Castra - Wikipedia. Templeborough Roman Fort visualised 3. D flythrough, produced for Rotherham Museums and Archives. In the Roman Empire, the Latin word castrum. The diminutive form castellum was used for fortlets, typically occupied by a detachment of a cohort or a century. However, scholastic convention tends toward the use of the word . Castrum Album, Castrum Inui, Castrum Novum, Castrum Truentinum, Castrum Vergium. The plural was also used as a place name, as Castra Cornelia, and from this come the Welsh place name prefix . Winchester, Lancaster. Castrorum Filius was one of names used by the emperor Caligula and then also by other emperors. They could throw up a camp under enemy attack in as little as a few hours. Judging from the names, they probably used a repertory of camp plans, selecting the one appropriate to the length of time a legion would spend in it: tertia castra, quarta castra, etc., . The least permanent of these were castra aestiva or aestivalia, . For the winter the soldiers retired to castra hiberna containing barracks and other buildings of more solid materials, with timber construction gradually being replaced by stone. Neither the Celtic nor Germanic armies had this capability: they found it necessary to disperse after only a few days. The largest castra were legionary fortresses built as bases for one or more whole legions. Previously, legions were raised for specific military campaigns and subsequently disbanded, requiring only temporary castra. From then on many castra of various sizes were established many of which became permanent settlements. Plan of forts. Note the battlements, the Roman arches, the turres. An ancient watchtower would have been surrounded by wall and ditch. Vegetius Renatus has a small section on entrenched camps as well. The terminology varies but the basic plan is the same. Laying it out was a geometric exercise conducted by experienced officers called metatores, who used graduated measuring rods called decempedae (. Ideally the process started in the centre of the planned camp at the site of the headquarters tent or building (principia). Streets and other features were marked with coloured pennants or rods. The street plans of various present- day cities still retain traces of a Roman camp, for example Marsala in Sicily, the ancient Lilybaeum, where the name of the main street, the Cassaro, perpetuates the name . The vallum was quadrangular aligned on the cardinal points of the compass. The construction crews dug a trench (fossa), throwing the excavated material inward, to be formed into the rampart (agger). On top of this a palisade of stakes (sudes or valli) was erected. The soldiers had to carry these stakes on the march. A legion- sized camp always placed towers at intervals along the wall with positions between for the division artillery. NASA has given the greenlight to not one but two Phase I concepts that could set the stage for interstellar space travel. Discover Deli with a Difference! Established in 1932, Deli Brands of America has a tradition of quality and value that is unsurpassed.Your customers will taste the. Interval. Legionaries were quartered in a peripheral zone inside the intervallum, which they could rapidly cross to take up position on the vallum. Inside of the legionary quarters was a peripheral road, the Via Sagularis, probably a type of . The names of streets in many cities formerly occupied by the Romans suggest that the street was called cardo or cardus maximus. This name applies more to cities than it does to ancient camps. The central portion was used as a parade ground and headquarters area. In the camp of a full legion he held the rank of consul or proconsul but officers of lesser ranks might command. On one side of the praetorium was the quaestorium, the building of the quaestor (supply officer). On the other side was the forum, a small duplicate of an urban forum, where public business could be conducted. Along the Via Principalis were the homes or tents of the several tribunes in front of the barracks of the units they commanded. The Via Principalis went through the vallum in the Porta Principalis Dextra (. Which was on the north and which on the south depends on whether the praetorium faced east or west, which remains unknown. Welcome to Babylon Floral Design, Denver's most unique flower boutique, specializing in cutting edge floral design and unique gift items. We strive to provide the. The central region of the Via Principalis with the buildings for the command staff was called the Principia (plural of principium). It was actually a square, as across this at right angles to the Via Principalis was the Via Praetoria, so called because the praetorium interrupted it. The Via Principalis and the Via Praetoria offered another division of the camp into four quarters. Across the central plaza (principia) to the east or west was the main gate, the Porta Praetoria. Marching through it and down . The standards of the legion were located on display there, very much like the flag of modern camps. On the other side of the praetorium the Via Praetoria continued to the wall, where it went through the Porta Decumana. In theory this was the back gate. Supplies were supposed to come in through it and so it was also called, descriptively, the Porta Quaestoria. The Via Praetoria on that side might take the name Via Decumena or the entire Via Praetoria be replaced with Decumanus Maximus. They were allowed into the camp as far as the units numbered 5 (half- way to the praetorium). There another street crossed the camp at right angles to the Via Decumana, called the Via Quintana, . If the camp needed more gates, one or two of the Porta Quintana were built, presumably named dextra and sinistra. If the gates were not built, the Porta Decumana also became the Porta Quintana. Sometimes the horrea were located near the barracks and the meat was stored on the hoof. Analysis of sewage from latrines indicates the legionary diet was mainly grain. Also located in the Latera was the Armamentarium, a long shed containing any heavy weapons and artillery not on the wall. These included Classici (. Troops who did not fit elsewhere also were there. The part of the Retentura (. By the late empire it had developed also into a safekeep for plunder and a prison for hostages and high- ranking enemy captives. Near the Quaestorium were the quarters of the headquarters guard (Statores), who amounted to two centuries (companies). If the Imperator was present they served as his bodyguard. Barracks. It is placed cross- slope with a slight decline and then exits down- slope. Further from the Qaestorium were the tents of the Nationes (. One Striga was as long as required and 1. In it were two Hemistrigia of facing tents centered in its 9 m strip. Arms could be stacked before the tents and baggage carts kept there as well. Space on the other side of the tent was for passage. In the northern places like Britain, where it got cold in the winter, they would make wood or stone barracks. The Romans would also put a fireplace in the barracks. They had about three bunk beds in it. They had a small room beside it where they put their armour; it was as big as the tents. They would also make these barracks if the fort they had was going to stay there for good. Ideally a company took 1. Porta Decumana. 9. The single tent with its men was called contubernium, also used for . A squad during some periods was 8 men or fewer. The Centurion, or company commander, had a double- sized tent for his quarters, which served also as official company area. Other than there, the men had to find other places to be. To avoid mutiny, it became extremely important for the officers to keep them busy. A covered portico might protect the walkway along the tents. If barracks had been constructed, one company was housed in one barracks building, with the arms at one end and the common area at the other. The company area was used for cooking and recreation, such as gaming. The army provisioned the men and had their bread (panis militaris) baked in outdoor ovens, but the men were responsible for cooking and serving themselves. They could buy meals or supplementary foods at the canteen. The officers were allowed servants. Sanitation. A public latrine consisted of a bank of seats situated over a channel of running water. One of the major considerations for selecting the site of a camp was the presence of running water, which the engineers diverted into the sanitary channels. Drinking water came from wells; however, the larger and more permanent bases featured the aqueduct, a structure running a stream captured from high ground (sometimes miles away) into the camp. The praetorium had its own latrine, and probably the quarters of the high- ranking officers. In or near the intervallum, where they could easily be accessed, were the latrines of the soldiers. A public bathhouse for the soldiers, also containing a latrine, was located near or on the Via Principalis. Territory. Each doorway provides entry to a large room, the sleeping quarters of one contubernium, or . The total land required for the maintenance of a permanent base was called its territoria. In it were located all the resources of nature and the terrain required by the base: pastures, woodlots, water sources, stone quarries, mines, exercise fields and attached villages. The central castra might also support various fortified adjuncts to the main base, which were not in themselves self- sustaining (as was the base). In this category were speculae, . The other sides were formed by a polygonal wall and ditch constructed in the usual way, with gates and watchtowers. The main internal features were the boat sheds and the docks. When not in use, the boats were drawn up into the sheds for maintenance and protection. Since the camp was placed to best advantage on a hill or slope near the river, the naval base was usually outside its walls. The classici and the optiones of the naval installation relied on the camp for its permanent defense. Naval personnel generally enjoyed better quarters and facilities. Many were civilians working for the military. Modifications in practice. Each camp discovered by archaeology has its own specific layout and architectural features, which makes sense from a military point of view. If, for example, the camp was built on an outcrop, it followed the lines of the outcrop. Environmental News and Information .
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