City
Culchul Colonia
Djemila (Barrington)
Listen to the story
Culchul Colonia began as a Berber town between Cirta and Sitifis, and under the emperor Nerva Rome settled veteran soldiers there, founding a colony that made the place prosper. Its ruins at Djemila in Algeria are strikingly rich: temples, a theatre, forums, basilicas, baths, churches, houses with fine mosaics and a triumphal arch raised for Caracalla and Julia Domna. Inscriptions found on the spot proudly call it the most splendid colony. A bishop of the town is recorded in 255, and its importance faded in the fifth century. On the map a branch road leaves here for Tucca, marked as the border of Africa and Mauretania.