The Forum of Dougga is small by Roman standards — about 38 by 24 metres — and it is hemmed in by the Capitol on one side, the temple of Mercury on another, and a tight ring of buildings on the remaining sides. The paving is largely intact, and you can still trace the lines of the surrounding colonnade.
Adjoining the forum is the Square of the Winds, an unusual trapezoidal plaza named after a compass-rose inscription set into its pavement that names the twelve Roman winds. It is one of those small details that takes the abstract idea of "Roman city" and grounds it in something very specific: someone, two thousand years ago, walked across this pavement and read off where each wind was supposed to blow from.