Travels in the footsteps of Bruce in Algeria and Tunis

by Sir R. Lambert Playfair

J. LEITCH &. C^o. Sc.

ARCH OF TRAJAN AT MACTAR (MUKTHER)

FAC-SIMILE OF INDIAN INK DRAWING BY BRUCE.

HENRY S. KING C^o. LONDON.

To the south-south-west of this is a very large building, which Sir Grenville Temple and M. Guérin believe to have been a palace or a church, but which I am inclined to consider public thermæ. There is a large central hall, twenty paces long by twelve broad, the north and south ends of which were almost entirely occupied by immense arches. On each of the other sides were three arched openings, the central one of which was the largest, giving access to lateral chambers, now entirely destroyed. Near the north-west angle is a large well, more than twelve feet in diameter, whence probably the water supply of the establishment was derived. The construction was very massive, partly of rubble and partly of cut-stone masonry. This building, like Trajan’s arch, had been converted into a fortress by a bastioned wall constructed of old materials, amongst which I observed two Christian tombstones; one had a cross inscribed within a circle, the other the monogram of Christ, with the Alpha and Omega.

About midway between Trajan’s arch and the double-storied mausoleum was a large and important pile of buildings, which might well have been a governor’s palace. The construction is of rubble masonry, but the voussoirs of the arches and some of the facings are of huge blocks of cut stone. It is much encumbered with débris, in which it is buried up to the imposts of the arches.

Beyond this is the mausoleum just alluded to; it consists of a sepulchral chamber containing seventeen carefully cut columbaria. Above this was an open chamber with a portico in front for statuary, the whole being surmounted by an elevated pyramid. Exteriorly the sides are ornamented by Corinthian pilasters. Above the door was an inscription; this has quite disappeared with the exception of the dedicatory letters D.M.S., which are of unusual size. Below this was a sculptured representation, now almost effaced, but from what remains there can be no doubt that the subject was exactly the same as that on the mausoleum of Julius Proculus, the procession of a bull to the sacrificial altar, one probably in common use like the cross on Christian tombs.

The second mausoleum, to which I have just alluded, is on the right bank of the Oued Sabon, near the lower triumphal arch; it was of similar construction to the other, but has only the lower storey remaining. Above the door the sculpture is in a very perfect condition, except that the faces of the persons assisting at the procession have been obliterated by chisels. Above this, occupying the whole length of the front side is a long inscription, part of which has been thrown down and is lying amongst the débris. Both Sir Grenville Temple[181] and M. Pelissier[182] have given portions of this inscription. M. Guérin,[183] however, has given as much of it as it is possible to decipher. It shows that the tomb was erected to commemorate Julius Proculus, who, ever since his assumption of the toga virilis, had devoted himself to the study of elocution, and was much admired by his fellow-citizens.

To the west of Trajan’s arch is an aqueduct of large cut stones. The piers of the arches are five feet six inches in thickness, and the intervals between them eleven feet eight inches.