DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.18096#0147
Africa under Trajan
97
were once graced with statues or busts of departed emperors,
give a piteous aspect to a noble structure. When Bruce visited
Timegad in 1765 the Arch was half buried on its east side by
an accumulation of fallen masonry and a heap of soil formed by
the alteration of the surface of the ground during many centuries
of neglect and abandonment. In 1884 it was in a more
dilapidated state, and by this time would probably have been a
mass of ruins if the Societe des Monuments Historiques had not
come to its rescue. Thoughtful care and patient labour have
been eminently successful. The ruined monument is now in a
stable condition, and the removal of the debris, together with
the opening up of the old Roman highway and its paved sur-
faces, places before us a bit of the Roman world not surpassed
by anything that is seen among the ruins of Pompeii. The
architectural treatment of the monument is original. Over the
side arches are square recesses flanked by small columns of the
Corinthian order, supported on decorative corbels, and sur-
mounted by a projecting entablature breaking all round. The
principal cornice and the cornices of the segmental pediments
over the side arches are broken in the same way, producing
altogether a very rich effect. Both facades are similar, but the
capitals vary in detail, quaint eagles and other devices being
still visible on two of them. The attic, intended to receive the
dedicatory inscription, appears to have extended over the whole
of the edifice. The original inscription,1 found in a fragmentary
state many years ago near the forum, may be read as follows :
IMPERATOR CAESAR D1VI
NERVAE FILIVS NERVAE TRAIANVS
AVGVSTVS GERMANICVS PONTIFEX MAXIMVS
IMPERATOR III TRIBVNICIA POTESTATE IV
CONSVL III PATER PATRIAE COLONIAM
MARCIANVM TRAIANVM THA
MVGADI PER LEGION EM TERTIAM AVGVSTAM
FECIT LVCIVS MVNATIVS GALLVS LEGATVS
AVGVSTI PRO PRAETORE
DEDICAVIT.
1 I.R.A. No. 1479. The illustration, showing a restoration of this beautiful
monument, was prepared in 18S6. Since that time a large number of blocks of
stone, then lying under the surface, have been brought to light, and placed, as far as
possible, in the positions they originally occupied. This conjectural restoration may
be regarded as correct, except in a few matters of detail.
H
97
were once graced with statues or busts of departed emperors,
give a piteous aspect to a noble structure. When Bruce visited
Timegad in 1765 the Arch was half buried on its east side by
an accumulation of fallen masonry and a heap of soil formed by
the alteration of the surface of the ground during many centuries
of neglect and abandonment. In 1884 it was in a more
dilapidated state, and by this time would probably have been a
mass of ruins if the Societe des Monuments Historiques had not
come to its rescue. Thoughtful care and patient labour have
been eminently successful. The ruined monument is now in a
stable condition, and the removal of the debris, together with
the opening up of the old Roman highway and its paved sur-
faces, places before us a bit of the Roman world not surpassed
by anything that is seen among the ruins of Pompeii. The
architectural treatment of the monument is original. Over the
side arches are square recesses flanked by small columns of the
Corinthian order, supported on decorative corbels, and sur-
mounted by a projecting entablature breaking all round. The
principal cornice and the cornices of the segmental pediments
over the side arches are broken in the same way, producing
altogether a very rich effect. Both facades are similar, but the
capitals vary in detail, quaint eagles and other devices being
still visible on two of them. The attic, intended to receive the
dedicatory inscription, appears to have extended over the whole
of the edifice. The original inscription,1 found in a fragmentary
state many years ago near the forum, may be read as follows :
IMPERATOR CAESAR D1VI
NERVAE FILIVS NERVAE TRAIANVS
AVGVSTVS GERMANICVS PONTIFEX MAXIMVS
IMPERATOR III TRIBVNICIA POTESTATE IV
CONSVL III PATER PATRIAE COLONIAM
MARCIANVM TRAIANVM THA
MVGADI PER LEGION EM TERTIAM AVGVSTAM
FECIT LVCIVS MVNATIVS GALLVS LEGATVS
AVGVSTI PRO PRAETORE
DEDICAVIT.
1 I.R.A. No. 1479. The illustration, showing a restoration of this beautiful
monument, was prepared in 18S6. Since that time a large number of blocks of
stone, then lying under the surface, have been brought to light, and placed, as far as
possible, in the positions they originally occupied. This conjectural restoration may
be regarded as correct, except in a few matters of detail.
H