Lambese

LAMBE´SE (Itin. Ant. pp. 32, 33,34,40: Tab. Peut.;Λάμβαῖσα, Ptol. 4.3.29; LAMBAESA, Inscr.; Lambaese, Augustin. adv. Donat. 6.13; Lambesitana Colonia, Cyprian. Epist. 55: Lemba or Tezzout, large Ru.), one of the most important cities in the interior of Numidia, belonging to the Massylii. It lay near the confines of Mauretania, at the W. foot of M. Aurasius (Jebel Auress), 102 M. P. from SITIFI 118 from THEVESTE and 84 from CIRTA It was the station of an entire legion, the Legio III. Augusta (Λεγείων τρίτη σεβαστή, Ptol. l. c.; and Inscr.). Its importance is attested by its magnificent ruins, among which are seen the remains of an amphitheatre, a temple of Aesculapius, a triumphal arch, and other buildings, enclosed by a wall, in the circuit of which 40. gates have been traced, 15 of them still in a good state of preservation. The silence of Procopius respecting such a city seems to imply that it had been destroyed before the age of Justinian. (Shaw, Travels, p. 57; Bruce; Peysonnel; Pellissier, Exploration Scientifique de l'Algérie, vol. vi. pp. 388, 389.)