ROAD, to Lambèse 7 M. (diligence four times daily, in 1 hr.), to
Timgad 23½ M.—The diligence from Batna to (67 M.) Khenchela (p. 273),
starting at 4 a.m., reaches at 8 a.m., beyond the 35th kilomètre-stone
(22 M.), the point where the Timgad road diverges. One may therefore
alight there and walk in less than ½ hr. to Timgad. Returning from
Khenchela the diligence passes this point about noon. During the
season motor-omnibuses of the Hôt. des Etrangers run from Batna to
Lambèse and Timgad (75 fr. for the whole vehicle; single seat 25 fr.).
A motor-omnibus of the Hôt. Meille at Timgad also conveys travellers
from the station at Batna to Timgad and back (20 fr. each person; best
to order beforehand). Carriages (for one day 20–30, for two days 30–40
fr.) may be had at the hotels or through the Rail. Restaurant. The
fares are rather lower when arranged with the drivers direct. Bicycles
in the Square at Batna, 5 fr. per day.
If pressed for time we may take the evening train from Constantine to
Batna, visit Lambèse and Timgad next day, and go on to Biskra in the
afternoon by train. Those who reach Batna from Biskra or El-Kantara
about noon may take lunch at the station, go on to Lambèse, staying
there for 1½–2 hrs., and thence to Timgad, whence they may return next
morning to Batna in time for the afternoon train to Constantine.
_Batna_, see p. 275. The road leaves the town by the _Quartier
Militaire_ and ascends slightly, to the S.E., through the dreary upland
plain, where it is sometimes bitterly cold in winter, and along the N.
margin of the _Aurès Mts._ (p. 278). As we near the hill-region of
Lambèse we sight the ‘Prætorium’ in the distance.
7 M. =Lambèse= or _Lambessa_ (3875 ft.; quarters at the poor cafés
only), a village with a large _Pénitencier_, or Maison Centrale de
Correction, was founded in 1848 as a prison for political offenders and
partly built out of the ruins of the Roman _Lambaesis_.
Lambæsis was the headquarters of the famous Third Legion, the nucleus
of the Roman forces in Numidia, transferred hither about 100 A. D.
from Tebessa (p. 315) for the defence of the chief Aurès passes, those
to the Oued Abdi and the Oued el-Abiod (p. 278). Their oldest camp,
recently discovered, lay 1¼ M. to the W. of Lambèse; the newer camp,
mentioned as early as 146 A. D., is now partly built over by the
penitentiary and its garden. On a hill rising steeply from the plain,
1¼ M. to the S. of the later camp, lay a civilian settlement
(_canăbae_), occupied at first by traders, artisans, and the soldiers’
families, but erected into a municipium under Marcus Aurelius
(161–180). This became the seat of the governor of Numidia and for a
short time prospered. But the punishment of the Third Legion by
Gordian III. (238), who removed it to the Rhine for twenty-five years,
the earthquake of 268, the extension of the military frontier under
Diocletian (284–305) to the S. border of the Sahara Atlas, and the
transference, under Constantine the Great, of the governor’s seat to
Cirta (p. 298) were disasters from which Lambæsis never recovered, so
that by the 5th cent. it was completely abandoned.
The Roman *CAMP, one of the best-preserved in existence, ‘the classic
ruin of military occupation’ as it has been called, forms a rectangle of
547 by 460 yds., with the usual rounded corners, and four gates, between
which ran the two main streets, the _Cardo_ and the _Decumanus_.
We alight at the ancient _Porta Sinistra_, the W. gate. Between this and
the ‘Prætorium’ (see below) recent excavations have unearthed remains of
the Decumanus and its three N. side-streets, all once flanked with
colonnades, and the foundations of the barracks built of concrete (p.
290). The _Porta Praetoria_, the N. gate, at the end of the well-paved
Cardo, with its two passages and the substructures of its two towers, is
particularly well preserved. Near it, adjoining the relics of the
camp-wall, are the ruins of several other towers.
At the intersection of the Decumanus and the Cardo, 156 yds. from the N.
gate, rises the so-called **_Praetorium_, probably rebuilt in 268, the
monumental entrance-gateway of the residence of the legate (prætorium or
principia), the only intact Roman building of the kind and the grandest
Roman ruin in Algeria. This great rectangular pile of solid masonry in
two stories, 33½ by 25 yds. in area and 49 ft. in height, is adorned
outside with Corinthian columns on high pedestals and with Corinthian
pilasters. The four great round-arched passages, of which the side and
end ones are flanked, respectively, by three and two smaller archways,
open into a central space, which, to judge from the four large bases of
pillars, was once probably furnished with a roof and lighted by the four
round-arched windows in the upper story.
Of the so-called _Forum_, the chief court of the Prætorium, there
still exist remains of the colonnade and a number of side-chambers,
once armouries. (In the so-called arsenal at the N.W. angle many
cannon-balls and other missiles have been found.) To the S. of the
forum is the _Posticum_, with its offices and _Scholae_, the
club-rooms of the officers and sergeants (now ticketed), and the
_Chapel_ for the flags and insignia of the Legion, recognizable by its
large niche. The cellars served as the _Treasury_.
The _Thermes du Camp_, the ancient baths, to the S.E. of the Prætorium,
show remains of the heating apparatus (comp. p. 294).
From the E. gate, once the _Porta Dextra_, ran the road to Verecunda (p.
289) and Timgad and the Via Septimiana to the town-hill, 1¼ M. distant.
In the open ground outside of it rises the ruinous single _Arch of
Commodus_. Near this is the _Amphitheatre_, whose stones were used in
building the penitentiary (p. 286).
We now drive to the S. from the S.E. angle of the camp, where carriages
usually wait, to the VILLAGE. At the _Mairie_, mainly built with the
stones of the Septizonium, a nymphæum or fountain, we find the museum
attendant (fee ½ fr.), who if desired will show also the town-hill
(fee).
The small _Musée Municipal_, near the church, comprises, under a shed,
some mediocre statues from the temple of Æsculapius and splendid
*Mosaics found in 1905 (one with an inscription by a Greek artist),
missiles, etc. The garden contains architectural fragments,
inscriptions, etc.
A road leads from the S. end of the village to the TOWN HILL, where
excavators have not as yet discovered even the forum.
Near the (¼ hr.) _Aïn-Drinn_, which now supplies the village with
drinking-water, are the almost unrecognizable remains of the _Temple of
Neptune_. From this point we walk to the N.E. past the ruins of the
_Aqueduct_ and the foundations of four _Dwelling Houses_ to (10 min.)
the chief temples.
The *_Temple of Æsculapius_, at the W. end of the temple area, a
curiously planned edifice dating from the time of Marcus Aurelius,
consists of a cella, well-preserved in its foundations, with a large
semicircular niche for the statues of Æsculapius and Salus (or Hygiea),
and of a semicircular terrace (concave inwards), where a square basement
in front bore a Doric portico, which collapsed in 1852. In front of the
flight of six steps lie remains of the architrave, bearing the
dedicatory inscription of the temple. Colonnades connected the temple
with two semicircular projections, flanking the terrace, on which stood
the ædiculæ or chapels of Jupiter Valens and Silvanus. Behind the cella
are vestiges of the _Thermae_ connected with the temple.
A straight ancient road leads to the S.E. from the temple of Æsculapius
to the capitol, the distinctive feature of every Roman colony. On the
left lie the substructures of _Chapels_ dedicated to eight different
gods (about 200 A. D.), all rectangular and each with its niche, usually
rounded.
The *_Capitol_, the largest temple of Lambæsis, dedicated to the cult of
Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva, adjoins the W. wall of the ancient
temple-court, a quadrangle of 66 by 60 yds., of whose colonnades eight
columns only survive. A flight of twenty steps, most of which also have
disappeared, ascended to the temple portico, with eight Corinthian
columns in front and four at the back. The cella, still fairly
preserved, 22½ by 12¼ yds., consists, exceptionally, of only two
chambers, separated by a partition, with square niches for the sacred
images. On the temple steps lie fragments of the dedicatory inscription
of the ‘Respublica Lambæsis’.
The capitol is adjoined on the E. by the court of a third _Temple_, 82
by 38 yds.
We now follow the road on the hill to the E., leaving on the left the
so-called _Bains des Chasseurs_, and in 3 min. reach the ruins of a
_Triumphal Arch_ with three gateways, on the old road to Verecunda (p.
289), and 3 min. farther a smaller _Archway_, to which point carriages
should be ordered. We then drive back to the plain, to the N.W., by the
Bertouli road, skirting the town-hill.
[Illustration: TIMGAD]
About halfway between this road and the highroad we pass the ruins of a
building once erroneously called the _Palais du Légat_, and those of
_Latrinae_. On the ancient Via Septimiana (p. 287), about a hundred
yards farther, rises the *_Arch of Septimius Severus_, with its three
passages, bereft of its columns and attica.
The HIGH ROAD ascends past the remains (on the left) of a _Roman Burial
Ground_, with the substructures of an _Early Christian Chapel_, under
the ciborium altar of which are two martyrs’ tombs. After a long bend to
the N. it reaches (9 M. from Batna) =Markouna= (about 4260 ft.), a
country-house surrounded by fruit-trees, cypresses, and pines, not far
from the site of the little Roman town of _Verecunda_.
Beyond Markouna, just before the new road to Medina (and Biskra; see p.
278) diverges, rises the _Arch of Marcus Aurelius_ (172 A. D.). A little
way to the S.W., on the old Roman road coming from the town-hill of
Lambæsis, stands another _Archway_, dedicated to the same emperor in
162.
As the road now descends to the N.E. into the dreary valley of the _Oued
Mérien_, we obtain on the right, beyond the 16th kilomètre-stone (10
M.), a fine view of the crest of the Kef Mahmel (p. 278), which is
snow-clad in winter. Beyond the 24th kilomètre-stone (15 M.) we overlook
a great part of the Aurès Mts. with Jebel Chelia (p. 278). On the left
is _Jebel Taguertine_ (4511 ft.).
After the 27th kilomètre-stone (17 M.) we sight, far to the S.E., at the
foot of the spurs of the Aurès, the ruins of _Timgad_, where the two
tall columns of the capitol gradually grow more conspicuous. The road to
(23½ M. from Batna) Timgad, which diverges to the right beyond the 35th
kilomètre-stone (21½ M.), crosses the Oued Mérien and ends on the N.
side of the ruins.
* * * * *
=Timgad.=—HOTEL. _Hôtel Meille_, 4 min. to the N. of the ruins,
opposite the Berber market (Thurs.), with a fine view of the Aurès
Mts., R. 3–4, B. 1–1½, déj. 3½, D. 4 fr., plain but well spoken of.
The RUINS may be visited at any time. The chief sights, named in the
text in heavy type, may be cursorily seen within 2–3 hrs. For closer
study _A. Ballu’s_ Guide Illustré de Timgad (at book-shops 2½, 3½ fr.
at the Agence, p. 291, where photographs and picture post-cards also
are sold) is valuable. Information as to recent excavations may be
obtained from the inspector _M. Barry_.—Comp, also ‘Carthage, Timgad,
Tébessa’, by _R. Cagnat_ (Paris, 1909).
_Timgad_ (3520 ft.), known by the Berber name of _Thamugadi_ in the
late-Roman period and one of the most thriving towns in the E. Algerian
highlands, dates from 100 A. D., when the legate P. Munatius Gallus,
commander of the Third Legion (p. 286), was ordered by Trajan to found
the _Colonia Marciana Trajana Thamugadi_, probably about the same time
as Lambæsis, as the key of the Fount Ksantina (p. 296). The town saw its
prime in the second half of the 2nd and in the 3rd cent., but in the 4th
cent., like Bagai (p. 273), it was a centre of the Donatist movement and
suffered severely in the wars of the period. After fruitless attempts by
the Vandals to revive it, Thamugadi was destroyed by the hostile Berber
tribes of the Aurès Mts. in 535. Having been finally abandoned at the
close of the Byzantine domination, the ruins of the town, with the
exception of Trajan’s Arch, were gradually buried under the deposits of
torrents, and for twelve centuries the place was consigned to complete
oblivion.
The excavations begun by the French government in 1880, and recently
conducted by the architect A. Ballu, have brought to light the most
important parts of the town, including the Forum, two Markets, the
Capitol, and no less than eleven Thermæ. While the private houses are
mostly unpretending and very inferior to those of Pompeii, the public
buildings afford most striking evidence of the ancient prosperity of
this remote Roman provincial town.
The oldest town, laid out as a square camp (comp. p. 286) of 384 yds.
each way, in conformity with its original destination as a
frontier-fortress, has four central gates, between which ran the two
main streets, the Cardo Maximus and the Decumanus Maximus,
intersecting each other at right angles. The ‘Cardo Maximus Nord’
opens into the Decumanus at the Forum, where it stops owing to the
unevenness of the soil. Some 90 yds. farther to the W., however, the
‘Cardo Maximus Sud’ leads out of the Decumanus. The rapid increase of
the population, especially on the E. and W. sides, on the busy roads
to Tebessa (p. 315) and Lambæsis, led as early as the 2nd cent. to the
construction or extensive new streets on a less regular plan. By the
5th cent. the population, which had greatly declined, withdrew from
the suburbs into the ancient walled precincts, which by this time had
been much built over at places.
The main streets are bordered with Doric colonnades and paved with
bluish limestone slabs; the smaller streets have sandstone pavement.
The waggon-ruts are deep, especially in the Decumanus Maximus, and are
slightly farther apart than at Pompeii (4 ft. 3 in. and 4 ft. 1 in.).
The excellent drainage-system is now utilized anew, as may be seen
from the gutters at the street-corners.
The usual building material was concrete (_opus incertum_, small
stones mixed with mortar), often faced with brick, or stone-framework
(the interstices being filled with brick or rubble-work). The private
houses usually occupy an _Insula_, as the square block enclosed by
four streets was called. The shops (_tabernae_) in the main streets
were all entered from the street, except when the trader lived in the
same house. As a rule the houses, like modern Moorish houses, have
their backs turned to the street, looking into an arcaded court
(peristyle) in Oriental fashion, instead of opening into a roofed
atrium in the ancient Roman style.
We begin our walk at the N. end of the town. On the right, just outside
the old town-wall, lie the—
*=Grands Thermes du Nord= (Pl. D, 1), the largest Roman baths in N.
Africa. They form a rectangle of 88½ by 70½ yds., and contain
thirty-five different chambers, all symmetrically constructed like
others of the later Roman period. Parts of the walls are still 23 ft. in
height.
A flight of ten steps on the E. side of the building leads to the
_Vestibulum_, the main entrance to the baths. The adjoining chamber on
the left opens on to a suite of three spacious halls. The two outer
ones were probably the _Palaestra_ for gymnastics and games. In the
corner, obliquely opposite the entrance-wall, is a kind of shaft or
passage leading to the _Apodyterium_ (undressing and dressing room).
The central hall is the largest _Frigidarium_, containing three basins
(_piscinae_). The chamber on the S. side, between the two smaller
basins, served as a passage to the _Tepidarium_, for hot-air baths and
massage. Adjoining the tepidarium on the S. is the largest
_Caldarium_, with three hot-water basins (_alvei_). Two side-rooms
were the _Laconica_ or sweating-baths. Adjacent to them were two
smaller _Caldaria_, to the N. of which, next to the palæstra, were two
other _Tepidaria_. The two rooms at the S.E. and S.W. corners of the
baths, each with an ante-room (apodyterium?) and large semicircular
niche, are supposed to have been _Frigidaria_.—As to _Heating
Apparatus_, comp. p. 294.
A little to the left of the main entrance to these Thermæ is the quaint
_Mannikin Fountain_ (Pl. D, 1), restored from ancient fragments.
The insignificant building on the E. side of the road is the
=Agence-Musée= (Pl. D, E, 1), containing the offices of the directors of
the excavations and a collection of objects found at Timgad. These,
however, with the exception of some mosaics, the chief adornment of the
African-Roman dwelling, show a provincial and mechanical style of art.
Along the outside walls are ranged the larger sculptures, a great
stone vase, fragments of buildings, and Saturn stelæ.
The Entrance Room (I) contains pottery, including numerous lamps.—Room
II. Smaller fragments of sculpture, bronze implements, etc.—Rooms III
& IV. Desk-cases containing the most valuable finds, notably glass,
clay-vases, small implements in bronze and bone. Under the cases are
water-pines, etc.—Against the walls are placed mosaics: in R. III,
Diana and Actæon, with the name of the artist (Selius), and Neptune in
a quadriga; in R. IV, Jupiter and Antiope (inscription, ‘Filadelfis
vita’), and Amphitrite on a marine centaur.
We now enter the oldest part of the town by the central _Porte du Nord_
(Pl. D, 1), 13¼ by 5¾ yds., preserved only in its lower parts. Between
the pillars of the gateway, once enriched with Corinthian half-columns
and pilasters, are the ancient guard-rooms. On the floor are relics of
an inscription of 149 A.D., which names Antoninus Pius as the restorer
(or finisher) of the gateway.
The first building on the left side of the CARDO MAXIMUS NORD, a street
ascending steeply for 185 yds., is that of the Petits _Thermes du Nord_
(Pl. E, 1). On the left, beyond the fourth side-street, is the—
*=Library= (Pl. E, 2), one of the most curious buildings in the town,
resembling the library in the forum of Pompeii, which was once supposed
to be a shrine of the Lares. The building is preceded by an open
colonnade, with two small chambers on each side. Two side-doors lead
into the rectangular book-rooms, while the central door, as in all
antique libraries, opens into a kind of sanctuary, with a large central
niche flanked by four recesses on each side (for the sacred images), and
approached by a basement in three steps, with ornamental columns.
The Cardo Maximus Nord leads to the main entrance to the Forum (see
below) in the DECUMANUS MAXIMUS, the chief thoroughfare of the town. To
the right, at the W. end of the latter, rises Trajan’s Arch (p. 295). We
descend to the left. On the left, near the old E. gate of the inner
town, are the _Grands Thermes de l’Est_ (Pl. F, 2), whose tepidarium
contains remains of mosaic pavement. We turn back here, and in the third
S. street off the Decumanus Maximus we come to the _Petits Thermes de
l’Est_ (Pl. F, 2), where two of the rooms contain restored marble
benches.
Next, on the same side of the Decumanus, comes the *=Marché de l’Est= or
_East Macellum_ (Pl. E, F, 2), the smaller town-market, very curiously
planned.
A flight of eight steps ascends to a semicircular vestibule occupying
the middle of a platform 30 yds. wide and 2¼ yds. deep, on to the
right and on to the left sides of which open six small shops, three of
them facing the street and three the courtyard. The latter, really a
double court, consists of two segments of a circle with a triangular
fountain at their intersection. Adjacent, along the back-wall, right
and left, are five stalls with the old stone counters. In the centre
of each half-court is an open semicircular colonnade with
water-runlets.
Almost immediately to the W. of the market-hall, a later addition, is
the =Maison aux Jardinières= (Pl. 4; E, 2), a private house with a fine
garden-court, once adorned with flower-beds. These were enclosed by high
segment-shaped stone balustrades.
Near the _Fountain_ at the next street-corner, at the N.E. angle of the
Forum, are the =Latrinæ= (Pl. 3; E, 2), the finest ancient building of
the kind, with a washing-basin and excellent cleansing arrangements. The
double seats (originally 25) have marble arms adorned with dolphins.
A propylæum, with a vestibule (16 ft. wide) and twelve steps forms the
main entrance to the *=Forum= (Pl. E, 2, 3), the focus of municipal
life, to which foot-passengers only were admitted. It was completed in
the reign of Trajan, and conforms pretty closely in plan to the rules
laid down by Vitruvius. It forms a large rectangle, 110 by 65 yds.; the
area or central space, 55 by 47 yds., is enclosed by Corinthian
colonnades. The vestibule and area were once adorned by a crowd of
equestrian statues of emperors and figures of distinguished governors of
Numidia and eminent citizens. The so-called Marsyas, the symbol of civic
liberty, marked Thamugadi as one of the most favoured colonies, whose
inhabitants enjoyed the full rights of Roman citizenship. Besides the
pedestals of thirty-two statues, we note also several representations of
figures of a game (comp. p. 318) on the stone slabs of the pavement;
among the inscriptions annexed is the light-hearted ‘venari lavari
ludere ridere occ (hoc) est vivere’ (to hunt, bathe, play, and laugh is
to live).
The chambers on the N. side of the Forum were perhaps _Club Rooms_. The
two-storied _Shops_ on the S. side opened, on the upper floor, into the
Theatre Street (p. 293).
The only building on the E. side of the Forum is the very dilapidated
=Basilica= (Pl. E, 3), once the exchange and court of justice. Unlike
most other ancient edifices of the kind, it is a single hall (31 by 16
yds.), with three niches at the N. end and five small chambers on the E.
side. The large square niche at the S. end, at the foot of the theatre
hill, served as a law-court.
Of the buildings on the W. side of the Forum the two in the middle are
the =Curia= (Pl. E, 3), where the town-council (ordo decurionum) met, a
rectangle of 17 by 12 yds., with a colonnade in front and platform
behind, and a small _Temple_ (Pl. 8; E, 3), preceded by a speaker’s
platform (_rostra_), 6¾ ft. high. The purpose of the other buildings is
unknown.
Near the _Fountain_ at the N.W. angle of the Forum we turn to the S.,
out of the Decumanus into the Voie de la Curie, and thence to the left
into the Voie du Théâtre (38 ft. wide), on the S. side of the Forum.
The =Theatre= (Pl. E, 3), dating from 167, lies on the W. slope of an
isolated hill. It held about 4000 spectators, but little of it is left,
as the materials were used in building the Byzantine fortress (p. 296).
The semicircular orchestra, with its three tiers for the places of
honour (_bisellia_), allotted to the decuriones and other persons of
distinction, is well preserved. The _Cavea_, or auditorium, 69½ yds.
wide, rising on the hill-side, once had twenty-six tiers of seats, but
of these the seven lowest only remain. The stage (_pulpitum_) has been
destroyed with the exception of the front-wall, with its niches and
steps, and the hyposcenium, consisting of brick pillars (29½ in. high),
which supported the floor of the stage. The large colonnaded hall behind
the former back-wall of the stage served as a promenade (‘foyer’).
The hill behind the cavea of the theatre, where the remains of a
_Temple Court_ have been unearthed, affords a splendid *Survey of the
ruins. The view extends to the W. to the distant hills near Batna; to
the S.E., beyond the great débris-strewn slopes of the lower hills,
rise the Aurès Mts.
From the centre of the theatre colonnade we may walk to the W. to the
_Petits Thermes du Centre_ (Pl. E, 3), with admirably preserved heating
apparatus in the caldarium and laconicum (p. 291) on the W. side.
On the W. side of these baths runs the CARDO MAXIMUS SUD, the finely
paved main street of the S. quarter of the town, leading past the
entirely ruined S. Gate (Pl. E, 4) and the house of the Sertii (on the
right; p. 294), and ending at a _Fountain_ in the Voie des Thermes.
The *=Thermes du Sud= (Pl. E, 4), of the 2nd cent., extended in 198 and
restored about the end of the 3rd cent., are the finest in the town next
to the N. Thermæ.
A peculiarity of this building consists in the three great Exedræ,
semicircular projections on the N.E. and S. sides. The semicircle near
the S. entrance contained the Latrinæ, now almost entirely destroyed.
The great colonnaded hall near the N. entrance served as a promenade.
From the Palæstra, 26 by 10 yds., the largest hall in the baths,
bathers could enter the Apodyterium as well as the Frigidarium,
flanked by its two piscinæ. The small ante-rooms behind the
Frigidarium opened into the heated rooms: on the right the Tepidarium,
on the left the large Caldarium with its three hot-water basins, and,
straight in front, a smaller Caldarium with two basins. The
quadrangular space between the caldaria was the Laconicum.
The cellars on the S. side were partly occupied by the _Praefurnium_
(furnace room). Huge stoves (_furnaces_) heated the water in
cylindrical boilers (_testudines_, no longer existing) and also the
air, both for the _Hypocaustum_, or hollow floor resting on low brick
pillars, and for the hollow tiles (_tubuli_) or nipple tiles (_tegulae
mammatae_) with which the hollow walls of the hot rooms were lined.
To the S.W. of the thermæ is an _Artisan Quarter_ with a pottery and a
bronze-foundry.
We may now visit the Byzantine Fortress (p. 296) or else go direct to
the =House of the Sertii= (Pl. D, E, 4), one of the richest families in
the town (comp. p. 295). This building, a great rectangle of 68 by 35½
yds., comprising no fewer than three insulæ or blocks, was built on the
site of the ancient town-wall, and extends as far as the Voie du
Capitole.
The colonnade in the Cardo Maximus Sud opens on a square _Vestibulum_.
Adjacent, on the right, were a shop of the owner’s, the lodge of the
porter (_ostiarius_), and the stairs ascending to the bath-rooms
(_balineum_). Next to the vestibule came the _Peristyle_, a colonnaded
court in the Doric style, off which opened the owner’s reception-room
(_tablinum_), the dining-room (_triclinium_), and several bedrooms
(_cubicula_). On the left there was a staircase to the upper story. A
second peristyle, with a fountain-basin and a fish-pond (_vivarium_)
was flanked by the offices. The large room at the back was the
banqueting-room (_oecus_). On the W. side of the building were several
shops for letting.
On the W. side of the inner town, outside the town-wall, which has here
been built over, runs the broad VOIE DU CAPITOLE, at the upper end of
which rises the—
*=Capitol= (Pl. C, D, 4; comp. p. 288), originally one of the grandest
temples in the whole country. A flight of four steps ascends to the
propylæum, a portico of twelve columns lately re-erected. The vast
temple-court is an irregular quadrangle of about 98 by 68–73 yds.; the
peribolos or enclosing wall was restored, according to an inscription,
under Valentinian I. in 365. Still later the S. colonnade was converted
into a closed corridor with shops. In the middle of the court is the
basement of the ancient altar.
A lofty flight of steps, originally 38, broken halfway up by a platform,
formed the approach to the temple (58 by 25 yds.). The cella, now
destroyed, had three niches, a portico of six columns, and lateral
colonnades, while the back-wall was closed. Two of the gigantic columns
of the portico, 44 ft. high, have been re-erected, while the huge drums
and capitals of others lie around, notably on the S. side of the temple.
We now walk down the Voie du Capitole to the =Marché de l’Ouest= (Pl. D,
3), or _West Macellum_, the largest covered market in the town, probably
built by one of the Sertii (p. 294) early in the 3rd century.
The entrance is in the small Place du Marché, on the S. side of the
Decumanus Maximus. The entrance colonnade (_chalcidicum_) leads into
the quadrangle, 37 by 27 yds., paved with large slabs of limestone and
surrounded by colonnades. In the centre originally stood a square
fountain (_tholos_). At the N. end, near the entrance, were two shops
on each side and the stairs to the upper floor. The most curious
feature of the building is the raised *_Exedra_, once roofed, on the
S. side of the court, with seven deep recesses, closed, like those of
the E. Market (p. 292), by the stone counters of the sellers. Remains
of the entablature are exhibited on the outer wall.
The rectangular ‘_Marché aux Vêtements_’ (Pl. C, D, 3), on the W. side
of the Place du Marché, was probably a minor market.
Close by, on the N. side of the Decumanus Maximus, rises the small
_Temple du Génie de Timgad_ (Pl. C, D, 3, 4), ‘a miniature capitol’,
dedicated in 151 to the genius of the colony. Three flights of steps
ascend to the temple-court with relics of the altar. The temple, with
its four Corinthian columns in front, is a mere ruin.
We next visit *=Trajan’s Arch= (Pl. D, 3), the best-known triumphal arch
in Algeria, an extremely massive structure, 40 ft. high, much restored
in 1900. This was once the W. gate of the inner town (comp. p. 296).
Instead of the usual corner-columns of the earlier triumphal arches, it
has on each side four projecting Corinthian columns, whose entablature
is relieved with rounded pediments in front of the attica. The two
middle columns on the E. side terminate in eagles holding thunderbolts
in their talons, instead of in volutes as in the usual capital. Of its
three passages, which could be closed by means of portcullises, the
central one was for vehicles, the two side-arches for foot-passengers.
The square niches over the side-gateways, each crowned with an ædicula,
were originally adorned with statues.
We now return to the inner part of the town. Between the first and the
second S. side-street of the Decumanus Maximus is the _Maison de la
Piscina_ (Pl. D, 3), a large dwelling-house occupying two insulæ, so
named from the granite basin in the peristyle, adorned with nine little
columns of red marble. The œcus, or festal hall, at the S. end, has a
tasteful mosaic pavement.
Between the second and third S. side-streets of the Decumanus Maximus
lies the open quadrangle of a _Granary_ (horreum), containing numerous
grindstones (pilons à blé; Pl. 7, D 3). The house beyond the third
side-street contains a _Cellar_ (hypogæum) resting on pillars and
lighted by small windows.
The fourth N. side-street of the Decumanus Maximus, in a line with the
Voie de la Curie, leads to the ruins of a =Monastery= of the Byzantine
age, containing a balineum or bathroom. The _Basilica_ (Pl. 2, D, 2)
is a complete ruin. To the N.W. of it is the _Baptistery_ (Pl. 1; D,
2), with relics of the font and its colonnade.
The _House of Januarius_ (Pl. 5; D, E 2), to the N.E. of the church,
still has its balineum.
* * * * *
Time permitting, we may visit the ruins outside the town.
From the great N. Thermæ (p. 290) we may walk past the _Dépôt des Tapis
Indigènes_, where the carpets made by the Berbers of the Aurès are sold
(adm. free), to other remains of _Thermes_ (Pl. C, 1).
To the S. of this point lies the early-Christian =Cathedral= (Pl. C, 2),
separated by a low hill from the outer Decumanus Maximus. This was a
basilica with nave and two aisles, 42 by 18½ yds., with clustered
columns and traces of the choirscreen and altar-basement. The sacristies
(prothesis and diaconicon), adjoining the raised apse, seem to have been
entered from the aisles only.
We next cross the hill and descend to the S.W. to the outer Decumanus
Maximus. Here, on the left, quite near the bed of a recently formed
torrent, is the _Château d’Eau_ (Pl. B, 3), the remains of an octagonal
nymphæum or fountain.
Crossing the bed of the stream, and passing, on the left, the _Thermes
du Nord-Ouest_ (Pl. B, 2), we reach the outer _Porte de l’Ouest_ (Pl. B,
2), a single gateway of the age of Marcus Aurelius, well preserved in
its lower parts.
From the Nymphæum we ascend on the right bank of the brook towards the
Capitol (p. 294), past an early-Christian _Chapel_ (Pl. C, 4), almost
destroyed by the stream. Another early-Christian _Basilica_ lies to the
S.W. of the Capitol. In the vicinity a large _Monastery_, including a
church and a baptistery containing a font with fine mosaics, has
recently been discovered.
Climbing over the hill to the S. of the Capitol, we have another survey
of the extensive ruins, and then walk to the S. to the Byzantine
fortress, 5 min. beyond the S. Thermæ (p. 293).
The *=Byzantine Fortress= (beyond Pl. E, 4), erected under Justinian
with stones from the theatre, the Capitol, and other Roman buildings for
defence against the Aurès Berbers, forms a vast rectangle, 122 by 80
yds., with walls 8 ft. thick, still rising to a height of 23 ft. on the
W. side. Four central and four corner towers, and on the S. side a
sallying gate, have been preserved.
The so-called _Gregory’s Basilica_, on a hill 3 min. to the S.W. of the
fortress, the latest building in the town, dates only from the time of
the governor Gregory (7th cent.; p. 371).
About 2 hrs. to the S.W. of Timgad lie the ruins of the ancient Berber
town of =Ichoukkàn=, on a lofty plateau inaccessible on three sides,
above the rock-gateway of _Foum Ksantina_ (‘Constantine-Gate’), so
called from the resemblance of its situation to that of Constantine.
Near it are extensive burial-grounds with thousands of graves.
[Illustration: CONSTANTINE]