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Coordinates: 35°29′20″N 06°15′21″E / 35.48889°N 6.25583°E / 35.48889; 6.25583

Roman Remains at Lambessa (19th cent.)

Lambaesis, or Lambaesa, is a Roman ruin in Algeria, 7 miles (11 km) southeast of Batna and 17 miles (27 km) west of Timgad, located next to the modern village of Tazoult.

Remains[link]

The remains of the Roman town, and more especially of the Roman camp, in spite of wanton vandalism, are among the most interesting ruins in northern Africa. The ruins are situated on the lower terraces of the Aures Mountains, and consist of triumphal arches (one to Septimius Severus, another to Commodus), temples, aqueducts, vestiges of an amphitheatre, baths and an immense quantity of masonry belonging to private houses. To the north and east lie extensive cemeteries with the stones standing in their original alignments; to the west is a similar area, from which, however, the stones have been largely removed for building the modern village.

Of the temple of Aesculapius only one column is standing, though in the middle of the 19th century its façade was entire. The capitol or temple dedicated to Jupiter, Juno and Minerva, which has been cleared of debris, has a portico with eight columns. On level ground about two-thirds of a mile from the centre of the ancient town stands the camp, its site now partly occupied by the penitentiary and its gardens. It measures 1,640 feet (500 m) by 1,476 feet (450 m), and in the middle rise the ruins of a building commonly called, but incorrectly, the praetorium. This noble building, which dates from 268, is 92 feet (28 m) long by 66 feet (20 m) broad and 49 feet (15 m) high; its southern façade has a splendid peristyle half the height of the wall, consisting of a front row of massive Ionic columns and an engaged row of Corinthian pilasters.

Lambaesis 2005

Behind this building (which was roofed), is a large court giving access to other buildings, one being the arsenal. In it have been found many thousands of projectiles. To the southeast are the remains of the baths. The ruins of both city and camp have yielded many inscriptions (Renier edited 1500, and there are 4185 in CIL viii); and, though a very large proportion are epitaphs of the barest kind, the more important pieces supply an outline of the history of the place. Over 2500 inscriptions relating to the camp have been deciphered. In a museum in the village are objects of antiquity discovered in the vicinity. In addition to inscriptions and statues, there are some fine mosaics found in 1905 near the arch of Septimius Severus. The statues include those of Aesculapius and Hygieia, taken from the temple of Aesculapius.

About 2 miles (3.2 km) south of Lambessa are the ruins of Markuna, the ancient Verecunda, including two triumphal arches.

History[link]

Lambaesa was founded by the Roman military. The camp of the third legion (Legio III Augusta), to which it owes its origin, appears to have been established between 123 and 129, in the time of Hadrian, whose address to his soldiers was found inscribed on a pillar in a second camp to the west of the great camp still extant. However, other evidence suggest it was formed during the Punic Wars. By 166 mention is made of the decurions of a vicus, 10 curiae of which are known by name; and the vicus became a municipium probably at the time when it was made the capital of the newly founded province of Numidia. The legion was removed by Gordian I, but restored by Valerian and Gallienus; and its final departure did not take place till after 392. The town soon afterwards declined. It never became the seat of a bishop, and no Christian inscriptions have been found among the ruins.

References[link]

• S. Gsell, Les Monuments antiques de l'Algerie (Paris, 1901) and L'Algérie dans l'antiquité (Algiers, 1903);
• L. Renier, Inscriptions romaines de l'Algérie (Paris, 1855);
• Gustav Wilmann, "Die rm. Lagerstadt Afrikas", in Commentationes Phil. in honoreni Th. Mommseni (Berlin, 1877);
• Sir L. Playfair, Travels in the Footsteps of Bruce (London, 1877);
• A. Graham, Roman Africa (London, 1902).

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. 

External links[link]

• Joint Anglo-Algerian excavations since 1985
• Photos from Lambaesis

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Ferhat Mehenni also known as Ferhat Imazighen Imula (March 5, 1951 in Illoula – ) is a Kabyle singer and political activist, the founder and first President of the Movement for the Autonomy of Kabylie.^[1] He is since June 1, 2010, the President of the Provisional Government of Kabylia, a government the movement set up in exile in France.^[1]

Having graduated from the University of Algiers with a degree in political science, Ferhat made his first steps into the world of music in 1973, by winning the Algiers Modern Music Festival's first prize. It was soon after this success that he began an illustrious career as a protest singer. He was notably hostile against the Algerian government and Islamists; this led to him being arrested 13 times, imprisoned for three years, and tortured by government forces.^[2] After the Black Spring massacre in Kabylie that emerged after Algerian gendarmes killed a young Kablye man, Masinissa Guermah in detention, he established the MAK, Movement for the Autonomy of Kabylie, a political movement calling for self-government in Kabylia. The assassination of his eldest son (Améziane Mehenni) in 2001 is widely regarded as a punishment to his fight for Autonomy.

His music is highly political and unique. He has produced several albums but most of them are somewhat difficult to come by in Europe albeit the following:

Tuγac n ddkir – Songs of steel, love and liberty (1994)
Tuγac n tmes d waman – Songs of Fire and Water (1996 and 2001)
I Tmurt n Leqvayel – Hymn to Kabylia (2002)
Adekker d usirem – Requiem and Hope (2004)

It is important not to regard Ferhat as a Bob Dylan type of protest singer. Ferhat, like Lounis Ait Menguellet or Matoub Lounes, comes from an oral tradition where the song acts like the newspaper or political speeches in European societies. It is a very powerful as a means of communication. It may not be easy for western audiences to understand the power of the song in an oral tradition even when a written tradition exists.

Ferhat is primarily a political activist who, living in a society with strong oral traditions, uses music to convey those ideas. It is quite difficult to separate the politician from the singer.

Ferhat Mehenni is the author of Algérie : La Question Kabyle, published in 2004 in which he explains his ideas about Kabyle nationalism.

References[link]

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