Timgad

• 1. Imperial Founding And Naming

  ›

  Emperor Trajan established a new colony in the Aurès Mountains of Algeria around 100 AD. He named this settlement Colonia Marciana Ulpia Traiana Thamugadi to honor his family members. The name honored his mother Marcia, his sister Ulpia Marciana, and his father Marcus Ulpius Traianus. This full Roman title stood in contrast to the local Berber name Thamugadi. That second part meant peak or summit in the plural form Tamgut. It had nothing Latin about it despite the grand imperial prefix. Veterans and colonists from Rome moved into this new town hundreds of miles away from their home city. Most of them had never seen Rome before yet they invested heavily in Roman culture and identity.

  13

• 2. Grid Plan Urban Design

  ›

  The city was designed with an orthogonal grid plan that remains one of the best examples of Roman town planning today. Six roads intersected at the center of the walled but unfortified settlement. Originally intended for a population of around 15,000 people, the town quickly outgrew its strict original plans. A decumanus street ran east to west while a cardo street ran north to south. These main streets were lined by a partially restored Corinthian colonnade. The cardo did not pass completely through the city but ended at a forum where it met the decumanus. At the western end of the decumanus rose a triumphal arch called the Arch of Trajan. This sandstone structure reached 12 meters high and featured three arches with the central one being 11 feet wide. A theater seating 3,500 people still exists in good condition for modern productions.

  24

• 3. Religious Evolution And Conflict

  ›

  Christian activity became a major center of life starting in the 3rd century within these ruins. By the 4th century Timgad served as a Donatist center during a period of religious schism. Bishop Optat became the spokesman for the Donatist movement at the end of the 4th century. After Optat the city had two bishops named Gaudentius who was Donatist and Faustinus who was Catholic. A square church with a circular apse dating from the 7th century AD stood near the Capitoline Temple dedicated to Jupiter. One sanctuary featured iconography of Dea Africa. The city enjoyed peaceful existence for several hundred years before the Vandals sacked it in the 5th century. Berber tribes destroyed Timgad at the end of that same century.

  6

• 4. Decline And Rediscovery

  ›

  Byzantine general Solomon retook and rebuilt the city in 539 AD during the Moorish wars. This reconquest incorporated Thamugadi into Byzantine North Africa as part of a defense line against the Moors. Early Muslim conquests brought about the final ruin of the site by the 8th century when it ceased to be inhabited. Scottish explorer James Bruce reached the ruins on the 12th of December 1765 likely being the first European visitor in centuries. He described the place as a small town full of elegant buildings. His book Travels to Discover the Source of the Nile published in 1790 met with skepticism in Great Britain until 1875. Robert Lambert Playfair visited the site inspired by Bruce's account while serving as Britain's consul in Algiers. In 1877 Playfair described the hills covered with countless numbers of interesting mega-lithic remains in his own book. French colonists took control of the site in 1881 and began investigations that continued until 1960.

  795

• 5. Archaeological Excavations

  ›

  Excavations began in the 1880s following a decision by the Ministry of Public Education and Fine Arts. A post of chief architect for historical monuments of Algeria was created to manage restoration sites. The site was systematically excavated during this period under French management. Timgad was inscribed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1982. The area surrounding the city sat about 1000 meters above sea level in what was once fertile agricultural land. Four thermae baths remain among the key buildings alongside a library and basilica. The Capitoline Temple is approximately the same dimensions as the Pantheon in Rome. South of the city lies a large Byzantine citadel built in the later days of the settlement. Montoya noted in July 2019 that the Sahara buried this ancient Roman city preserving it for centuries.

  810

• 6. The Library Of Thamugadi

  ›

  Julius Quintianus Flavius Rogatianus gifted the library to the Roman people at a cost of 400,000 sesterces. No additional information about this benefactor has been unearthed so the precise date remains uncertain. Scholars suggest the structure dates from the late 3rd or possibly the 4th century based on archaeological evidence. The library occupied a rectangle with specific measurements though exact numbers are not provided in all records. It consisted of a large semi-circular room flanked by two secondary rectangular rooms. A U-shaped colonnaded portico surrounded three sides of an open court preceding the main hall. Oblong alcoves held wooden shelves along walls that likely had complete sides backs and doors. Free-standing bookcases might have stood in the center of the room alongside a reading desk. While no evidence exists regarding collection size scholars estimate it could have accommodated 3,000 scrolls. The discovery shows the presence of a fully developed library system indicating a high standard of learning.