To the S.W. of the thermæ is an Artisan Quarter with a pottery and a bronze-foundry.
We may now visit the Byzantine Fortress (p. [296]) or else go direct to the House of the Sertii (Pl. D, E, 4), one of the richest families in the town (comp. p. [295]). This building, a great rectangle of 68 by 35½ yds., comprising no fewer than three insulæ or blocks, was built on the site of the ancient town-wall, and extends as far as the Voie du Capitole.
The colonnade in the Cardo Maximus Sud opens on a square Vestibulum. Adjacent, on the right, were a shop of the owner’s, the lodge of the porter (ostiarius), and the stairs ascending to the bath-rooms (balineum). Next to the vestibule came the Peristyle, a colonnaded court in the Doric style, off which opened the owner’s reception-room (tablinum), the dining-room (triclinium), and several bedrooms (cubicula). On the left there was a staircase to the upper story. A second peristyle, with a fountain-basin and a fish-pond (vivarium) was flanked by the offices. The large room at the back was the banqueting-room (oecus). On the W. side of the building were several shops for letting.
On the W. side of the inner town, outside the town-wall, which has here been built over, runs the broad Voie du Capitole, at the upper end of which rises the—
*Capitol (Pl. C, D, 4; comp. p. [288]), originally one of the grandest temples in the whole country. A flight of four steps ascends to the propylæum, a portico of twelve columns lately re-erected. The vast temple-court is an irregular quadrangle of about 98 by 68–73 yds.; the peribolos or enclosing wall was restored, according to an inscription, under Valentinian I. in 365. Still later the S. colonnade was converted into a closed corridor with shops. In the middle of the court is the basement of the ancient altar.
A lofty flight of steps, originally 38, broken halfway up by a platform, formed the approach to the temple (58 by 25 yds.). The cella, now destroyed, had three niches, a portico of six columns, and lateral colonnades, while the back-wall was closed. Two of the gigantic columns of the portico, 44 ft. high, have been re-erected, while the huge drums and capitals of others lie around, notably on the S. side of the temple.
We now walk down the Voie du Capitole to the Marché de l’Ouest (Pl. D, 3), or West Macellum, the largest covered market in the town, probably built by one of the Sertii (p. [294]) early in the 3rd century.
The entrance is in the small Place du Marché, on the S. side of the Decumanus Maximus. The entrance colonnade (chalcidicum) leads into the quadrangle, 37 by 27 yds., paved with large slabs of limestone and surrounded by colonnades. In the centre originally stood a square fountain (tholos). At the N. end, near the entrance, were two shops on each side and the stairs to the upper floor. The most curious feature of the building is the raised *Exedra, once roofed, on the S. side of the court, with seven deep recesses, closed, like those of the E. Market (p. [292]), by the stone counters of the sellers. Remains of the entablature are exhibited on the outer wall.
The rectangular ‘Marché aux Vêtements’ (Pl. C, D, 3), on the W. side of the Place du Marché, was probably a minor market.
Close by, on the N. side of the Decumanus Maximus, rises the small Temple du Génie de Timgad (Pl. C, D, 3, 4), ‘a miniature capitol’, dedicated in 151 to the genius of the colony. Three flights of steps ascend to the temple-court with relics of the altar. The temple, with its four Corinthian columns in front, is a mere ruin.