Rambles in Mauretania Caesariensis

Extract

To reach Cherchell from Tipasa you must leave the sea and go inland round the flanks of Djebel Chénoua. Just beyond the first mile you come upon a strongly built Roman farm on the left of the road. The main gate is well preserved; it appears to have given en trance to the courtyard, round which were grouped living-rooms and farm-buildings, the whole forming a quadrilateral which would offer stout resistance to any band of raiding Berbers. The excellence of the masonry suggests that the farm dates back to the early days of Roman occupation of the littoral, but it may well have played its part in resisting Firmus and his Moors in the fourth century when they swept eastward down the Taza corridor to raid the fertile fields of Caesariensis.