Thermes d'Antonin (Baths of Antoninus), Tunis

The Baths of Antoninus rank among the most imposing remains of Roman Carthage. Built between 145 and 162 AD during the reign of Emperor Antoninus Pius, the complex was the largest set of Roman baths in Africa and one of the three largest in the entire Roman Empire. Positioned directly along the shoreline, it formed a monumental statement of Roman engineering and civic life.

In antiquity, the baths were far more than a place for washing. The vast complex included heated rooms, cold pools, exercise areas, and grand halls supported by massive vaults and columns. An advanced system of aqueducts and cisterns supplied the enormous volumes of water required. Marble cladding, sculptures, and mosaics once transformed everyday routines into experiences of luxury and display.

Centuries of pillaging dramatically altered the site. Much of the stone was reused as building material for Tunis and other cities around the northern Mediterranean, leaving only parts of the basement and fragments of the ground floor intact. Despite this loss, the surviving remains still convey the original scale of the complex. The baths were rediscovered in the early 19th century and systematically excavated after the Second World War.