World’s richest concentration of ancient Roman cities Dougga – a UNESCO World Heritage Site – is also a day trip from Tunis. Its Roman theatre, built in AD 168, is now used as a spectacular setting for concerts. Its Baths of Cyclops are in ruins, except for the 1,700-year-old communal latrines. In a horseshoe-shaped stone bench, there are 12 side-by-side holes. A waste channel leads to the street gutter. Wildflowers grow in the washbasin. You must leave your base in Tunis to explore the Roman cities that flourished during the reign of the Caesars. Thuburbo Majus, with its splendid monuments, houses and mosaics was founded by Augustus Caesar in 27 BC. In Bulla Regia, wealthy Roman landowners built heat-sheltered subterranean villas, decorated with mosaics. You can still admire several magnificent mosaics here, including a portrait of a woman in the Palace of Amphitrite. Legend claims that there were originally gemstones in her irises, but they were stolen. Also not to be missed is the three-tiered Amphitheatre of El Jem – the third largest in the world. Better preserved than Rome’s Colosseum, it once seated 35,000 spectators for gladiatorial combats, wild animal fights and the martyrdom of Christians. The UNESCO World Heritage Site was one of the film locations used in the Oscar-winning movie, Gladiator. 16 | www.snowbirds.org Travel
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