Part 44

We next come to the region of the =Oued Rhir=, also malarious, with the largest girdle of oases in Algeria. These oases, artificially irrigated under the French régime by the sinking of numerous very costly artesian wells, have gained immensely in fertility, and their palms (about 950,000) supply the European markets with dates of the clear or pale variety (deglet en-nûr). Passing the posting-stations of _Sidi-Khelil_ and _El-Berd_ we come to _Ourlana_ (69 ft.; pop. 4000), on the so-called _Sea of Ourlana_, a chain of lakes where the water of the Oued Rhir comes to the surface. 109½ M. _Djemaâ_ (Caravansérail, R. 3, B. ¾, D. 3 fr., quite good), lies near the oasis of _Tiguedidin_, with its pretty lake in a palm-grove. Then _Tamerna_, with 1600 inhab., and _Sidi-Rached_. The swarthy complexion of the natives, mostly _Rouaras_, akin to the Harrâtin (p. 94), now indicates that we are nearing the Sudan.

127 M. =Touggourt= or _Tougourt_ (259 ft.; Hôt. de l’Oasis, Grande Place, near the Bureau Arabe, R. 3, D. 3, pens. 12½ fr.; mule and attendant 5 fr. per day; pop. 7100), a rapidly increasing little town, with a great Friday market, is important as the junction of the caravan-routes to the Mzab (p. 216), Ouargla (or Wargla), and the Souf (see below). New Touggourt (_T. el-Djedida_) lies at the foot of a hill crowned with the ruins of Old Touggourt (_T. el-Khedima_). The distinguishing features of the town are two tall square towers, a minaret, and the clock-tower of the Kasba. The new gypsum-built houses, some of them in several stories, produce a striking effect. The inhabitants—Rouaras, many Mozabites (p. 216), and Jews and negroes who have embraced Islam—live in separate quarters (_zgag_) and in large suburbs. Their home-industries, especially weaving and carpet-making, are thriving. It is very interesting to ride through the *_Oasis_, or to make an excursion to the S. to the little oasis town of (8 M.) _Temacin_ and the (9½ M.) _Zaouïa of Tamelhat_, one of the most influential monasteries in the Sahara, with a superb *Mosque.

In order to avoid the long route back to Biskra, and at the same time to see more of the Sahara, we may ride from Touggourt viâ _El-Oued_, to the N.E., in 4–5 days direct to _Nefta_ (p. 387; trotting-camel to El-Oued 10, and for the ‘Saharien’ a fee of 3 fr. per day; comp. also p. 174). The caravan-route, marked only by pyramidal signals, crosses the great dunes of the =Souf=, where ‘desert-roses’ (p. 270) abound, one of the N. offshoots of the _Erg Oriental_, as the great E. desert of the Sahara is called. The only houses of call are (12½ M.) _Bordj Mguitla_, (24 M.) _Bordj Mouiat Ferdjana_, and (44½ M.) _Bordj Mouiat el-Kaïd_. The first village in the Souf is (53 M.) _Ourmes_.

61½ M. =El-Oued= (263 ft.; good quarters at the house of the merchant Sagnier, R. 3, déj. or D. 4¼ fr.; pop. 7400), the interesting capital of the Souf, with windowless houses covered with barrel-vaulting and small domes, is best viewed from the minaret or from the dune on the N. side. El-Oued and particularly the neighbouring oasis of _Guémar_ are famed for their weaving; their wares are sent by the caravan-route to the S.E. viâ Bir er-Ressof (Beresof) to Ghadâmes in Tripolitania.

The *_Oases_ of the Souf, containing about 180,000 palm-trees, have quite a different system of cultivation from all others in Barbary. The remarkably thick and long-leaved palms stand in funnel-shaped hollows (entonnoirs, Arabic ritan), and are protected against sand-drift by palisades of palm-twigs. The irrigation is provided by surface-water collected in wells, from which the water is raised by means of long draw-beams. The dates, owing to the peculiar mode of culture and the great heat of the sun, are noted for their sweetness and fine flavour. They are usually exported to Europe by way of S. Tunis.

Beyond (74½ M.) _Debila_, where the high dunes end, we ride to the Tunisian frontier across the pastures of the nomadic tribes, watered by artesian wells. A delightful scene is presented by the watering of the cattle, driven in from every direction, and indefatigably supplied by the swarthy herdsmen.

Beyond _Choucht el-Ihoudi_ and _Bir el-Asli_, the first stages in Tunisia, we traverse the dreary steppe to the N.W. end of the _Chott Djerid_ (p. 386), through which we ride for a short way on the _Trik Douaria_. 137 M. _Nefta_ (p. 387), where we must announce our arrival at the custom-house.—From Nefta viâ _Tozeur_ to _Metlaoui_ (and _Gafsa_), see pp. 387, 386.

45. From Batna viâ Lambèse to Timgad.

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.