Gemellae Fortress Roman

Gemellae was a Roman fort and associated camp on the fringe of the Sahara Desert in what is today part of Algeria [1]. It is now an archaeological site, 25 km south and 19 km west of Biskra, and 5 km southwest of the present-day village of M'Lili with which it probably shares an original Berber name [1]. It was connected by military Roman road to Castellum Dimmidi and Capsa [1]. The earliest epigraph retrieved from the site is an inscription for a statue of Emperor Hadrian, in about the year 126 AD, by a cohors equitata originating from Chalcis in Syria [1]. A second very large dedication to Hadrian, which faced the central courtyard, dates from 132 AD [1]. The great fort of Gemellae is rectangular with sides oriented to the cardinal directions, constructed in a manner common to most Roman castra [1]. It measures 150 metres north to south and 190 m east to west [1]. For the most part, the masonry wall was about 3 metres thick, using stone from a quarry 14 kilometres distant [1].