This paper examines the colonial construction of Roman heritage in Algeria as a political and archaeological project through which the French colonial state sought to legitimize territorial control, cultural authority, and historical continuity to justify colonization. Drawing on archives, conservation policies, archaeological missions, and restoration practices, it analyzes how Roman antiquity was selectively mobilized as a “classical” ancestry for French Algeria, framing the country as inherently Mediterranean, Latin, and European, while marginalizing Islamic, Arabic, Berber, and vernacular cultural histories.

The paper situates French archaeology in Algeria within broader logics of imperial governance, cultural diplomacy, and identity engineering. Roman sites were not only excavated and studied, but ideologically reframed through stylistic restoration, museum display, heritage tourism, and urban monumentalization, producing a hierarchy of pasts in which Roman antiquity was elevated as civilizational heritage, while living and intangible cultures, and other types of Algerian built heritage, were rendered peripheral. In parallel, writings of French authors and officers exalted the military use of surviving Roman infrastructure, framing the invading French army as modern conquering centurions by painting the false image of undisturbed antiquity, which later required retrofitting these sites to match ideological narratives through intervention. This process transformed archaeology into a technology of political legitimacy and cultural occupation.

By interrogating who was authorized to interpret, restore, and narrate the Algeria's Roman past, this paper addresses the question of ownership of heritage in colonial and post-colonial contexts. It argues that Roman archaeology in Algeria functioned as a form of cultural possession, producing enduring institutional and epistemic legacies that continue to shape heritage governance and historical narratives today. The Algerian case offers a critical perspective on how “classical” pasts are constructed, circulated, and instrumentalized within colonial and post-colonial frameworks, contributing to contemporary debates on decolonizing archaeology and rethinking the politics of cultural ownership globally.

First Author: Samir Belgacem

Keywords:
Algeria
Colonial
Roman
Heritage
Archaeology
French