JUDGING from historical accounts dating back to 1,000BC, people living in the North African coast were a prickly lot. Just think of a fish tank - the Mediterranean Sea, in this case - overcrowded with lots of fighting fish pitted against one another.

In an area that spanned Sicily in the south of Italy, the coastal parts of Algeria, Tunisia, Lebanon, the Greek islands (and occasionally southern France and eastern Spain) - the Phoenicians, Greeks and Romans jostled for naval and commercial dominance.

The most powerful city then was Carthage. The Romans hated it so much that when they picked a fight with Carthage in 150BC, they razed it to the ground and salted its soil to make it barren.

Rebuilt 100 years later by Julius Caesar, Carthage soon grew to be the second-largest city in the Roman Empire.

For the next 200 years, Roman society in Africa flourished. Its hedonistic people constructed amphitheatres, forums and Roman baths and gymnasiums in areas of Tunisia like Dougga, El Jem and Carthage, which is 20 minutes-drive from Tunis, the capital of present-day Tunisia.

On a recent trip to Tunis, I had the chance to marvel at the opulence of the Antonin Baths (above right), which are located in a park in the Magon Quarter, next to the presidential palace sitting on the Gulf of Tunis.

Upon entering the park, you will be struck by the lush greenery transversed by the broad orderly walkways that the Romans built.

Walk straight down and turn right towards the beach, in the direction of the Tunisian flag in the presidential palace, and you will reach the Antonin Baths on the beach. The Antonin Baths were one of the largest bath houses built during the Roman Empire, boasting a cool room measuring an amazing 47m in length and 15m in height.

The baths are extravagant, almost defiant in their expanse. That they look so complete, my guide told us, is because what can be seen now is actually the basement of a larger complex.

The complex had an Olympic-sized swimming pool next to the sea, a room for cold baths, a room for hot baths, a sauna and an exercise area.

To its east is a crescent moon-shaped structure that looks like a mini-theatre, but is actually a curved platform of public latrines. Yes, the Romans liked to put on a toga and have a chat with one another while they did their "business".

Walk among the ruins, and you will be struck by how the ceilings have been shaped in curves to keep the steam in the room.

Strewn about the compound are broken marble columns, like broken limbs of a forgotten body, with green veins smudged by the passage of time.

The baths are one of the few examples of grand Roman buildings left in Tunisia. After AD200-250, as the Roman Empire weakened, few large infrastructural buildings like theatres and forums were built.

The subsequent masters of North Africa, which included the Vandals, the Arabs, and the Ottoman Turks, were not prone to architectural exploits and were more inward looking.

MOSAIC ART IN ROMAN AFRICA

To see what Carthaginian society was like under the Romans, a trip to the Bardo Museum in the western part of Tunis is a must. The variety and the realism of mosaics from the first two centuries are just staggering.

Mosaics of the sea showed Poseidon and a Mediterranean Sea full of succulent glistening fish. Favourite scenes are banquets, drinking, fox hunting and wrestling. Many showed naively happy and childish expressions of an abundant rural life.

One of the most prized mosaics in the Bardo collection is probably the mosaic of Virgil - the author of the Roman classic, Aeneid - with his two muses. Dating from 210, it was one of the most complete mosaics ever found.

As the Roman Empire crumbled and more people embraced Christianity, the style for later mosaics seemed to be more schematic, less painting-like, and depicted Biblical stories like Daniel in the lion's den, reflecting the austere and contemplative mood of the times.

The writer visited Tunisia as a guest of Qatar Airways. Qatar Airways flies to Tunis three times a week.

Photos: Koh Joh Ting

Note: This article was part of the Natas Travel 2006 Special published in The Straits Times on March 23, 2006. As a reference to the project's main lead, 'Travel is a numbers game', it's original headline in print was: '47 metres is the awesome length of one of the greatest Roman bathing rooms'.