What Roman baths in Tunisia were the largest in Africa?

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The Roman baths in Tunisia that were the largest in Africa were the Baths of Antoninus, also called the Baths of Carthage.

They were built beside the Mediterranean at Roman Carthage during the reign of Emperor Antoninus Pius, broadly in the mid-2nd century AD, with construction usually dated to about AD 145–162. The complex covered roughly 35,000 square metres and ranked among the largest imperial bathing establishments in the Roman world. Its scale reflects Carthage’s importance after Rome rebuilt the city as the capital of the province of Africa.

The baths were part of a wider urban system supplied by major aqueducts and cisterns. Their seaside location and soft coastal soil required unusual structural solutions: service areas could not simply be placed in deep subterranean levels, so parts of the complex rose higher than in many other bathhouses. The ruins form part of the Archaeological Site of Carthage, designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979. They are distinct from the Baths of Caracalla and the Baths of Diocletian, both famous complexes in Rome.

Source: Wikipedia · fact-checked Sept. 2026

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