Timgad was a Roman city in the Aures Mountains of Algeria. It was founded by the Roman Emperor Trajan around CE 100. The full name of the city was Colonia Marciana Ulpia Traiana Thamugadi.

Emperor Trajan named the city in commemoration of his mother Marcia, eldest sister Ulpia Marciana, and father Marcus Ulpius Traianus. Located in modern-day Algeria, about 35 km east of the city of Batna, the ruins are noteworthy for representing one of the best extant examples of the grid plan as used in Roman town planning.

Timgad was inscribed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1982. Timgad was destroyed at the end of the 5th century by montagnards of the Aures.The Library at Timgad was a gift to the Roman people by Julius Quintianus Flavius Rogatianus at a cost of 400,000 sesterces.

Timgad lies on the northern slopes of the Aures mountains and was created ex nihilo as a military colony by the Emperor Trajan. Timgad abandoned and covered by sand from the Sahara from the seventh century on. Timgad was rediscovered by Scottish explorer James Bruce in 1765.

Algeria

Casbah of Algiers |  Tipasa |  Timgad