Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-05-04
The Theater at Timgad. .

city. The columns beside me were as big
around as hogshead and they rose above
me to the height of a four-story house
They were made In blocks, each Of which
must have weighed many tons. They were
probably chiseled out on the ground. but
the aid Of modern machinery cannot i'm
ag1ne. This temple had twelve columns in
front of 1t, and twenty-five pillars Of these
enormous proportions on the platform
above.
The Arch Of Trajan.
At the entrance Of the Via Decumanus
Maximus now stands the remains Of the
Arch Of Trajan. The city. as I have said.
was founded by Tratan. and this arch is a
splendid monument to his memory. 1t must
be eighty or one hundred feet in height. It
Is of sandstone, with columns Of marble: it
has aged by the weather. and as the sun
shone upon 1t this morning 1t took on the
color of old gold, making a great frame
standing out against the blue sky. The
arch has three entrances, two at the sides
for foot passengers and one in the center
for carriages. The road through the central
arch has been cut deep by the chariot
wheels.
Birds were flying about through this arch
as visited 1t today, and, looking beyond
1t over the plain. could see the black tents
of the Bedouins with the sheep feeding near
them. They were grazing among the heads
of ruined columns and on land covering
that part OF Timsad which has not yet been
excavated.
All the relics found at Timgad are kept
in the museum here, and the collection al
ready gives live pictures Of the old Roman
days. Some Of the rooms are walled with
mosaics, and they contain enough broken
nosed statues to people a town. There are
some cases filled with gold coins and others
containing jewelry OF gold, some Of which
Is set with precious stones. There are
rouge pots like those discovered at Pom
rings of gold. There are surgical instru-
ments, including pincers and forceps Of
steel, beautifully made; knives of various
kinds, and needles Of all Sizes There are
are bronze handles of vases. and beautiful
pieces and vessels Of iridescent glass.
Altogether the collection is wonderful: but
1t Is shut up here away of In the heart Of
nearest railroad, so that few people ever
behold 1t.
During my stay I have photographed
some of the ruins and have measured many
Of the columns and buildings. / have also
talked with the director of the EXCAVATIONS
He tells me that the work of uncovering
the city Is to go steadily on, but that the
present appropriation Of only about $12 600
Is not enough to hurry the work. The ex-
cavation Is carefully done, and In the re-
manning two-thirds Of the city which are
yet to be uncovered many treasures must
lie.' There must be more or less gold and
precious stones, and it may be also the
remains Of beautiful statues. mosaics and
relics which will throw new light on Ro-
man North Africa.
A Land Of Roman Ruins.
There are relics of the Romans scattered
all over this part Of the world Nearly
every town in Algeria Of any size has more
or less of them. have seen the hand Of
old Rome in nearly every place have been.
1t has left its marks about Algiers, Oran
and ThA LOTT ntf1 ofn rt
Pomaria, and it shows the remains of q
great Roman aqueduct I came across the
old Roman wall many times while explor-
Ing Algiers, and not far from here Is Con-
stantfne. which was named after Constan-
tine the emperor Of Rome, which has more
or less ruins about it.
Lambese, about twenty miles east of here,
was built by the Romans A. D. 125 to form
the headquarters Of the Third Augustan
Legion, and recent explorations show that
1t was large Roman camp. The ruined
arches of t e gates outside the city show
that 1t covered several miles. and in its
center is building of stone ninety-two feet
long and seventy-two feet wide, and as high
as four-story house. The facade Of this
structure has peristyle. with handsome
Corinthan columns
Near it is a temple which was built dur
ing the reign Of Marcus Aurelius, and also
a great arch put up in honor of Septimus
Severus. There are ruins of baths at Lam
bese, from which have been taken beau
one of which measured more than half an
acre, and in one of the forums was great
| temple surrounded by colonnade.
! On the site of Lambese the French have
soldiers as they send to Africa for correc-
| ton, and as 1 rode by passed several
| companies Of French troops going through
| their evolutions on the site of the old camp,
| just as the Roman soldiers did In that
| same place more than seventeen hundred
years ago. FRANK G. CARPENTER.