peopled it with time-expired soldiers from the
Third Legion which garrisoned the neighbouring fortress of Lambaesis.
The town grew. Soon after the middle of the second century it was more
than half a mile in width from east to west, and its extent from north
to south, though not definitely known, cannot have been much less. The
first settlement was smaller. So far as it has been uncovered by
French archaeologists--sufficiently for our purpose, though not
completely--the 'colonia' of Trajan appears to have been some 29 or 30
acres in extent within the walls and almost square in outline (360 x
390 yds.). It was entered by four principal gates, three of which can
still be traced quite clearly, and which stood in the middle of their
respective sides; the position of the south gate is doubtful.
According to Dr. Barthel, the street which joins the east and west
gates was laid out to point to the sunrise of September 18, the
birthday of Trajan.

[Illustration: FIG. 23. SIX 'INSULAE' IN S.W. TIMGAD
(after Prof. Cagnat). Nos. 91, 92, 99, one house each; 108, 109,
3 houses; 100, Baths.]

The interior of the town was divided by streets into a chess-board
pattern of small square house-blocks; from north to south there were
twelve such blocks and from east to west eleven--not twelve, as is
often stated. The possible total of 132 'insulae' was, however,
diminished by the space needed for public buildings, though it is not
easy to tell how great this space was in the original town.
Ultimately, as the excavations show, eight 'insulae' were taken up by
the Forum, four by the Theatre, three by the various Baths, one by a
Market, one by a Public Library, and one by a Christian church. But
some of these edifices were certainly not established till long after
A.D. 100 and the others, which must have existed from the first, were
soon extended and enlarged. A competent writer on the subject, Dr.
Barthel, allows seven blocks for public purposes in the original town,
but this seems too little. The blocks themselves measured on the
average a square of 70 Roman feet (23 x 23 yards), and may have
contained one, two, three, or even four houses apiece, but they have
undergone so many changes that their original arrangements are not at
all clear. The streets which divided these blocks were 15 to 16 ft.
wide; the two main streets, which ran to the principal gates, were
further widened by colonnades and paved with superior flagging. All
the streets