Location: 35 km from Batna Map
Original name: Colonia Marciana Ulpia Traiana Thamugadi
Found: 100 AD
Entrance Fee: adult DA20, children DA10
Open: 8:30am- 12pm, 1:30-5pm Sun- Fri
Emperor Trajan
Timgad or Thamugadi (Marciana Traiana Thamugadi colony
in Latin), nicknamed the “Pompeii of North Africa” is an ancient city
located in the territory of the homonymous commune of Timgad, in the
wilaya of Batna in the Aurès region, in North-East of Algeria.
It
was founded by the Roman emperor Trajan in 100 and given the status of a
colony. This is the last “colony deduction” in Roman Africa, that is to
say a colony essentially populated by Roman citizens (often former
soldiers). Built with its temples, its thermal baths, its forum and its
theater, the city, initially with an area of 12 hectares, ended up
occupying more than 90. Given its excellent state of conservation and
the fact that it was considered as typical of a Roman city, Timgad was
classified as a world heritage site by UNESCO in 1982. The conservation
of the site, however, raises a certain number of problems.
In the ancient name of Timgad, Marciana Trajana Thamugadi, the first part — Marciana Trajana — is Roman and refers to the name of its founder, Emperor Trajan, and his sister Marciana. The second part of the name — Thamugadi — “has nothing Latin about it”. Thamugadi is the Berber name of the place where the city was built, to read Timgad, plural of Tamgut, meaning “peak”, “summit”. Mentions of the name Timgad were found in the Table of Puisinger, within the itinerary of Antoninus the Pious and in acts of martyrs, as well as in inscriptions on site, such as at the top of the Arch of Trajan in the past. The name is in the accusative case and we can read Thamugadi, when the name was transcribed by Procopius; the final i form is widespread among Africans and in the genitive case, it is Thamugadis, in the ablative case, it is Thamugade and in the accusative case, we obtain Thamugadem.
Timgad was located 21 km from Lambèse on the way to Theveste in a
high, narrow plain stretching between the Aurès and the Jebel Bou Arif.
It is therefore an advantageous site which also controls the access
routes to the Aurès via the valleys of Wadi Abdi and Wadi Abiod. At the
museum, the city is 1,040 m above sea level and at the Byzantine fort,
it is 1,080 m above sea level. The site is built on the slope of the
reinforcement of Mount Morris, on the north side, on a large plain which
is watered from east to west by the Soutze wadi which is made up of the
source of Aïn Morris and the wadi Merien, in the distance also the Soutz
wadi joins the Taga wadi and forms the Chemora wadi which becomes the
Chemora lake (Koudiet Lamdaouar Dam). Timgad was also supplied with
water by the source of the Aïn Morris three kilometers to the south and
perhaps also by the source of the Aïn Cherchar 11 km to the southeast.
In the eyes of the Romans the region must then be part of Getulia.
However, according to Albert Ballu, Timgad is located on the soil of
Numidia. And at the time of Severus, Timgad was no longer part of the
Province of Africa. However, we cannot know whether a habitat
pre-existed the Roman colony or whether it was just a place name.
It was in 100 that Trajan had the city founded by the Third Augustus Legion and its legate Lucius Munatius Gallus. The inhabitants of Timgad therefore all had Roman citizenship and were registered in the Papiria tribe. The colony took the name colonia Marciana Traiana Thamugadi: Marciana recalls the name of Trajan's sister and Thamugadi, an indeclinable and non-Latin name, is probably the indigenous name of the place. However, we do not know if there was already an African settlement there: the Roman foundation, however, was carried out as if it were on virgin ground. The initial plan of Timgad, quadrangular and geometric, attests that this foundation follows the principles of the gromatici, the Roman surveyors. The rigor of urban space planning meant that Timgad is often cited as an example of a Roman city; however, it would be wrong to generalize from its case: the plans of Roman cities had the principle first of all of adapting to the terrain and the constraints of the place, the perfect quadrangular deployment of Timgad is not an absolute rule, and the slightly earlier colony of Cuicul presents a less regular plan. The strong regularity of the initial plan has therefore sometimes led to the belief that Timgad could have been a military camp before being a town, the colonial foundation reusing the layout of the military cantonments: this hypothesis has not been proven and there is nothing to indicate that Timgad could have served as a temporary camp for the third Augustus legion. The founding of Timgad, however, takes on its full meaning when placed in the history of the movements of the African legion. The deduction of the colony is in fact between the first installation of a legionary cohort in Lambèse, in 81, and the definitive installation of the entire legion around 115-120. If Timgad is remarkably well located, the Lambèse site must be recognized as having a better strategic position.
We have therefore often seen in the founding of Timgad a purely military objective. However, we must strongly put into perspective the military protection that a colony of veterans could provide: after the first years, the inhabitants could hardly provide a particular military force. On the other hand, the colony could have an indirect military role: it could ultimately constitute a recruiting environment for the neighboring legion and, above all, through its agrarian production - cereals and olives - ensure a significant part of its supplies. Finally, the installation of the colony of Timgad has long been designed based on an erroneous image of the Aurès massif during the Roman era. It was often thought, until the 1960s and 1970s, that the massif had not been penetrated by Rome, and that consequently it had constituted a center of rebellion and a threat, like other periods. of history, and the Roman military system was interpreted as the encirclement of the massif. Archaeological surveys and the analysis of aerial photographs carried out by Pierre Morizot refuted this image: the Aurès was cultivated, occupied by a dispersed habitat and the military presence there was weak and very occasional. Archeology therefore reveals a quiet mountain, without serious disturbances, with an essentially rural vocation, with modest wealth, but open to Romanization and later to Christianization. Part of the massif, the valley of the Wadi Taga therefore belonged to the territory of Timgad and constituted a foothills for complementary productions from the cereal regions closer to Timgad: olives, wood and small livestock. The founding of the colony of Timgad cannot therefore be explained in terms of military necessity, but rather participates in the exploitation of the provincial territory and its network through civic spaces designed as the effigy of the Roman people, within the framework of the proactive policy of an emperor concerned with expansion. Timgad, however, was the last case of collective deductions of veterans in Africa, and subsequently the new colonies were only honorary, that is to say a title conferred on a city without the contribution of a Roman population.
The Pax Romana in Numidia contributed to the adhesion of the
Romanized indigenous populations, the Berber city dwellers could climb
the ranks of the resident, the Roman citizen of the aedile and sometimes
towards the cursus honorum and others were classified equestrian or sat
in the Senate , thus Timgad was part of the new cities and Emperor
Trajan also employed Numidian legionaries. The duumvirate's honorary sum
was 2,000. Initially, the city was built by imperial will and a colony
was established. Timgad is a civilian city compared to Lambèse. The
absence of the name of the III Legion on the site and the names of the
veterans was noted. At the beginning, the veterans numbered 200 to 400
or 900. According to Tacitus, the settlers did not have the concept of
family, being military veterans, the indigenous women probably played an
important role in forming the first generation of settlers of the town
which has around 3,000 or 4,000 people. Additionally, there were
residents and slaves.
The population is estimated by C. Courtois
at 15,000 at the beginning of the 3rd century, after the construction of
all the important structures of the city. Next to the four corners, at
the intersection of the two main roads, the various municipal buildings
are built. The city has a forum, a theater, a large market, a temple of
Jupiter, a Capitol, two small secondary streams and bridges (now
destroyed). To the west, the large ravine, the market and the capitol on
the right. To the northeast, the Arch of Trajan. The city in total has
an area of 800 m2. Under Trajan, probably the route between Timgad and
Theveste was developed. The housing units are enveloped in an area of
400 m2 with permission for redevelopment.
Timgad had its bishop,
after the appearance of Christianity, during the reign of Emperor
Valerian, between 253 and 260, or during Diocletian, between 284 and
305, the city had martyrs. Bishop Novatus of the Church of Timgad took
part in a council in Carthage in 256. Three basilicas were built during
the 4th century. In addition, excavations have proven the existence of
several chapels, baptisteries, oratories and a monastery. The
inhabitants of Thamugadi were keen to develop art. Several utensils bear
Christian symbols or artistic engravings, made in the city's workshops.
Timgad had its own ceramics and metallurgy workshops as well. Timgad
experienced total prosperity, far from the struggles agitating the
empire, it is cited only by geographers such as Ptolemy and Procopius of
Caesarea or by the clergy during rare religious quarrels, councils and
persecution. The city was one of the capitals of the Donatists of
Numidia. On the other hand, for a century, the Donatists and the
Christians were in rivalry in Timgad.
The city councilors planned the growth of the city, the construction of roads connecting Mascula to the east and the road to Lambèse. They developed the construction of the doors in the form of an arch so that they were visible from a good distance during the reign of Marcus Aurelius, as well as the thermal baths to the north close to the current museum and which remain in the axis of the city, near the Cirta Gate. Other thermal baths in the south-east are linked to southern themes. A large building, the Aqua Septimiana, built around the middle of the 2nd century and enlarged in 198 during the reign of Septimius Severus, located in front of the water arrival point of the city's main supply catchment. Caracalla, in 219, built the water temple, which is one of the most beautiful monuments in Africa, in the area of the Byzantine fort. In addition, the main exit from the city is to the west at the start of the axis linking Lambèse. It is the work of the architect Alexandre Lézine who made the Arch of Trajan (Timgad) oblique in relation to the city wall, a transition was thus indicated between the perspective of the intra muros Decimane Way and the avenue de Lambèse. A space was laid out in the shape of a trapezoid for several important buildings, the first for the religious function, the second for the temple of the Genius of the colony and finally one for the economic function, the Sertius market, with a large exedra opening onto a courtyard lined with portico, with sculpted corbels with volutes and acanthus leaves, in relief form. The constructions were completed around the 2nd century. Timgad extends over 60 ha after the construction of the Byzantine fort, including 800 m◊ of compact ruin.
The Curia had probably been built under Trajan, at the beginning of the organization of the colony, but the work would have been undertaken in a hasty manner. Under the reign of Antoninus the Pious, the city was enlarged and developed. City officials wanted a more prosperous setting, so they modified the Curia, resurfaced the Forum, and established a paving near the Temple of the Genius of the Colony. During the reign of Antoninus the Pious, the city underwent significant civic works.
The city was destroyed by the Berbers, towards the end of Vandal domination, in 535. The inhabitants were chased out so that no one could settle in the city, such is the short story of 3 lines by Procopius where Timgad is mentioned. After the arrival of the Byzantines, the city was rebuilt in 539, a dedication, found in the excavations, proves the restoration of the city as well as the construction of the Byzantine fort and the citadel, during Solomon's campaign. According to an inscription, the chapel of Patrick Grégoire was built around the middle of the 7th century. The city would have been Catholic at the time of the arrival of the first Arabs.
A Roman city is inconceivable without its countryside. Long neglected by archeology and difficult to understand before the development of large-scale prospecting techniques, the countryside of Roman towns remained poorly known for a long time. However, it was from its territory that the city drew its wealth, and the dynamism of the notables who ruled it depended on this wealth. It is possible to propose a reconstruction of the composition of the territory of Timgad in order to evaluate the distribution of agrarian property over its surface area. What emerges is the image of a territory that is ultimately quite narrow: 1,500 square kilometers, 150,000 hectares which were not all exploitable, because significant relief exists in this space. To the west, in fact, the territory was quickly limited, after about fifteen kilometers, by that of the neighbors, Lamafundi and Verecunda. To the east the situation is similar and the territory of Mascula must have been around twenty kilometers away. To the north, over approximately 25 kilometers, research revealed a system of centuriations undoubtedly linked to the founding of the colony with regular plots testifying to careful development. To the northwest the plain reveals numerous ruins and therefore a significant density of occupation. To the south, it is more difficult to locate the limit of the territory; according to Pierre Morizot it could have gone as far as the sources of the Taga to the north of Jebel Mahmel. The territory of Timgad could produce cereals and olives, productions to which must be added livestock breeding and the exploitation of forest areas. Numerous remains of oil mills and agricultural establishments are attested on the territory of the city, thus in Henchir Taga the surveys revealed a vast building which was surrounded by 7 to 8 hectares of aligned plantations. Not all of this land was privately owned. On the contrary, a significant area belonged to the emperor. The imperial domains, divided into at least three groups, were managed by one or more freed procurators who were responsible for renting the land and making it profitable. The city had around 280 decurions who must have owned a minimum surface area, if we take into account the properties of ordinary people and possible possessions by strangers to the city, we cannot imagine that the territory was dominated by numerous large properties: the inhabitants of the Timgad territory were not large farmers. However, according to Pierre Morizot, epigraphic clues suggest that a few powerful families had managed to monopolize the best lands.
In the 4th century, the city became Christianized. If we could
consider that the renovation of the capitol shows the maintenance of
polytheist traditions and their vivacity in the 360s, the patronage
table of Aelius Iulianus, decorated with a chrism clearly shows the
strong adherence of one part at least of the most important notables of
the city to the new religion. The same observation can be made from the
names of the clerics which appear at the end of the inscription in the
municipal album. The construction, on the outskirts of the city, of
Christian religious buildings, some of which are very large such as the
western basilica and its outbuildings, also testifies to the
establishment of the new religion. Christianization, however, first took
place in the troubled context of a division between Christians: Timgad
constituted one of the strongholds of the Donatist schism which upset
the Christian religion in Africa in the 4th century. If from its origin
Donatism was strongly linked to Numidia, Timgad stood out especially
when the schismatic Church had to face increasingly strong opposition
from Catholics and the imperial power. From 388, Optatus, the Donatist
bishop of Timgad, rallied circumcellions and relied on them, as well as
on the complicity of Count Gildon of Africa, to impose his views and to
counter the emperor Flavius Honorius in 397. He was ten years, according
to Saint Augustine, the groaning of Africa.
This “band leader”
bishop was finally arrested upon the death of Gildon in 398 and ended
his life in prison. At the Carthage conference of 411 there were two
rival bishops of Timgad, the Catholic Faustinanus and the Donatist
Gaudentius. But, even after this conference, the Donatists of Timgad did
not give up their arms and around 418 their bishop Gaudentius locked
himself in his church facing the tribune Dulcitius, threatened to set
himself on fire if anyone tried to extract him from his church and
controversy with Augustine by mail.
The installation of a Vandal kingdom in Africa, after 429, was the starting point of a series of clashes which determined the end of Timgad. Aurès was undoubtedly occupied quite quickly by the Vandals, and it seems that Genseric wanted to reserve the region for himself. The occupation was, however, short-lived. The Aurès region was attacked by the Moors who took possession of the massif no later than 484: Timgad was taken and evacuated so that no enemy could settle there; the Moorish reconquest took place at the expense of the inhabitants of the city and the Romanized Libyans of the massif. However, we should not imagine the radical annihilation of the city and all activity: the walls were razed and the inhabitants deported according to Procopius of Caesarea, but archeology reveals that agricultural activity continued and that "in the city she herself subsisted a precarious life.” Theodosius II resigned himself to signing and Valentinian III confirmed the new partition treaty in 442 which was advantageous for the Vandals. Genseric receives part of Numidia, including Hippo. The Roman Empire is content with the poor regions of Numidia, including Cirta. The land regime was controlled by the Vandal king, the latter monopolized the land of rich Romanized African owners and charged them with taxes, which Procopius reports, but according to Victor de Vita, the rich were considered free. Which is probable, according to Charles-André Julien. The Romanized Berbers led the same previous lifestyle. After the conference of 484, Maximus and Cardelus, belonging to the clergy of the neighboring city Diana in the wilaya of Aïn Beida, were sent into exile by King Huneric. After the death of Genseric, his successors had difficulties facing the local tribes. The economy and social organization found themselves in crisis in Numidia during the reign of Thrasamund, so the Donatist heresy and the jacquerie took advantage of the unrest during the 5th century. Thrasamund retaliates strongly, the mountaineers of Aures rush to the city of Timgad and overthrow the power in place, the population abandons the city of Timgad. After the revolt, Berber kingdoms proclaimed themselves, this was the case of Masties who proclaimed himself emperor between the years 476 and 477. An inscription found around Arris makes mention of him, according to Jérôme Carcopino. His reign lasted around forty years in the Aurès region.
The Byzantine reconquest, from 533, changed the situation in the region again. Justinian's generals undertook the reconquest of Africa, having to first defeat the Vandals then the rebellious Moors, in particular Iabdas, the leader of the Moors of Aurès. It is the patrice Solomon who is responsible for leading a campaign against him, a campaign which is partly known to us thanks to Procopius. The region of Timgad, which Procopius describes as a destroyed city, appears to have been a base for this campaign. Solomon plunders the crops of Timgad and Lambese before defeating Iabdas. However, it was only during his second campaign, in 539, that Solomon left clear traces of his presence since he built the Byzantine fort still visible on the site. This powerful fort was part of a larger fortification operation aimed at securing the region against a new attack by the Moors. Procopius of Caesarea tells us that in addition to Timgad, four other cities were fortified in the region. The large number of Latin inscriptions taken from the town's forum to serve as building material in the fort, however, shows that Timgad had passed the age of its splendor, and that only the fortress now really mattered. It was under its walls that urban life was reorganized. It is necessary to allow for exaggerations and commonplaces in Procope's story; the land around Timgad always seems to be highlighted at this time. We then have very few sources on the history of the region, and the end of the Byzantine presence is difficult to specify. It is certain that urban life was maintained in the region, and the presence of an organized and dynamic Christianity is clearly visible: in the Batna region, relics were consecrated around 581 and in 645 the dedication of a chapel was attested at Timgad. The site does not appear to have been immediately abandoned thereafter, but the story of its complete abandonment cannot currently be written for lack of historical or archaeological sources. In view of current historical and archaeological issues and practices, we can only regret the loss of information that excavation techniques and the historical choices of archaeologists have caused by neglecting this period during the clearing of the city: "When we enter today in a house, it appears as the architect of the Historical Monuments wanted it to be. That is to say, emptied of late layers and rearrangements which could have testified to a future, let us note for the present this erasure of an entire slice of the past which was not worthy of being preserved. This obscures the long term and reduces the past to an image that cannot be trusted” and it is impossible to describe what Timgad was during the Muslim conquest of the Maghreb.
Timgad is a Roman colony with its civic institutions reproducing the
Roman system; during its foundation, the city must have received a lex
coloniae establishing its institutions as in the case of the lex
Ursonensis; the regulation fixes the manner of functioning of the
assemblies, priesthoods and magistrates of the city; several
inscriptions found on the Timgad site provided insight into the
organization of the institutions. Inside the curie, a municipal album
containing 68 members of the municipality was found by Émile Masqueray,
the Album was brought back to the Louvre Museum, and another was found
by Edmond Duthoit, but incomplete. The numerous inscriptions found in
the city allow us to know quite well the ruling environment of the city,
the decurions and magistrates who ruled it. In this regard Timgad has
delivered an inscription of exceptional richness: the album of the
decurions, that is to say the hierarchically organized list of members
of the curia at a given moment: the Timgad album dates from the 4th
century and allows us to observe the milieu of municipal elites in a
late period.
The municipal album of Timgad, established during
the second half of the 4th century, has a list of 263 people, including
55 incomplete names. Two elite groups pariahed the perpetual flamens and
honored them, probably both forming the ruling mass of the city.
Another document called the ordo of greeting, it was discovered in 1940
by Charles Goudet at the Byzantine fort in Timgad, it was engraved in
282 probably in memory of Emperor Carus, It measures 1 m and 29 cm in
length and 39 cm wide and has a thickness of 28 cm.
During the
reign of Emperor Julian in 363, freedom of worship was proclaimed,
Christians returned to the common law, which Leschi indicated about the
Timgad album and which subsequently led to the civil war in Numidia
involving Christians, Donatists and Circumcellians.
Timgad was called Respublica Thamugadensium and its council of
recurions had the name of splendidissimus ordo like the Senate of Rome.
The ordo of Timgad is among the best known in the Roman world due to the
presence in Timgad of an exceptional document, the municipal album of
Timgad, which was established by the Emperor Julian. This album lists
the categories of honoratis, first appearing the clarissimis, then the
perfectissimi (two only) and the priestly ones (two only). The other
categories of honorati are not represented in the city of Timgad. The
names do not differ according to function or confession, a religious or
a pagan can have the same name in Timgad in the 4th century.
The
honoratis no longer sit within the curia or in the affairs of the city;
the decurions and annual magistrates are responsible for decisions and
execution at the local level only.
There are seven annual and titular magistrates in the High Empire,
two duumvirs, two aediles, a curator and two quaestors.
It seems
that the titles as well as the number of quaestors, aediles and duumvirs
remained the same until the arrival of the Vandals. Their number is
small compared to other titles, it probably had less honor than the
perpetual flaminats.
Two duumvirs are mentioned on the Album having the status of Annual Magistrate. The number was not important probably because of the laws which prohibited exemptions from municipal charges to the egregii. P. Iulius Liberalis, native of Timgad, part of the Papiria tribe, adapted from the Imperial cult, he exercised the function of quaestor and high priest in the Africa province since at the time of Severus, Numidia was not more attached to the province of Africa. He seems to have had a mandate as preafectuus jure dicumdo, may have been ordinary duumvirs at times and then he obtained the post of quinquennial duumvirs. In the end, he received the title of perpetuus flamine in Thysdrus and then in Timgad, according to the inscriptions found in Thamugadi. P. Iulius Liberalis built a fountain in Timgad.
Two city councilors are registered in the Album having the status of
annual Magistrate. After the list of annual magistrates, there are only
two aediles and two quaestors, but after the mention of the quaestors
category in the album, only one is listed Vitillius Saturninus. The
Pontiffs and augurs are also aediles, but they have a less important
rank than the flamenes.
A curator in the Late Empire is named
Octavirus Sosinianus and at the same time, he is flamen and responsible
for writing the album.
These typically Roman priesthoods are normal in a colony, however in Timgad these priests did not form a college as numerous as in Rome. The Timgad album shows that there were four pontiffs and four augurs in the city. It is possible that these priesthoods were annual.
The flamine in Timgad was responsible for imperial worship. He was
assisted by a flamine who was not necessarily his wife. His title of
perpetual flamine was retained for life after one year of effective
exercise of the function. If accession to the office “was relatively
independent of the course of municipal magistrates”, it was the highest
dignity in Timgad and it crowned great notoriety and strong
honorability. This gave the holders of the office a certain visibility,
so we know a significant number of them. Henriette Pavis d'Escurac in
1980 identified 55, as well as 6 flaminics. The cost of the office and
the honor it provided undoubtedly explains why we regularly find among
the flamines of Timgad, members of some of the city's great families,
the Flavii and the Caelii, the Annii, the Plotii, the Pompeii. This also
explains the entry of a certain number of these flamens into the
equestrian order (Pavis d'Escurac lists seven), without however having
made a real career. Social ascension to the higher orders of the empire
could take several generations, we know that the daughter of a flamine,
Arminia Paulina married a senator then the procurator Caius Annius
Flavianus.
Under the High Empire, the honorary sum of the
flaminat in Timgad was fixed at 10,000 sesterces, but acts of euergetism
beyond this sum were also expected of them, such as the distribution of
food, donations of games scenic, the erection of statues for the statues
of Marcus Aurelius and Antoninus the Pious by Marcus Caelius Saturninus
or the statues erected at the theater for the family of Caracalla by
Pompeius Pudentianus or the realization of constructions. For this
reason and because they belonged to the top of the aristocracy of
Timgad, the flamines left a notable mark in the urban planning of
Timgad: temple of the Genius of the colony, market of Sertius,
monumental fountain of the flamine Julius Liberalis. During Late
Antiquity, the function lost its religious character to become above all
the expression of the loyalty of the city towards the sovereign power,
there were therefore Christian flamines as the case is attested for
Aelius Iulianus. In Timgad, there were women in charge of imperial
worship. Manlia Pudentilla was flaminic and clarissimo and some
flaminics belong to families of knights like Flavia Procilla. Cornelia
Valentina Tucciana is flaminic and wife of a knight, she has the title
honestae memoriae femina. Well Iulia Vic, she is too.
Without being strictly speaking priests, the Augustales participated in the organization of the imperial cult in the city. They were often rich freedmen and the status of Augustale gave them a dignity close to that of the ordo of the decurions to which they could not claim. Only one Augustale, Valerius Carpus, is nominally known in Timgad. The Augustales were organized into an ordo augustalium which functioned as a college and had a fund (arca augustalium). The Augustales of Timgad thus financed the restoration of the temple of Ceres.
The curies, which should not be confused with the curia, a local hosting the council of decurions, were assemblies of citizens of the city who initially had an electoral role as a polling section on the model of the Roman comitia. Particularly well known in Africa, they also had an important role in civic sociability as shown by the case of the curia of Jupiter in Simitthus. So much so that they were sometimes considered as “fairly closed “plebeian clubs”, even if this did not prevent them from retaining a political role. The analysis of the list of 52 members of the Commodiana curia known in Timgad around 211 indeed shows a population belonging rather to the middle and upper strata of Timgad society. The Curia Commodiana had been created to honor the Emperor Commodus. We also know of a Marcia curia in Timgad which must date back to the origins of the colony.
Without being strictly speaking official institutions of the city, the colleges participated in civic life. They placed themselves under the patronage of great local figures and participated in city festivals. We know the Dendrophore college in Timgad.
The legate D. Fonteius Frontinianus, who was stationed at Lambese from 160 to 162, was co-opted patron of Timgad; the municipal album of Timgad mentions the existence of six patrons, five of them of senatorial rank, during the first half of the year 363. The number of patrons was possibly explained by the choice of different clans at the time. inside the curia and the clans could find support to strengthen their local position.
Christianity appears on Timgad no later than a third century AD. The
new religion was gaining strength and enjoyed relative peace in the
hiding from the Roman officials. It all changed under leadership of a
intelligent, energetic and very capable emperor Diocletian. He attempted
to modernize political and cultural life of the huge empire after years
of unrest and constant civil wars by strengthening his control over its
people. Christianity obviously did not fit into this image of a perfect
World. Soon persecutions started hitting all corners of the country.
Timgad was no exception to that.
However, unlike previous pagan
persecutions Diocletian understood that this monotheistic religion
already settled too deep. Even emperor's own wife was a Christian. So he
came up with a compromise. Christians could save their lives if they
would hand over their holy books. Some refused and were took death of
martyrs, some gave up their sacred texts. Yet many others chose to write
fake Gospels under different names so that they could escape death. This
is one of the main reasons why so many apocryphal texts date back those
times. Popular journalism today likes to advertise these texts as
something controversial or ground breaking. In reality, however, most of
them were never used since they were created exclusively for
preservation of the true books of the Bible.
In the end
persecutions did not achieve their final goal. After death of
Diocletian, emperor Constantine issued his Milan Edict of 313 AD which
legalized Christianity. However it created a new problem. The
complication arose with those people who gave up their religion and
announced coming back to worshipping gods of the pagan pantheon. Many
returned to Christianity after it became legal in an empire. Bishop
Donatus Magnus along with a large Christian congregation attempted to
keep "traitors" away. North Africa became the hub of zealous Christians
that became known as Donatists. And Timgad had one of the largest
communities in the region. This harsh treatment of those who denounced
the name of Jesus Christ, however, was not widely accepted or positively
viewed. Most of the Christian bishops decided that such transgression
could be forgiven. This led to eventual schism of Donatists from the
rest of the Church.
The Timgad Forum and Theater are located in the heart of the original city quadrangle, where they occupy several of the blocks defined by the grid of orthogonal streets. The construction of the forum was financed by the city. Its construction probably began shortly after the founding of the city. The forum, rectangular in plan and bordered by four porticos, delimited a closed, orderly space, hosting numerous activities, it formed the political and social heart of the city. It housed the curia where the decurional order gathered as well as a civil basilica and a single temple. The latter, of fairly modest size, is close to one of the corners of the forum and seems to have been dedicated to Victory. It is a tetrastyle building, that is to say that the facade has four columns, raised on a podium. Built in 116-117, the curia is rectangular in shape with three bays, the back is occupied by a platform including movable seats, its room was preceded by a portico, covered in marble and decorated with four statues including one dedicated to the Concord of the Ordo and one dedicated to Victory. Built a little later, the basilica faced it, occupying the eastern facade of the forum. An apse to the north gave axiality to this vast room which hosted judicial activities, a gallery occupied one of the short sides and allowed the judges to sit. The forum was decorated with numerous statues, at least thirty, the bases of which were found bearing inscriptions. This forum was perhaps never completed according to its original plan, since the Capitol was not integrated into the forum, but built outside the original walls: the expansion of the city had led to a reconsideration of its plan.
The theater is the main performance building in Timgad where no trace
of an amphitheater has been found, but there may have been a wooden one
on a temporary basis. Located south of the forum, on the side of a hill,
the theater, with a cavea 63 meters in diameter, could accommodate
around 3,500 people. The base of a statue of Mercury, erected for the
salvation of the emperors Septimius Severus and Caracalla, celebrated
the stage performances given by Lucius Germeus Silvanus, for the honor
of his auspicious functions: in Timgad as elsewhere municipal life does
not was not separable from festivals and shows, with more or less
splendor depending on the eergetism of the notables.
Several
cracks within the ancient theater are visible. A new theater was built
to host the Timgad International Music Festival, between the Temple of
Saturn and the Great Northern Baths and outside the boundary of the
ancient site.
The temple of Ceres was located near the theater. Between 139 and 161, its complete restoration was financed by the ordo augustalium, composed of the flamines, including Valerius Carpus who was influential and part of the flamines responsible for the organization of the imperial cult in Timgad and P. Actius Silvanus follower of the cult Ceres. The money for the restoration of the temple came from the college treasury; the followers of the temple, the Augustales did not depend on the municipal public fund.
Excavations at Timgad revealed a relatively unusual building that was
only identified as a public library in 1906 through the discovery of a
Latin inscription. The text of the inscription specifies that in the 3rd
century probably, but Paul Corbier considers that the dating is unknown.
The senator Marcus Iulius Quintianus Flavius Rogatianus had bequeathed
400,000 sesterces to the city by will for the construction of a library.
The city had the library built and honored the generous donor with an
honorary statue.
The library was organized around a three-sided
portico opening widely onto the street. Facing the street, at the back
of the portico, a large semi-circular apse room was fitted out with
niches intended to accommodate the works. On either side, six annex
rooms opened onto the portico. We tried to estimate the number of
volumes it could accommodate: thus we were able to estimate that its
main room could accommodate sixteen armaria (library cabinet) and
therefore perhaps 6,800 volumes; with the six secondary pieces, the
total number of works is estimated between 16,000 and 28,000. These
figures are, however, very questionable, because the library could also
accommodate archives and the calculations on which they are based are
very speculative. It is located in the heart of the city, a sign of the
importance it had in urban culture.
The dedication of this temple was found during excavations in 1959,
reused in a small square built in the Byzantine era around a fountain.
The temple was paid for by members of one of the great families of
Timgad, Marcus Publicius Candidus and his brother Caius Publicius
Veranus. This gift is the consequence of Candidus' accession to the
office of perpetual flamine, the highest dignity in Timgad. In addition
to the honorary sum of 10,000 sesterces paid by Candidus, his brother
added a solicitation of 20,000 sesterces. Ultimately the cost of the
temple was, with its statue, 64,500 sesterces. This act of euergetism
and this expenditure attest to the prosperity of Timgad during the
construction of the temple. The dedication was made by a legate of the
Third Augustus Legion. His name was then hammered out, due to a damnatio
memoriae. It was probably Marcus Lucceius Torquatus, which dates the
dedication of the temple to 169.
The ruins of the temple could be
identified thanks to other inscriptions. It is located at the western
exit of the city, opposite the Sertius market. A courtyard preceded the
sanctuary, overlooking the decumanus via a facade with three entrances.
A wall delimited this trapezoidal space with a dimension of 32 m by 12
m. Three of the sides were occupied by a portico with 17 columns. Behind
the altar was the temple proper. Its cella is 12.5 m by 7.5 m. opened
onto a tetrastyle pediment of the Corinthian order and was preceded by a
staircase with 16 steps. The construction of the temple also corresponds
to a moment of extension of Timgad outside the initial enclosure of the
colony.
The capitol, which housed the essential religious triad of
traditional Roman religion, was in theory one of the essential elements
of any urban foundation. In the 1st century BC. The writings of
Vitruvius on town planning, referring to an old tradition, that of the
science of haruspices, and thus echoing Servius, advise placing the
sanctuaries of Jupiter, Juno and Minerva in the place higher, from where
we can discover the most of the walls. But if African cities like Cuicul
and Thugga have a capitol in a central position (at least initially for
Cuicul), that of Timgad is in a more surprising position. It is in fact
far from the forum and even from the alignment of the initial
orthonormal plan and is not even located on a hilltop. In fact, it was
above all its size, its exceptional monumentality which distinguished it
and made it visible to all. This strange location, however, had the
merit of making it particularly attractive for those coming from
Lambèse. Built in the 2nd century, it was restored in the 4th.
How to explain this eccentric position? We must think that it was in
fact initially planned within the forum in the initial layout of the
city, but the forum was never really completed, and the capitol was
ultimately built much larger and in an off-centered position, a sign of
a radical modification of the notion of urban space and perhaps a change
in the relations between citizens and those in power: the city had
grown, its space was perceived differently and was symbolically
reorganized by this massive construction. Furthermore, the off-centering
of the Timgad capitol is not so exceptional from a chronological point
of view: the majority of African capitols are of relatively late date.
Finally, if the exact date of its construction around the 2nd century
escapes us (perhaps the Severian period, its renovation in the 4th
century is better known to us. It was under the joint reign of
Valentinian I and Valens, between 364 and 367 that Aelius Iulianus
financed the restoration of the porticos. According to Paul-Albert
Février, this restoration could testify, fifty years after the
conversion of Constantine, and in a well-Christianized city, to the
preserved vitality of traditional polytheism. However Claude Lepelley
challenged this interpretation, the person responsible for the
operation, Aelius Iulianus was curator of the city and Christian and the
restoration concerned the portico square and not the religious building
itself. By its monumentality and its surface area - greater than that of
the forum - the Place with portico of the Capitol constituted a "second
forum" in the city. Its porticos were therefore seen, at the time of
Aelius "as public monuments belonging to the monumental heritage of the
city, without reference to the religious function of these buildings ".
The broad avenue which passes in front of the capitol ends to the
north at the triumphal arch erected at the west entrance of the
decumanus maximus. Shortly before the end of the 2nd century, the
utility door was replaced by a triumphal arch improperly called
"Trajan's arch" which, with a minimum of restoration, has come down to
us almost intact.
The large central bay, six meters high, allowed
the passage of vehicles which left deep ruts on the track slabs. The two
side bays, three meters and seventy-five meters high, were reserved for
pedestrians. Above the latter, on the two main faces, are hollowed out
rectangular niches decorated with columns intended to receive statues,
dominated by arched vaults seated on detached Corinthian columns. Four
columns mounted on pedestals for each main face. The whole was crowned
at the top of the building with a group probably including a chariot.
Other reliefs were subsequently added to the base of the east face:
the statues of Mars and the goddess of Concord, erected during the reign
of Septimius Severus (193-211) by a certain L. Licinius Optatianus in
recognition of his election to the perpetual flaminat of the colony.
Plotius Faustus Sertius was a wealthy personage of equestrian rank.
His family was linked to a Roman knight, son of a veteran, as well
as to the Flavii family who entered the senate. He was perpetual flame
of the city. His wealth, as well as that of his wife, came from the
lands he owned within the territory of the colony, but also from other
income such as the rental of shops.
Various epigraphic and
archaeological clues allow us to identify the land holdings of Sertius
and his wife: a dedication alludes to the latter on an inscription found
in the Wadi Taga valley. Likewise, about sixty kilometers from Timgad,
in the Aurès massif, a mosaic was found bearing the same motifs as those
of the house of Sertius, an indication of one of its properties and the
influence of the character .
Plotius and his wife financed during the Severan era the construction
of a market located to the west of the original city, not far from his
house. The city undoubtedly already had a market, today called the
Eastern Market, it was located near the forum and extended over two
semi-circular courtyards. No doubt it proved insufficient with the
growth of the city. The market paid for by Sertius faces the temple of
the Genius of the colony, it is an oblong square, lined with porticos,
having the necessary facilities to accommodate the merchants' stalls,
and ending in an apse. The market had an opening which overlooked the
thermal baths. These are often considered as an annex to the market, but
their construction is not necessarily linked to the same real estate
transaction and their relationship with neighboring constructions is not
clear. Subsequently, another small market, undoubtedly intended for the
clothing trade, was built in the district. Building a market was an
important act of ergetism, but this gift made to the city was
undoubtedly also a “self-serving gift”: contemporary with the
construction of his house, it undoubtedly constitutes its counterpart:
the act of ergetism responding to the private appropriation of a
significant part of public land: behind Sertius' gift lies a fruitful
real estate operation while his market proclaimed his generosity and
liberality towards his city.
The western district of Timgad
therefore illustrates well, through the Sertius file, the impact of the
wealth of municipal notables on the city both through evangelism and
through more interested investments – shops – or intended to provide
them with a living environment whose splendor corresponded to their
dignitas.
With the development of the city and its extension to the west, the
original wall found itself in a central position in this part of the
city, it became useless in an available, interesting and undoubtedly
coveted space. The disappearance of the wall in favor of buildings,
however, was for the benefit of wealthy residents and gave rise to
significant "real estate operations" as Jean Lassus has shown. The new
district is not in fact occupied continuously with the original fabric
of the city: the existing streets are not extended over the freed space,
this on the contrary is occupied by the constructions of very wealthy
people who thus appropriate a strip of land 22 meters wide. The
extension of the city is therefore accompanied by a “social
differentiation of neighborhoods”: the space taken from the wall makes
it possible to overcome the constraints of the blocks of the initial
plan, with a size of approximately 400 square meters. This redevelopment
could not be done without a set of legal measures: the place belonged to
the public land of the city, its alienation required at least a decree
from the order of the decurions, and in the case of a wall, res sacra, a
imperial decision.
It is true, however, that the usurpation of
public land by private constructions was not rare in ancient cities and
that the Roman power had to intervene on several occasions against such
cases: behind the houses built in this place, it is necessary therefore
imagine a set of procedures, and undoubtedly bribes. The epigraphic
documentation available allows us to know this real estate context a
little more precisely through the person of Marcus Plautius Faustus,
known as Sertius, who had a house built on the site of the wall.
The house of Sertius was built on the route of the wall. Rectangular in plan, measuring 62 meters by 36.5 meters, it occupies an area of 2,263 m2, it is one of the most luxurious residences in Timgad. Its main access, preceded by a small portico, and which perhaps originally had a tripartite entrance, overlooks the cardo maximus. The plan presents the classic succession of a vestibule and peristyles which open onto reception rooms. The vestibule, paved, had a central colonnade, it opened onto a first peristyle which itself opened onto a large room, probably a dining room (triclinium). The second peristyle houses a pool with complex arrangements: two superimposed tanks are connected by two openings. Vases fixed horizontally were intended to provide shelter for fish and probably to collect them fresh: it is therefore a fishpond. A room with an antechamber with two columns overlooked the peristyle, it is undoubtedly again a triclinium, a dining room. The ponds had both an aesthetic and economic function: the fish raised could be used for the master's meals. Rare, luxurious products, they attested to Sertius' wealth and allowed him to show off his splendor to his guests. The second peristyle is, however, a space undoubtedly more intimate than the first: “on one side welcome, reception, ostentation, on the other side more withdrawn life”. The house of Faustus also had private baths. These were located near its entrance – they opened onto the first peristyle – and also had their own access to the street. The accesses to the baths show that Sertius could open them to people outside his house, friends, clients, neighbors. The thermal baths had a frigidarium of 35 square meters and a bathing complex of approximately 150 square meters with four heated rooms. Marble statues of Aesculapius and Hygeia, health deities commonly associated with baths, were placed there. An inscription appearing on the base of one of the statues and naming a Faustus and a Valentina allows both the attribution of the house to Marcus Plotius Faustus Sertius and his wife Cornelia Valentina Tucciana Sertia and its dating. Built under the Severians, the house of Sertius illustrates a key moment in the evolution of the plan of Timgad as well as “one of the very first dated examples of private urban baths from the imperial period”. Shops were attached to the house.
The Aqua Septimiana Felix was a spring near Timgad which supplied
water to a pool around which an important sanctuary was built. The
sanctuary was built in the 2nd century 300 meters south of the city,
along a north-south axis. A colonnaded avenue connected the sanctuary to
the city and in particular to the southern thermal baths. With more than
150 meters long and 44 meters wide, it is the largest religious building
in Roman Africa.
It received a sumptuous layout under the
Severians. Three temples were built at the back of the sanctuary. The
largest of these places of worship occupied the middle square and was
dedicated to the Dea Patria, that is to say to the goddess of Africa
recognizable by her headdress made of the remains of an elephant
(proboscis). Decorated with white and green marble and mosaics, the
temple measured 7.5 by 9.8 meters. A large bench at the bottom of the
cella was to accommodate the cult statues.
On either side was a
smaller temple (5.1 by 7.1 meters). The western one was dedicated to
Aesculapius while the eastern one was undoubtedly dedicated to Sarapis,
if we are to believe the cult objects found during the excavations. The
association of Africa with Aesculapius and Sarapis is unique, placed
under the sign of fertility, abundance and health, the sanctuary
celebrated the beneficial waters in association with the imperial cult.
The three temples, quite small, were erected on a terrace which
overlooked a vast swimming pool measuring 27 by 7 meters. Entirely
covered in marble, it was bordered by a bronze balustrade. The sanctuary
was surrounded by painted porticos (viridarium). Their extension opened
onto a vast paved square towards the town and its thermal baths.
Four identical inscriptions date these sumptuous arrangements from 213.
They illustrate the donations that the notables of Timgad devoted to the
sanctuary, undoubtedly from the start of its construction. Inscriptions
discovered in the sanctuary, but whose publication is still incomplete,
testify to the donations of Publius Flavius Pudens Pomponianus, a Roman
senator from Timgad, and his family. His mother in particular dedicated,
with other inhabitants of Timgad, an elephant tusk to the Genius patriae
(Genius of the homeland). This involvement of the powerful notables of
the city in the sanctuary shows its important role: it undoubtedly
contributed in part to defining the identity of Timgad, as shown by the
dedications to the Genius of the Fatherland or to the goddess of the
Fatherland, but also the inscription of the forum which celebrates
Flavius Pudens Pomponianus and which compares his eloquence to a source
and recalls that Timgad is located near a source: this is an allusion to
the Aqua Septimiana where Flavius and his family had distinguished
themselves through numerous donations, the connection was made by L.
Leschi. The goddess Africa of the sanctuary was also celebrated on
ceramics produced in Timgad.
If the sanctuary reached its peak
during the Severan era, perhaps in relation to the African journey of
Septimius Severus, we can think that the cult of the source dates back
to pre-Roman times and testifies to a survival of religiosity local
within the life of the Roman colony, “it is obviously an ancient
miraculous source, whose powers the Romans captured, by installing
around it a temple comprising statues of Roman healing deities. ". At
the end of antiquity, the sanctuary was covered by the Byzantine
fortress. Discovered and excavated during the excavations of this
fortress, the sanctuary of Aqua Septimiana Felix has not been the
subject of a particular publication and many of the discoveries made
there are still unpublished.
The Roman baths were one of the essential places of daily life in the Roman Empire, a symbol and a factor of Romanization. For the inhabitants of a city, the thermal baths are seen as something essential, one of the necessary amenities that the city must provide to its inhabitants, a sign and an instrument of civilization and well-being. In Timgad, on a forum slab, a famous inscription sums up this conception of urban life well: “Venari, lavari, ludere, ridere, occ est vivere” (hunting, going to the bath, playing, laughing, that’s live). The thermal baths are therefore a fundamental place of sociability which constructs civic and municipal identity at the same time as they make manifest the principles of the ancient city: naked and sharing the same bath, the citizens rub shoulders in an undifferentiated manner: the baths are often inexpensive, and occasionally free. Their decoration and maintenance are also the occasion for acts of euergetism. However, from the 2nd century onwards, we witnessed the development of private baths, built in the richest residences, a development which increased during Late Antiquity. We can see in this evolution both the concern for greater privacy and the search for social distance: the notable now distinguishes himself from the common man and can receive his intimates in the chosen setting of his personal baths. By the vast clearance to which it was subject, Timgad offers an almost unique image of the place of the baths in the city, even if all the baths cleared were not necessarily in service simultaneously and if their excavations were often - in view of current criteria - carried out too quickly: the stratigraphies are lacking, the plans are not always sure. The fact remains that the importance and diversity of the seaside facilities stand out and that, from this point of view, Timgad can compete with a town like Ostia. The baths of Timgad therefore offer a remarkable image of the prosperity of Roman Africa and its insertion into the cultural community that formed the ancient Mediterranean. The thermal baths of Timgad provided a significant number of mosaics: 85 out of the 235 in the inventory made by Suzanne Germain Warot in 1969. Of the fourteen thermal baths listed in her study, twelve had preserved at least part of their pavement. The decor is essentially geometric, sometimes embellished with paintings such as the representation of Neptune for the large eastern baths or the representation of Jupiter for the Philadelphi baths. The annexed rooms of these thermal baths could also have significant decorations.
Despite the extent of the clearances, the individual habitat in Timgad is not as well known as one might hope: the initial excavations were little concerned with protecting the various states of the buildings and observing the stratigraphy. However, distinctions can be made. We can thus contrast the district of the initial city and the suburbs. In the first, the habitat remained very strongly constrained by the division of plots carried out during the founding of the colony; these 132 islets of 400 m2 were in fact rarely the subject of regrouping. The largest of these houses, which occupy an island, exceptionally two as for the house extending on insulae 73 and 82, only have a porticoed courtyard and rarely a real peristyle, we commonly find 2 to 4 houses per block. Despite this land constraint, the aristocracy of the city did not completely abandon the city center, an inscription left by the perpetual flamen Corfidius tells us that he had bought a house "made sad for a long time already by its state of shapeless ruins » and had rebuilt it “more happily than it had been founded for himself and the joyful posterity of the Corfidii”. Likewise L. Iulius Ianuarius owned a house occupying an entire island and equipped with private baths.
However, the largest residences of the aristocracy of Timgad are only
found outside the original perimeter, on the ancient boundary itself for
the house of Sertius and the so-called house of the Hermaphrodite, both
nearly 2,200 meters high. square, a considerable area and yet exceeded
by a large residence in the northern district, neighboring the thermal
baths of Philadelphi, at the limits of the largest extension of the city
and occupying 2,500 square meters. However, these areas do not
necessarily refer to the inhabited space: the large residences included
shops which could be rented, service spaces, as much surface area which
was not occupied by the master's habitat, the latter however could
develop upstairs, but we then know nothing about it.
Corfidius
Crementius, a high-ranking priest and follower of the imperial cult, was
the owner of the house of gardens. The floors of his house are not
mosaic, but tiled. His home is located in the heart of the city. At the
west corner of his house and annexed to his vestibule, a building used
as a latrine which notes the encroachment on the small cardo which
served his house, very symmetrical and axial, to which the troughs with
sinuous contours adorn the courtyard central and gave its name to the
garden house. Near the Arch of Trajan (Timgad), the house of the
Piscina, one enters through the cardinal route, one accesses the living
room which includes floral mosaics with heart-shaped patterns of pink
acanthus. The house of Pompeian, whose owner was Plotius Sertius, the
latter had offered a good deal to his fellow citizens. He chose the
southeast side of the city to build a house of 2,600 m◊, the vestibule
is paved containing four pillars and with access to the baths.
Internal decoration can also help distinguish different neighborhoods. Thus the study of the mosaics revealed that all the houses in the part of the decumanus between the forum and the Mascula gate were decorated, an area which contrasts with the west of the decumanus, which is much less decorated. The suburbs also have some large, richly decorated houses, particularly between the Capitole and Avenue de Lambèse. Thus wealthy residential neighborhoods would emerge: the northern cardo, the eastern decumanus, the southern gate, the western suburb, the northeastern neighborhood on the other hand where the ruins have not yielded mosaics should be more modest. This northeastern district brought together seventeen of the twenty-two establishments in Timgad having a textile activity, for production which was probably not intended solely for the city.
It would nevertheless be incorrect to think that the social scale was only reproduced in the fabric of the neighborhoods: the rich houses of the aristocracy sheltered the master's slaves, and their shops were rented to modest, sometimes poor, people. The fact remains that in Timgad the growth of the city was accompanied by “a social differentiation of the neighborhoods”. The residence is a fundamental issue for the aristocracies of the cities, in Timgad, as in most cities of the empire in the 2nd century, the atrium was replaced by a peristyle. It is accessed through a vestibule and overlooks reception areas: triclinium, oecus. The splendor of the owner can be expressed according to his means and the space available: the two peristyles of the house of Sertius, the columned antechamber of the second, their ornaments with fish tanks refer to the practices of the great Roman aristocracy . The mosaics, the frescoes, the furnishings also participate in the construction of a framework capable of showing the power of the owner and of establishing, as we saw with the residence of Corfidius, a dynastic anchorage within the notables of the quoted. We noted, moreover, a concern of the owners to preserve the decorations, at least as far as the mosaics are concerned. The private thermal baths, those of the house of Sertius are among the oldest, also make it possible to receive clients and friends, or can be opened for a modest fee to the inhabitants of the neighborhood, but they also allow the master of the house to take his bath in an intimate setting, a device reflecting “the aristocratic need to stay away from the crowd and a new way of understanding one's body characterized by the affirmation of modesty”.
As in most ancient cities in Africa, Christian buildings are found mainly on the outskirts of the town due to their late character, but also sometimes to their association with necropolises. Only one Christian building has been identified in the city center, it is a chapel built from the atrium of the house of Lucius Julius Januarius, not far from the forum. The largest Christian ensemble is located around the western basilica, separated from the city by a ravine. This building and its outbuildings are often assimilated to the Donatist district due to the presence, in one of the houses of the religious complex, on a commemorative mosaic, of the name of Optat, identified with Bishop Optat. The basilica has a classic three-nave plan with considerable dimensions: 23 meters wide by 63 long. The central nave ends in an apse and is preceded by an atrium. The latter was decorated with columns with Corinthian capitals, perhaps reused. To the northwest was a baptistery whose tank was found in good condition, still partially covered with polychrome mosaics with geometric patterns on the steps and floral motifs around the tank. At least one thermal complex also existed in these buildings. A sarcophagus found in the basilica bears witness to arrangements allowing the realization of food libations, thus presenting a remarkable continuity with the polytheist funeral rites, a survival which could be explained, according to Henri-Irénée Marrou, by the Donatism of the faithful of the basilica. An annex chapel, 26 meters long, is attached to the left side of the basilica. The fact that other equally important basilical buildings also have baptisteries undoubtedly testifies to the religious division of the city between Donatists and Catholics: the baptistery usually refers to the presence of the bishop. According to Courtois, the Catholic building corresponded to the church on the Lambèse road. In fact, in the absence of an inscription, it is impossible to distinguish a Donatist building from a Catholic building and the attributions of the three large basilicas of Timgad, the center, the northwest and the west remain uncertain. The city has other more modest Christian buildings, but difficult to date between the 5th century and the 7th. A large part of these buildings were built with reused and recovered materials: this is particularly the case with a very ruined chapel found near the Capitol. The southern necropolis of the city, where nearly 10,000 tombs were found, unfortunately most of them very modest and anonymous, was dominated by two churches, one of them having been built between 641 and 642 by John, Duke of Tigisi. The Byzantine fort also had, of course, its own chapel.
Like any Roman city, Timgad was surrounded by its necropolises:
burials could only take place outside the urban enclosure. The tomb of
the mime Vincentius recalls precisely this rule in Timgad: “Vincentius
is there, honor of pantomimes, etc. he lives forever in the mouths of
the people, etc. Here now underground, he remains in front of the
ramparts. Twenty-three years, he lived his prime. Their exploration,
however, was only late and incomplete: it was only from 1932 that
archaeologists really began to excavate them, after the excavation of
the quadrilateral of the Trajanian city. Even today, the necropolises
are therefore very incompletely known, and if some have suffered from
erosion, it is possible to believe that interesting discoveries remain
to be made[ref. necessary]. In the current state of knowledge, one of
the best-known necropolises remains that of the Porte de Lambèse which
was excavated from 1932 and gave rise to a brief publication. The
necropolis in question is located 150 meters from the Lambèse gate, and
approximately 500 meters from the so-called Trajan's arch. Its clearing
revealed a great diversity of tombs which the excavators grouped into
five main types.
1 these are the most modest tombs, but also, and
by far, the most numerous, they are made up of tiles buttressed against
each other and covering the tomb, a large stone in front of the tomb
distinguishing it and sealing the tile formwork. These graves are
generally anonymous.
2 it is in fact an embellishment of the previous
type, the stone being replaced by a block of stone and sometimes by an
inscribed stele which may be framed in a mensa, a funerary table
intended to receive offerings and accommodate funeral meals.
3 these
are box tombs (cupulae), one or two semi-cylindrical stone boxes on a
stone base cover the tomb.
4 this is also an embellishment of the
previous type, the monument being on two tiers, the body being lower
than the tiers, placed under tiles.
5 This is a tomb which belonged
to a large funerary monument resting on a base. The Porte de Lambèse
necropolis has yielded only one tomb of this type, it is a type of
burial which corresponds to the richest part of the population.
The graves are generally cremation burials. Although most of the time
modest tombs do not contain inscriptions, various observations have been
made on the distribution of epitaphs: the graves seemed grouped by
family, in the broad sense, thus the Caecilii were neighbors like the
Valerii or the Terentii. However, within the same family, the tombs
could be very disparate, very modest or more luxurious: this could
correspond to several branches of the family, but also to the tombs of
the master's family and the tombs of his freedmen. The necropolises were
the place of ceremonies and offerings to the deceased, these offerings
were often placed on dishes, sometimes poured into the tomb through an
opening. These offerings were also the occasion for banquets, a custom
which was continued in the Christian era, despite the disagreement of
the clergy, as Saint Augustine attests.
The Byzantine fort of Timgad, located about 250 meters south of the city, above the site of the Aqua septimiana sanctuary, many elements of which were reused to make a water tower. The results of the excavations were published by Jean Lassus in 1981. Rectangular in plan which tends towards a trapezoid and protected by powerful corner towers, its enclosure was built in 539 by Patrice Solomon. Preserved at a height of 14 meters, it frames a perimeter of 120 meters by 80 meters. The construction of the fort used numerous reused inscriptions. The fort housed barracks in its eastern part. The western part brought together common facilities, a water reservoir, a reused sanctuary swimming pool, a chapel built on the podium of the previous temples, thermal baths for the garrison. The latter with a surface area of 200 square meters opened directly onto the fortress square. The excavation of these interior arrangements proved very rich, because a thick layer of earth had protected them from the ravages of time. The fortress wall is reinforced by eight towers and the main entrance is near the central northern tower. The fort is made up of a chapel, a swimming pool, a headquarters building which is located between the bath and the chapel and a main courtyard. The swimming pool has been transformed into a water tower.
During the excavations of the year 1941, in the western part of the Byzantine Fort, a dedication to Jupiter was found, the other was inscribed on a blue limestone stone, it was located along a small wall parallel to the old Museum on the south side. At the Byzantine Fort, the dedication to Mercury Augustus was located during excavations between 1945 and 1946, on the central east-west road, east side. Inside the Old Museum was a small altar of blue limestone which bears the dedication to Mercury Silvanus. In Africa, religious dedications honor Mercury and Silvanus together. The dedication to Caelestis is among the fragments identified at the deposit of the North Gate of Timgad. On the west face of the Byzantine Fort, the dedication to the Dea Patria was found, the letters are painted in red. Another would have been located at the location of the main sanctuary of the fort during the excavations of 1942 in the form of a hexagonal base of white limestone, containing a rounded part which probably serves as a support for a statue. Another inscription is found, it would represent a commemoration of an offering by citizens of Timgad to Dea Patria. In the representation, we see an elephant tusk, a terracotta medallion. This medallion would resemble a figure in the Timgad Museum, this figure represents a woman crowned with the remains of an elephant and she holds a cornucopia in her left arm and a vexillum on her right hand. The base fragment dedicated to the Genius of the Colony was found during the 1941 excavations at the Byzantine Fort on the west face. And in 1942, another was detected east of the Byzantine fort basin. One of the last dedications to the Genius of the Colony was located at the entrance to the curia during the excavations of 1945 and 1946. Several ex-votos were found at the old museum on the north wall and on one of the display cases . The dedication to Fortune Venus Aug was traced to the west in the house of Gorfidius, towards the west, near the north gate. The Curia Commodiana of Timgad, which included fifty-two curials, addressed Diana Augustus in 211 to 212. Several imperial inscriptions were recovered in fragment form during excavations at the Byzantine fort, on the south wall of the Old Museum , near the chapel of Patrice Grégoire in 1937, at the Forum, at the lapidary deposit of the North Gate and in houses surrounding the Timgad site.
235 mosaic pavements were listed in the Timgad site by Suzzane Germain and were the subject of study. All of the geometric and floral mosaics were probably created in a workshop in Timgad from the early years of the 3rd century. This set was used to decorate the houses of the rich and the thermal baths during the 3rd and 4th centuries. The mosaics in Byzantine churches were made between the 4th and 6th centuries.
It was in 1765 that the English traveler James Bruce first reported the existence of significant Roman ruins in Timgad. In fact, only the most important monuments emerged (the top of Trajan's arch, the capitol, the theater and the fortress). Bruce's drawings of the site, however, were not distributed until 1877. The site was subsequently visited by Louis Renier in 1851 as part of an epigraphic mission. He collected seventy registrations and located the forum. Renier's mission established lasting historiographical directions, in particular the idea that the veterans of Timgad must have had a military role against the natives: the rediscovery of Timgad now took place in the French colonial context and was deeply marked by it. Émile Masqueray visited Timgad in 1875, giving a long report the following year in the Revue Africaine. He described the city in detail, pointing out numerous monuments and publishing a number of new inscriptions, in particular the album of the decurions. A few years later, in 1880, a real archaeological exploration of the ruins began.
It was by decision of the Ministry of Public Education and Fine Arts
that excavations began in the 1880s in Timgad, thus a position of chief
architect of historical monuments of Algeria was created, with the aim
to manage the historic monuments of Algeria service and to take care of
excavation and restoration sites.
Each year, the chief architect
makes a tour of a few weeks to write a report and was to send it to the
Ministry of Public Education and Fine Arts and to the Governor General
in Algiers. From Paris come instructions on the work to be undertaken
and information concerning the excavations is stored. The Chair of
History and Antiquities of Africa at the École supérieure des Lettres of
Algiers has a second authority over intervention at the level of the
organization of excavation sites and museums.
Edmond Duthoit, who
lives in France, is the first to take charge of the work for the
clearing of Timgad. Albert Ballu succeeded him after his death in 1889,
he remained thirty-eight years at the head of the Historical Monuments
Service of Algeria, during which he undertook the restoration of several
Roman monuments and organized the most important excavation sites of the
Algeria (Timgad, and Djemila). He then writes each year a report
detailing the progress of the work published in the Official Journal of
the French Republic for the Ministry of Public Education and Fine Arts.
In 1927, Marcel Christofle became chief architect. He was appointed
by the governor general of Algiers. His son, Marcel-Henri Christofle
works with him. In Timgad, in 1938, they built the museum, with the help
of the Perret Company. Marcel-Henri Christofle in turn became the chief
architect of Algeria's monuments.
The excavations undertaken
towards the periphery of the site, in the region of the Byzantine fort
and the southern necropolis, were directed by Charles Godet, inspector
of Historical Monuments in Timgad for thirty years. Research was slowed
down by his death in 1945. Subsequently, René Godet succeeded his father
at the head of excavations at the site. After his appointment, he died
in a helicopter crash at the start of the Algerian War of Independence.
The death of René Godet left a huge void for research; it was necessary
to resume Louis Leschi's project to publish the research of the
Byzantine fort. Leglay was then responsible for publishing the research
for the Byzantine fort and Jean Lassus was responsible for the study of
the fortress, according to the report published in 1955.
From
1948, the need to protect the archaeological site and best accommodate
the inhabitants of Timgad led to the project of building a new town,
designed according to the standards of contemporary architecture. The
Algerian Urban Planning and Antiquities Services decide to create a new
city in order to safeguard the site spread over 60 ha of ruins and also
to bring together an agricultural population in a modern urban network.
After the failure of a first project, the design and construction of
the new city were entrusted to Roland Simounet in 1957, the new city was
to be built 1,000 m north of the ruins of the Roman city. Simounet
proposed a city with narrow streets occupying an area of 6 ha, using
architecture with simple forms adapted to the local environment and
modern designs for the well-being of the inhabitants. The construction
was carried out successfully despite the Algerian war and its
restrictions thanks to the use of several techniques using local
materials.
Listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the city of Timgad has not
been the subject of excavations since 1962. The conservation and
restoration of the site are not without problems. Timgad is exposed to
climatic and human degradation. Conservation and development of the site
raise concerns and debates.
Criticisms were repeatedly formulated
on the occasion of the organization of the annual festival which took
place in the ruins and could degrade them, because of the numerous
visitors, who exert great pressure on the soil of the city due to the
climbing and trampling on fragile structures, repeated passage of
machinery and service vehicles over vulnerable structures, graffiti and
waste.
In 2001, as part of a general assessment of the
conservation of ancient mosaics in Algeria, Ferdi Sabah noted a
satisfactory state of conservation for the mosaics of Timgad, unlike
other Algerian heritage sites such as Lambèse, Sétif or Tébessa. . Among
the causes of damage, not counting the causes of natural phenomena, such
as earthquakes or bad weather which have never had an impact on the
site, there is the insecurity of rural regions, the lack of restoration
specialists, the lack of cultural interest in antiquities, the
difficulties of an emerging country.
A new theater was erected
near the site, imitating the plan of the Roman theater, with a capacity
of 5,000 seats, carried out on a plot of 6,497 m2, this project,
registered in 2007 in the code of the culture sector for an initial
envelope of 10 million Algerian dinars, will be completed through
financing which can reach 240 million dinars, it was also specified.
This will be the first time that the evenings of this prestigious
festival will be held outside the remains of the Roman theater. It is
intended to host the international festival and must therefore
participate in the preservation of the site. Funded from 2007 and
corresponding to works worth 251 million Algerian dinars, it has been
operational since the 2010 edition of the International Festival 6.
However, criticism has been made regarding its location and its
relevance so close of the site.
On a legal level there are three
laws, the first is law no. 90-29 of December 1, 1990 relating to
development and town planning, which targets a particular provision
applicable to certain parts of the territory, such as the method of
enclosure , the development, preservation and enhancement of the
natural, cultural and historical heritage environment. The 2nd law no.
90-30 of December 1, 1990 (Containing state law) which classifies public
monuments, museums and archaeological sites as being an artificial
public domain. The third is Law No. 98-04 of June 15, 1998 relating to
the protection of cultural heritage, which defines cultural heritage,
and the rules for its protection, safeguarding and enhancement, and the
master plan for development and town planning of the municipality of
Timgad.
The archaeological site is placed under the plan for the
protection and development of archaeological sites (abbreviated:
PPMVSA), a legal and technical instrument which determines all
conservation and management actions for the property. Executive Decree
No. 03-323 appeared in the official journal and was signed by Ahmed
Ouyahia.
The Office for the Management and Exploitation of
Cultural Property is the site management body in collaboration with the
cultural directorate of the wilaya of Batna. Its aim is to carry out all
public service missions of protection, maintenance, inventory and
develops valorization and promotion programs.
Located at the entrance to the site, the museum preserves and
presents numerous sculptures, mosaics, inscriptions as well as small
objects (pottery, lamps, glassware, bronze utensils, coins, fibulae)
found in the excavation of the site or its surroundings. . It is
accessed through a vast courtyard, decorated with columns and statues.
You can admire sculptures of Greco-Roman deities, such as the busts
of Mercury and Apollo, the statue of Fortune, the heads of Serapis and
Aesculapius from the Byzantine fort. Bas-reliefs, steles dedicated to
Saturn (Baal Hammon of the Numidians) from the surroundings of Timgad
and Lambafundi, are on display. The museum has a statue of Emperor
Lucius Verus, nymphs holding shells found in the Southern Baths. Inside
the museum, a colossal vase represents the sacrifice and the Love of
Psyche and finally there are numerous inscriptions.
A door, which
was that of the chapel of Patrice Gréoire, gives access to rooms, where
numerous mosaics are exhibited which served as decoration and which were
often found in thermal baths or in rich private residences, such as the
Neptune mosaic on her chariot, Venus, Diana bathing, etc. The museum is
an important element in the preservation of the site and its riches,
however it had to face a theft on the night of September 27, 1993. In
2001, another theft was reported by the Algerian National Gendarmerie
following of the disappearance of the portrait of Emperor Hadrian.