What did the Romans ever do for Tunisia? Bulla Regia, that's what!

Detail of an underground mosaic, Bulla Regia

If you’ve just climbed to the top of the Roman amphitheatre at El Djem or are fresh from wandering across the seemingly endless ruins of Dougga, then your first feeling on arriving at Bulla Regia is likely to be one of disappointment.

It’s true, the theatre at Bulla Regia is impressive and the Memmian baths are immense. But, but... well, the Roman remains elsewhere in Tunisia are so outstanding that dusty old Bulla doesn’t quite seem to match up. So, why not push on back to the coast for a quick dip in the Med?

Because, if you do, then you’ll miss one of the most unique ancient sites anywhere in the world. If I had to make a choice between visiting, say, the Colosseum in Rome, England’s Stonehenge or Tunisia’s Bulla Regia, then it’s Bulla that’s going to win hands down every time. 

Were the first Europeans cannibals?

Culturissima is just back from a short trip to Spain, where we had the good fortune to visit the caves of Atapuerca. On our return to Paris we stumbled on the following article in the French newspaper Le Figaro, which has just been translated by Culturissima's David Winter.


A Spanish archaeologist claims that fossilised remains found in Atapuerca in Spain bear traces of cannibalism. Registered on the UNESCO World Heritage list in 2000, Atapuerca is one of the largest archaeological sites in Europe.  


Fossilised remains found on the site of Atapuerca, thought to belong to the first Europeans, have revealed that pre-historic man was cannibalistic and enjoyed eating the flesh of children and teenagers. One of the co-ordinators of the Atapuerca project, José Maria Bermudez de Castro, told the French news agency AFP: "We now know that they practised cannibalism".