TIMGAD ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE

Founded in 100 A.D. by the emperor Trajan, it was the last "colony deduction" in Africa, i.e. a city occupied by Roman citizens on conquered territory. When you look at the layout of the city, you immediately notice the regularity of its layout. Set in an almost square quadrilateral, two main streets intersect at right angles at two-thirds of the way along the square, its center marked by the forum. All other streets run parallel to the Cardo north and south and to the Decumanus Maximus (south-west/north-east). The city originally occupied 12 hectares, before expanding to over 90. The city's main entrance, near which stood a temple to the city's geniuses, was to the west, at the beginning of the Decumanus Maximus, which opened with Trajan's arch to celebrate Trajan's victory over the Parthians. This thoroughfare, whose flagstones bear the marks of carriage wheels, is lined with porticoes that housed stores.

On the other side of the Decumanus, the large eastern baths date from the early ^2nd century. The eastern end of the road was marked by the columned gateway to Mascula, today's Khenchela. The forum, or public square, measured 50 x 43 m and was surrounded by arcades. Statues to the glory of the empire's notables stood on plinths that are still visible today. In one of the stores, which must have been a tavern, an inscription was found that summed up the way of life of the Romans - "Hunting, bathing, playing, laughing, that's living" - who could indulge in any of these activities in the nearby theater. The well-preserved theater was built in the ^2nd century on a small hill south of the forum.

Further along, at the end of the Cardo sud, the beautiful houses of Hermaphrodite and Sertius are part of a group of restored buildings, including the southern thermal baths, whose basements are in good condition. Beyond the baths lay the artisans' quarter. On the other side of the forum, on the north Cardo, the library was richly decorated. Back at the western entrance, flanked by the Sertius market, where store counters awaited shoppers, we headed for the capitol in the south-west of the city.

To the west of the remains stand the great Western Baths and the Capitoline Baths. Further on, beyond the Porte de Lambèse and the Oued, a Byzantine basilica in good condition stood alongside a pagan necropolis.