations and cafés along the main street. Kairouan, one of Islam's holiest cities, with its great ninth-century mosque, is a short day's ride inland to the west, and the sea resorts of the Sahel are close to the east.
Aim for early morning, when the stone is cool and the coach parties are still at breakfast.