Sousse was founded in the 9th century BC by the Phoenicians, who gave it the name Hadrumet. It's one of the oldest ports of the Mediterranean. Later Hannibal used Hadrumet as his military base at end of the Second Punic War (218-201 BC) and was beaten. During the Third Punic War they changed over to the side of the Romans thus avoiding destruction and gaining status of a free city. In 46 BC Julius Caesar fought against Pompeii in Thapsus and the town of Hadrumet choose the wrong side. Caesar won the battle and imposed heavy taxation on the town. Later under the rule of Emperor Trajan (98-117), the town became an important commerce center. There are no Roman sites in the town, only an archaeological museum containing mosaics and some statues.
In the evening our travel agency organized a Bedouin night. At the beach we were introduced to Tunisian "culture" in a very compact package. There were about 70 tourists in a huge "tent". The first course of the dinner was tomato soup. Free red wine, "drink as much you can" (frankly - you are not able to), and the main course was cous cous with chicken. The "Berber show" was mainly traditional Berber music, beautiful looking dancers, "acrobatics" and a very "enchanting" belly dancer. The whole thing costs 25 dinars. Was it worth it? See for your self.
