The groma
Some 15 m of arches at the camp's heart.
Carole Raddato — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Carole Raddato — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Carole Raddato — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Carole Raddato — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Carole Raddato — CC BY-SA 2.0
Lambaesis, beside the town of Tazoult about 10 km south-east of central Batna, was the base of the Third Augustan Legion, which guarded Rome's North African provinces. Its fortress covered more than 20 hectares, and at its heart stands the groma, a four-sided arched building some 15 metres high, long misnamed the praetorium. The legion moved here early in the second century AD. Hadrian inspected it in summer 128, and extracts of his speeches were carved on a parade-ground monument, regarded as the only surviving record of an emperor addressing his troops. Under the Severans the adjoining civilian town became capital of the new province of Numidia; in the nineteenth century much of its stone went into the village and a French prison. The groma marked the camp's central crossroads and the entrance to its headquarters; Victories and eagles adorn its keystones, and behind it lie armouries where thousands of projectiles were found. East of the camp, towards Timgad, stand the single-bay Arch of Commodus and an amphitheatre built under Marcus Aurelius; the three-bay Arch of Septimius Severus marks Tazoult's eastern edge, and the Capitol and temple of Aesculapius rise on a plateau to the south. Buses link Batna and Tazoult, but the remains are scattered, so a taxi is easiest; allow one to two hours. A prison founded by the French around 1850, still in use, occupies part of the camp, so keep cameras on the ruins. Timgad lies about 19 km east as the crow flies, an easy pairing, and the Ghoufi Balconies about 50 km south.
Some 15 m of arches at the camp's heart.
Three bays at Tazoult's eastern edge.
Temple of Jupiter, Juno and Minerva in the civilian town.
Tazoult, beside the road from Batna to Timgad
In the summer of 128 he watched the legion and its auxiliary units drill and addressed them unit by unit; one surviving passage praises a Pannonian cavalry unit for its manoeuvres, quick mounting and skilful spear throwing. The texts were carved on a monument on the parade ground west of the fortress, which is now gone, though fragments of the inscription survive.
The town's small museum holds finds from the site, including statues of Aesculapius and Hygieia and mosaics, but it has often been reported closed, so ask locally before planning around it.