Giallo antico

[2] It was extracted in quarries which can be seen today near the ancient city of Simitthus, near the current village of Chemtou, Tunisia.

[4] Varieties with a uniform background were considered more valuable than the brecciated ones, especially the "golden", and the very rare "of a colour similar to the rose".

The marble was widely used for column shafts and wall and floor coverings in public buildings of cities closest to the coast of the Mediterranean.

Suetonius[8] reports that the people had an honorific column of Numidian marble dedicated to Caesar erected in the Roman Forum.

In the 3rd century the quarries gradually became exhausted and the giallo antico was progressively replaced by yellow breccias of other origins and of lesser value.