Carthaginian / Phoenician Timeline

1000 BCE – 700 CE · 7 sites

All sites in this period

Continent Record

Most-Visited Ancient Site in Africa

Carthage

814 BCE – 700 CE

Ancient Phoenician city-state that became Rome's greatest rival, later reborn as a Roman metropolis, embodying over a millennium of Mediterranean history.

Iron AgeClassicalHellenistic

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Continent Record

Oldest Temple in Asia

Baalbek

1000 BCE – 400 CE

Baalbek, Lebanon's monumental Roman temple complex, preserves the largest stone blocks ever quarried and stands as a testament to imperial ambition and religious syncretism.

Iron AgeHellenisticRoman

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Country Record

Oldest City in Libya

Leptis Magna

700 BCE – 650 CE

Leptis Magna, a UNESCO World Heritage site on Libya's coast, was a major Phoenician then Roman city, reaching its zenith under Emperor Septimius Severus (r. 193–211 CE).

Iron AgeClassicalHellenistic

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Volubilis

300 BCE – 285 CE

Volubilis, an exceptionally preserved Roman city in Morocco, originated as a Berber settlement around 300 BCE and flourished under Roman rule, renowned for its stunning mosaics and monumental architecture.

HellenisticRomanLate Antique

The Capitol and ruins of the Roman town of Dougga (Thugga), Tunisia

Country Record

Oldest City in Tunisia

Dougga

300 BCE – 600 CE

The best-preserved Roman town in North Africa — a small city spread across a hilltop in northern Tunisia, with a near-complete theatre, the elegant Capitol temple, baths, and forum, all overlooking olive-covered countryside. Its Numidian roots also survive in the rare Libyco-Punic Mausoleum, a key monument of pre-Roman Africa.

HellenisticRomanByzantine

The Roman theatre at Sabratha facing the Mediterranean Sea

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Country Record

Earliest Known Site in Libya

Sabratha

500 BCE – 647 CE

A Punic trading post turned Roman city on the Libyan coast west of Tripoli, famous for its exceptionally preserved theatre facing the sea, mosaic-rich insulae, and the monumental Temple of Liber Pater — one of the most photogenic Roman archaeological sites on the southern Mediterranean shore.

ClassicalRomanLate Antique

Roman mosaic of Amphitrite in an underground villa at Bulla Regia, Tunisia

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Country Record

Longest Continuously Occupied Site in Tunisia

Bulla Regia

200 BCE – 600 CE

A Roman city in northern Tunisia uniquely famous for its underground villa complexes — entire domestic floors built below ground level to escape the heat, preserving mosaics in situ that would otherwise have been looted or destroyed. Bulla Regia offers the most complete picture of Roman domestic architecture anywhere in North Africa.

ClassicalRomanLate Antique