Maktar

Maktar or Makthar (Arabic: مكثر), also known by other names during antiquity, is a town and archaeological site in Siliana Governorate, Tunisia. Maktar was founded by the Berber Numidians as a defense post against Carthaginian expansion. At the end of the Third Punic War, it was settled by many Punic refugees after the Romans' destruction of Carthage in 146 BC. Under Roman rule, it obtained the status of a free city under Julius Caesar in 46 BC and became a Roman colony in AD 146. It formed part of the province of Byzacena and was the seat of a Christian bishop. Under the Romans and Byzantines, it reversed its earlier role to serve as a defense post against local Berber attacks. The town survived the Muslim invasions but was destroyed by the Banu Hilal tribe in the 11th century before being reëstablished. The present town had a population of 13,576 in 2014.