In 1901, French archaeologists were busy investigating the area of the principia in the middle of the legionary fortress at Lambaesis (Tazoult-Lambèse in Algeria). Much of the south-western quadrant of the fortress had been built over, right up to the principia. Along the principia’s eastern side, however, they found a long series of rooms that flanked the large central courtyard in a pattern that is now familiar from many other military sites.
In one of the rooms, the archaeologists were amazed to find a large inscription ( 9097), over 2m wide and almost 1m high, dedicated to the Severan imperial family by the of the Third Augusta Legion. Sixty-two names had been appended, which seemed to match the number of in a legion, leaving three men as supernumeraries. The same room also contained a massive altar ( 1902, 11 and 147) dedicated to Minerva and the emperor Severus Alexander, erected by the next generation of , some 25 years after the first dedication. This
