The southern edge of the whole hill was the palace (2nd century CE) of the Roman governor of Africa. In the later 1st and 2nd centuries CE a ring of public buildings was built around the earlier colony. These included the Antonine Baths, an amphitheatre, theatre, odeion and several groups of public cisterns.

Carthage is a famed ancient city on the Gulf of Tunis; center of a powerful state that conquered Sardinia, Malta, and Balearic Islands in the 6th century BCE. After battling Rome in the 100-year Punic Wars was ruined by Rome in 146 BCE, but rebuilt as a Roman city (under Augustus, beginning 29 BCE). Later rebuilt by Vandals (under Justinian), ruined by Arabs in 698 and deserted. The first civilization that developed within the city's sphere of influence is referred to as Punic (a form of the word "Phoenician") or Carthaginian. A UNESCO World Heritage Site.