Castra

Basic ideal plan of a Roman castra. Expand by clicking to see a list of the numbered features.

The Latin word Castra, a nominative plural noun of neuter gender, with its nominative singular, castrum, was used by the ancient Romans to mean any building or plot of land reserved to or constructed for use as a military defensive position. Both the singular and the plural were used for the purpose, but predominantly the plural. As the word appears in both Oscan and Umbrian (dialects of Italic) as well as in Latin, it probably descended from Indo-European to Italic.

The best known type of castra is the camp, on which all subsequent military camps in western history were modeled. The camp was a military town designed to house and protect the soldiers and their equipment and supplies when they were not fighting or marching. Regulations required a major unit in the field to retire to a properly constructed camp every single day. To this end a marching column ported the equipment needed to build and stock the camp in a baggage train of wagons and on the backs of the soldiers.

Reconstructed barracks of a Castra Hiberna, or "winter camp". Each doorway provides entry to a large room, the sleeping quarters of one contubernium, or "squad" of about 10 men.

Camps were the responsibility of engineering units to which specialists of many types belonged, officered by architecti, "chief engineers", who requisitioned manual labor from the soldiers at large as required. 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., "a camp of three days", "four days", etc.

More permanent camps were castra stativa, "standing camps." The least permanent of these were castra aestiva or aestivalia, "summer camps", in which the soldiers were housed sub pellibus or sub tentoriis, "under tents". Summer was the campaign season. For the winter the soldiers retired to castra hiberna containing barracks of more solid materials. Permanent bases were designed as homes away from home, with well-built barracks, public buildings and stone walls.

If there is any single reason for Roman victory over the peoples of Europe, it may well be the castra. The camp allowed the Romans to keep a rested and supplied army in the field. Neither the Celts nor the Germanics had this capability. Their armies found it necessary to disperse after only a few days; meanwhile, their open camps invited attack when they were least prepared.

Ruins of the Porta Praetoria, or "Headquarters Gate", from a Castra Stativa, a more permanent base.

Castra at Massada. Note the classical "playing-card" layout.

Etymology

Reconstruction of a specula or vigilarium (Germanic burgus), "watchtower", a type of castrum. An ancient watchtower would have been surrounded by wall and ditch.

The American Heritage Dictionary, following Julius Pokorny, lists *kes-, "cut",as the root. The precise sense is not entirely clear, but it seems to depend on whether the singular or plural was used.

One castrum was a reservation of land "cut off" for military use. It could be an entire base, such as castrum Moguntiacum, or it could be a single fortified building. From the latter use came the English word castle (castellum, a diminutive of castrum).

Castra in the plural is more obscure. It refers to a collection of structures. Considering that the earliest structures were tents, which were cut out of cloth, one castrum may well be a tent, with the plural meaning tents. All but the most permanent bases housed the men in barracks of tents placed in quadrangles and separated by numbered streets. From the plural come English place-name suffices such as -caster and -chester; e.g., Winchester, Lancaster.

Plan of the base

Gateway of a Castra Stativa. Note the battlements, the Roman arch, the turres.

Sources and origins

Even from the most ancient times Roman camps were constructed according to a certain ideal pattern, formally described in two main sources, the De Metatione Castrorum or De Munitionibus Castrorum by either Hyginus Gromaticus or Pseudo-Hyginus and the works of Polybius. Vegetius has a small section on entrenched camps as well. The terminology varies some but the basic plan is the same. To readers of the Rig Veda the pattern is strikingly familiar, as it is essentially the same as the Aryans invading early Pakistan (then India) used to lay out a village. That is not to say non-Indo-European peoples did not use it either. The hypothesis of an Etruscan origin is a viable alternative.

Layout

The ideal enforced a linear plan for every single fort. The plan was a square for camps to contain one legion or less, or a rectangle for two legions, each legion being placed back-to-back with headquarters next to each other. Laying it out was a geometric exercise conducted by officers called metatores, or gromatici, who used graduated measuring rods called decempedae ("10-footers") or gromae (Roman equivalent of a transit, but without the lenses, which they did not have), respectively. The layout process was a well-defined algorithm conducted by experienced men. It started in the center at the planned site of the headquarters tent. Streets and architectural features were marked with colored pennants or rods.

The Community plan

Camp Arges, Dacia (reconstruction), showing a good stone vallum, a porta and a turris.

The base was constructed entirely within a surrounding fortification, or munimentum, called the vallum ("wall"). It could be constructed under the protection of the legion drawn up in hollow square or ranked on the sides if necessary. When the vallum was done, the protecting legion withdrew through the gates and manned the wall until their quarters were complete, which they were within a few hours.

The vallum was quadrangular in shape aligned on the cardinal points of the compass, a very ancient custom with an originally sacred significance. To build it 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. This method is reminiscent of the foundation of Rome by Romulus and Remus. Over the course of time, the vallum might be replaced by a fine brick or stone wall, and the fossa serve also as a moat. A legion-sized camp always placed towers at intervals along the wall with positions between for the division artillery.

Site map of Potaissa at Turda in Romania. The major features of the layout have been identified and are shown on the map.

Around the inside periphery of the vallum was a clear space, the intervallum, which served to catch missiles thrown over the vallum, as an access route to the vallum and as a storage space for cattle (capita) and booty (praeda). 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 "service road", as the sagum, a kind of cloak, was the garment of slaves.

Every camp included "main street", which ran from vallum to vallum unimpeded through the camp in a north-south direction and was very wide. The names of streets in many cities formerly occupied by the Romans suggest that the street was called cardo or cardus (the latter form is an assimilation to the nominative ending of an adjective). With reference to a camp it was the Cardo or Cardus Maximus. This name applies more to cities than it does to ancient camps.Cardo and decumanus are quite general terms in Roman concepts of measured extension. Cardo is the hinge line of a door and therefore is any main axis. In surveying it was the first line drawn, on which all the others depended. The via principalis would certainly be a cardo, although one finds the former rather than the latter in reference to the main street of a camp.

Typically "main street" was the via principalis. The central portion of it was used as a parade ground and headquarters area. The "headquarters" building was called the praetorium because it housed the praetor or base commander ("first officer"), and his staff. 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 supply officer, or quaestor ("seeker"). 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 ("right principle gate") and Porta Principalis Sinistra ("left, etc."), which were gates fortified with turres ("towers"). Which was on the north and which on the south depends on whether the praetorium faced east or west, which remains unknown.

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 another major road, 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 "headquarters street" a unit ended up in formation in front of the headquarters. The standards of the legion were located on display there, very much like the flag of modern camps. Some theorists claim that this gate faced the enemy, a presupposition that the enemy was always on that side. In fact the main gate was whichever one fit the terrain and military situation. All four gates might not be present, and neither might be the Via Praetoria.

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 term Decumena, "of the 10th", came from the arranging of manipuli or turmae from the first to the 10th, such that the 10th was near the intervallum on that side. The Via Praetoria on that side might take the name Via Decumena or the entire Via Praetoria be replaced with Decumanus Maximus. Decumana (feminine of decumanus) derives most likely from decima manus, "tenth part" or "ten fold". As tenfold, it meant "immense." As tenth part, it also meant "across", such as a cross-path or cross-boundary. In surveying it was the first line across the cardo at right angles. The connection between tenth and across remains obscure. However, application of decumena to towns probably follows the same convention as in naming a limes that; that is, with a meaning of "cross." The presence of numbered streets (such as the quintana) makes it less likely that the via decumana was "cross street" than that it was "10th street."

In peaceful times the camp set up a marketplace with the natives in the area. 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 Praetoria, called the Via Quintana, "5th street". 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. At "5th street" a public market was allowed. The English word canteen comes from Quintana.

Not much remains of these horreae at Arbeia. We are probably seeing the floors of bins between aisles.

The Via Quintana and the Via Principalis divided the camp neatly into three districts: the Latera Praetorii, the Praetentura and the Retentura. In the latera ("sides") were the Arae (sacrificial altars), the Auguratorium (for auspices), the Tribunal, where courts martial and arbitrations were conducted (it had a raised platform), the guardhouse, the quarters of various kinds of staff and the storehouses for grain (horreae) or meat (carnarea). Sometimes the horreae 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 the excess or heavy weapons and the artillery if it was not to go on the wall.

Roman artillery piece (Onager)

The Praetentura ("stretching to the front") contained the Scamnum Legatorum, the quarters of officers who were below general but higher than company commanders (Legati). The term legatus had other meanings in other contexts, such as governor or ambassador. Near the Principia were the Valetudinarium (hospital), Veterinarium (for horses), Fabrica ("workshop", metals and wood), and further to the front the quarters of special forces. These included Classici ("marines", as most European camps were on rivers and contained a river naval command), Equites (cavalry, who were by definition noble), Exploratores ("scouts"), and Vexillarii (carriers of vexillae, or the official pennants of the legion and its units). Troops who did not fit elsewhere also were there.

The part of the Retentura ("stretching to the rear") closest to the Principia contained the Quaestorium. By the late empire it had developed also into a safekeep for plunder and a prison for hostages and high-ranking enemy captives. Apparently, these items could no longer be trusted to the camp at large. 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 (or, in times of unstable government, his assassins).

Further from the Qaestorium were the tents of the Nationes ("natives"), who were auxiliaries of foreign troops, and the legionaries themselves in rows of tents or barracks. Tents were arranged in double rows (Strigae). One Striga was as long as required and 60 feet wide. In it were two Hemistrigia of facing tents centered on the 30-foot width. Arms were stacked before the tents and baggage carts with animals were kept before the arms between the tents. The space of the other side of the tent was for passage.

A tent was 10 by 12 feet (two feet for the aisle), ten men per tent. Ideally a company took 10 tents, arranged in a line of 10 companies, with the 10th near the Porta Decumana. Of the 100 sq. ft. of bunk space each man received 10, or about 2 by 5 feet, which was only practical if they slept with heads to the aisle. The 5 feet is consistent with the reputed small size of the legionaries (compared to Celts and Germans). The single tent with its men was called contubernium, also used for "squad". Squad leaders (Decani, "of ten") were chosen by the men. A squad during some periods was 8 men. No doubt if the legion did not replace its losses right away the contubernium could contain even fewer.

Clearly, a soldier by day could not have spent much time in his tent. The Centurio, or company commander (always a skilled veteran, never a fresh lieutenant out of school), 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 rear walkway along the company 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.

A sanitary channel at Potaissa. It is placed cross-slope with a slight decline and then exits down-slope.

Aqueduto dos Pegões, Tomar, Portugal.

For sanitary facilities, a camp had both public and private latrines. 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 aquaductus, 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.

The territory

The influence of a base extended far beyond its walls. 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 territoria served as a model for the later European mediaeval manors, or feudal estates, just as the mansiones, or official Roman way stations for dignitaries, became the model for homes of governors and other governing officials.

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, "watchtowers", castella, "small camps", and naval bases.

All the major bases near rivers featured some sort of fortified naval installation, one side of which was formed by the river or lake. 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 (being fewer in number). Many of them were civilians working for the military.

Modifications in practice

This ideal was always modified to suit the terrain and the circumstances. Each camp discovered by archaeology has its own specific layout and architectural features, which makes sense from a military point of view. Why should general sacrifice practicability or not make use of the resources of the site in favor of a fixed ideal?

If, for example, the camp was built on an outcrop, it followed the lines of the outcrop. The terrain for which it was best suited and for which it was probably designed in distant prehistoric times was the rolling plain. The camp was best placed on the summit and along the side of a low hill, with spring water running in rivulets through the camp (aquatio) and pastureland to provide grazing (pabulatio) for the animals. In case of attack, arrows, javelins and sling missiles could be fired down at an enemy tiring himself to come up. For defense troops could be formed in an acies, or "battle-line", outside the gates, where they could be easily resupplied and replenished, as well as being supported by archery from the palisade.

For example a winter camp mentioned by Cassius Dio, Aliso, located in Germany on the Lippe, was used by Legio XX (and others) between 11 BCE and 9 CE, during Augustus' initial efforts to subdue Germany. The remains of a large camp at Haltern are tentatively identified as it. The Haltern camp encloses about 49.5 acres and measures about 500 m by 400 m. It is not aligned on the cardinal compass points. The north-south line passes through opposite corners.

The praetorium is a large building with a reception hall, corridors and numerous chambers off them in the center. The Via Principalis is in evidence as a very wide street passing from gate to gate going from northeast to southwest. The front of the reception hall is on the principia, settling the question at least for this site which way the praetorium faced. This huge building was about 100 m square. It looked out to the Porta Praetoria to the south, which was not much of an affair, although the Via Praetoria is spacious.

The Porta Principalis Dextra is not much of an affair either. The major gate is clearly the Porta Principalis Sinistra. The main barracks are located on that side and they are protected by two valla each pierced by a gate with extensive structures built into it or around it. This gate sequence is probably the Porta Quaestoria also. The large unidentified building on the that side of the Principia is probably the quaestorium. The Via Quintana runs near there as well.

The Via Decumena is offset from the line of the Via Praetoria but there is a Porta Decumena in the northwest corner, offset again from the Via Decumena. Adjoining the praetorium is a smaller house thought to be the home of an officer, which is a logical conclusion, as we know that some of the homes along the street must be those of the officers. Across the plaza from the quaestorium (if that is what it is) is a large building that has the plan of a hospital.

The uses of the gates and the routing of the roads were probably determined by the slope on which the camp is located. Large vacant areas in the camp have been interpreted by some as spaces for tents. Accordingly they hypothesize that it was a summer camp. In that case it would not have been the Aliso of Cassius Dio, despite the hospital, the masonry walls, the large permanent buildings of the Principia, the nearby shipyard and the extensive workshops. Another possible explanation would be that a large summer population of auxiliaries lived in tents. As much of the delight of archaeology is in trying to answer such questions as these, the public can probably look forward to more definitive answers in the years to come.

The quadrangular camp in later times

Many villages in Europe originated as Roman military camps and still show traces of their original pattern (e.g. Castres in France, Barcelona in Spain). The pattern was also used by Spanish colonizers in America following strict rules by the Spanish monarchy for founding new cities in the New World.

Many of the towns of England still retain forms of the word castra in their names -- Lancaster, Chester and Manchester, for example.

Camp life

As is true of military installations everywhere today (and in the past), camp life can be divided into ordinary business (or pleasure) and what is generally termed "the duty" or "the watch" (as opposed to any duty) in English. Ordinary business is the daily work performed by the population of the installation conducted during regular working hours. The duty is associated with operating the installation as a military facility.

For example, all the soldiers were not required to man the walls all the time, but some soldiers were required to be on duty there without a lapse. Moderns in English call this duty "the watch" but the Roman equivalent, vigilia, meant the four watches of three hours each into which night duty was divided. By watch the Romans did not mean the alertness of the sentries but rather the activity of officers of the watch verifying that sentries were awake and at their stations.

The day was divided into the same number of watches. As there were no clocks, the Romans used signals on brass instruments to mark time. These were mainly the buccina or bucina (a relative of English bugle), the cornu and the tuba. As they did not possess valves for regulating the pitch, the range of these instruments was somewhat limited. Nevertheless the musicians (Aenatores, "brassmen") managed to define some 40 or so signals for issuing commands. The instrument used to mark the passage of a watch was the buccina, from which the trumpet derives. It was sounded by a buccinator.

Ordinary life

Life for the population not on watch began with a buccina call at daybreak, the first watch of the day. The soldiers arose at this time and shortly after collected in the company area for breakfast and assembly. The centurions were up before them and off to the Principia where they and the Equites were required to assemble. The regimental commanders, the Tribunes, were already converging on the Praetorium. There the general staff was busily at work planning the day. At a staff meeting the Tribunes received the password and the orders of the day. They brought those back to the Centuriones, who returned to their company areas to instruct the men, already breakfasted and ready to go.

For soldiers, the main item of the agenda was a vigorous training session lasting about a watch long. Recruits received two, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Planning and supervision of training were under a general staff officer, who might manage training at several camps. Today's emphasis on firearms has mainly relieved the ordinary soldier of the skills required of Roman soldiers. Although the Romans used the draft when they had to and soldiers had been drafted in the early Republic, in the late Republic and empire the army was strictly professional. It had the highest standards. Recruits underwent a thorough examination. Only the fittest were accepted.

The training program was up to the general staff. Vegetius tells us the men might take a pleasant 20-mile hike or a 4- to 5- mile jog under full pack, or swim a river. Marching drill was always in order. Every soldier was taught the use of every weapon and also was taught to ride. Seamanship was not excluded at bases that were also naval bases. Soldiers were generalists in the military and construction arts. They practiced archery, spear-throwing and above all swordmanship against posts (pali) fixed in the ground. Training was taken very seriously and was democratic. Ordinary soldiers would see all the officers training with them including the Praetor or the Emperor if he was in camp. Crassus was admired for his ability to train with the youngsters even though he was 58 years old.

Training activities took up more space than the camp could provide. They were generally extra-camp activities. Swordmanship lessons and use of the firing range probably took place on the campus, a "field" outside the castra, from which English camp derives. The surface of the campus could be lightly paved. Winter curtailed outdoor training. The general might in that case have sheds constructed, which served as field houses for training. There is archaeological evidence in one case of an indoors equestrian ring.

Apart from the training, each soldier had a regular job on the base, of which there were a large variety from the various kinds of clerks to the craftsmen. Soldiers changed jobs frequently. The commander's policy was to have all the soldiers skilled in all the arts and crafts so that they could be as interchangeable as possible. Even then the goal was not entirely achievable. The gap, as is still true, was bridged by the specialists, the optiones or "chosen men". For example, a skilled artisan might be chosen to superintend a workshop. There were many different kinds of optiones.

An aureus of the late republic

The supply administration was run as a business using money as the medium of exchange. The aureus was the preferred coin of the late republic and early empire; in the late empire the solidus came into use. The larger bases, such as Moguntiacum, minted their own coins. As does any business, the base quaestorium required careful record keeping, performed mainly by the optiones. A chance cache of tablets from Vindolanda in Britain gives us a glimpse of some supply transactions. They record, among other things, the purchase of consumables and raw supplies, the storage and repair of clothing and other items, and the sale of items, including foodstuffs, to achieve an income. Vindolanda traded vigorously with the surrounding natives.

One feature of the camp that improved its reputation considerably and made it a to some degree desirable feature of the landscape was the military hospital (valetudinarium, later hospitium), to which the natives probably had access. In the early republic the medical care of troops wounded in battle came from fellow soldiers, some of whom were skilled in the medical arts or belonged to families of physicians. Medical knowledge came from Greece, where the art was more developed. It was introduced to Rome and Italy by a variety of paths, such as through Greek medical men taken in battle and sold into slavery, and through the Etruscans, who were heavily influenced by the Greeks.

Augustus instituted the first medical corps in the Roman army, along with all the other now permanent staff organizations. Its physicians, the medici ordinarii, had to be qualified physicians. They were allowed medical students, practitioners and whatever orderlies they needed; i.e., the military hospitals were medical schools and places of residency as well. Primarily of Greek cultural background, military physicians achieved a high reputation in the provinces and lowered the death rate of wounded soldiers. The medicus held the rank of centurio, but not of the line. Their duties were strictly of a staff nature and at the hospital. First aid was administered as before by soldiers designated and identified as medics.

A hospital was quadrangular with barracks-like wards surrounding a central courtyard. On the outside of the quadrangle were private rooms for the patients. Although unacquainted with bacteria, Roman medical doctors knew about contagion and did their best to prevent it. Rooms were isolated, running water carried the waste away, and the drinking and washing water was tapped up the slope from the latrines.

Within the hospital were operating rooms, kitchens, baths, a dispensary, latrines, a mortuary and herb gardens, as doctors relied heavily on herbs for drugs. The medici could treat any wound received in battle, as long as the patient was alive. They operated or otherwise treated with scalpels, hooks, levers, drills, probes, forceps, catheters and arrow-extractors on patients anesthetized with morphine (poppy extract) and scopolamine (henbane extract). Instruments were boiled before use. Wounds were washed in vinegar and stitched. Broken bones were placed in traction. There is, however, evidence of wider concerns. A vaginal speculum suggests gynecology was practiced, and an anal speculum implies knowledge that the size and condition of internal organs accessible through the orifices was an indication of health. They could extract eye cataracts with a special needle. Operating room amphitheaters indicate that medical education was ongoing. Many have proposed that the knowledge and practices of the medici were not exceeded until the 20th century CE.

Officers were allowed to marry and to reside with their families on base. Due to space considerations and military discipline, the army could not extend the same privileges to the men. Soldiers were not allowed to marry. They often kept common law families off base in communities nearby, from which one might infer that they were allowed plenty of time off and away from base. The communities might be native, as the tribesmen tended to build around a permanent base for purposes of trade, but also the base sponsored villages (vici) of dependents and businessmen. Dependents were not allowed to follow an army on the march into hostile territory, from which one might infer that, if the region was not hostile, they were allowed.

An enlistment was for about 25 years. At the end of that time the veteran was given a diploma, or certificate of honorable discharge (honesta missio). Some of these have survived engraved on stone. Typically they certify that the veteran, his wife (one per veteran) and children or his sweetheart were now Roman citizens, which is a good indication that troops, which were used chiefly on the frontier, were from peoples elsewhere on the frontier, who wished to earn Roman citizenship.

Veterans often went into business in the communities near a base. Many tavern owners were veterans. They and their families became permanent members of the community and would stay on after the troops were withdrawn, as in the notable case of St. Patrick's family.

The Roman professional army on the one hand retained its concepts of duty toward the state. On the other it was totally necessary to make the profession lucrative. The pay was minimal, but the soldiers received a share of praeda, the possessions of the conquered. The value was paid in coin rather than kind. They also received bonuses and land grants. To keep them loyal the emperor often distributed largesse. The army was not above assassinating stingy emperors or insisting on campaigns for profit. The high mortality rate was considered to justify the enrichment of the survivors. The concept of nostri, our men, reflected a solidarity and common way of thinking among the soldiers that their leaders, military or civilian, neglected at their peril.

The duty

Conducted in parallel with the ordinary activities was "the duty", the official chores required by the camp under strict military discipline. The Praetor was ultimately responsible for them as he was for the entire camp, but he delegated the duty to a tribune chosen as officer of the day. The line Tribunes were commanders of Cohortes and were approximately the equivalent of colonels. The 6 tribunes were divided into units of two, with each unit being responsible for filling the position of officer of the day for two months. The two men of a unit decided among themselves who would take what day. They could alternate days or each take a month. One filled in for the other in case of illness. On his day, the tribune effectively commanded the camp and was even respected as such by the Praetor.

The equivalent concept of the duties performed in modern camps is roughly the detail. The responsibilities (curae) of the many kinds of detail were distributed to the men by all the methods considered fair and democratic: lot, rotation and negotiation. Certain kinds of cura were assigned certain classes or types of troops; for example, wall sentries were chosen only from Velites. Soldiers could be temporarily or permanently exempted: the immunes. For example, a Triarius was immunis from the curae of the Hastati.

The duty year was divided into time slices, typically one or two months, which were apportioned to units, typically maniples or centuries. They were always allowed to negotiate who took the duty and when. The most common kind of cura were the posts of the sentinels, called the excubiae by day and the vigilae at night. Wall posts were praesidia, gate posts, custodiae, advance positions before the gates, stationes.

In addition were special guards and details. One post was typically filled by four men, one sentinel and the others at ease until a situation arose or it was their turn to be sentinel. Some of the details were:
*guarding, cleaning and maintaining the principia.
*guarding and maintaining the quarters of each tribune.
*tending the horses of each cavalry turma.
*guarding the praetorium.

List of castra

Map showing the locations of the major castra of the Roman empire at about 80 CE. For the names of the units stationed at each one, click on the map. Note that more than one unit could be at a castra, and that a unit was not necessarily permanently associated with the castra. Moreover, the name was not the only one the unit might have had previously.

Due to an unbounded enthusiasm for local archaeology, the locations and layouts of Roman castra are rapidly becoming known. Both amateurs and professionals are involved in excavation and publication. Internet sites giving photographs and the texts of inscriptions are numerous.

Wikipedia articles describing geographic sites and ruins are many. Below is a list of some major Roman castra. Fortifications of any size might be listed, but the names refer mainly to major bases. Since naval bases are forms of castra, they are included also. In most cases inscriptions found at the site identify the fort. These are listed under their Roman name. In other cases the ancient name has not yet been identified. A separate list is kept for these.

Roman towns that did not originate as or grow up around a base are not included. The Romans on taking charge of a previously existing town often applied camp terminology to buildings and streets of interest to them, but those features were originally not part of any military layout. For example, Jerusalem included a fort that became Roman and a Cardo street still exists there, but Jerusalem is not primarily a Roman castra. There were, however, Roman castra in the vicinity, such as Aelia, built on the site of destroyed Jerusalem. They may or may not be listed. The list aims at reasonable completeness but includes mainly the castra stativa.

Castra of known ancient name

*Abusina, Aelia Capitolina, Alauna, Alexandria, Ammaedara, Apamea, Apulum, Aquincum, Arbeia, Argentoratum, Asturica Augusta, Augusta Raurica, Augusta Vindelicorum
*Babylon, Baku, Banna, Batavis, Bonna, Bostra, Bremenium, Brigantium, Brigetio, Burnum,
*Camulodunum, Carnuntum, Castra Albana, Castra Constantia, Castra Legionis, Castra Maiense, Castra Martis, Castra Nova, Castra Regina, Castra Servilia, Castra Taurinorum, Circesium, Colonia Agrippinae, Concangis, Condercum, Coptos, Corinium, Cremona
*Delminium, Deva, Dura
*Eburacum, Emesa
*Flevum
*Galava, Glannoventa, Glevum
*Isca Dumnoniorum, Isca Silurum
*Lambaesis, Legio, Leucarum, Lindum, Lucus Augusti, Lugdunum
*Mamucium, Manduessedum, Mediobogdum, Melitene, Moguntiacum, Mursa
*Nicopolis (Egypt), Nisibis, Novae, Novaesium, Noviodunum, Noviomagus
*Oescus
*Pinnata Castra, Placentia, Poetovio, Portus Adurni, Potaissa
*Raphanaea
*Samosata, Satala, Scupi, Segedunum, Singara, Singidunum, Sirmium
*Tarraco, Thamugas, Theveste, Trimontium, Troesmis
*Vetera, Viminacium, Vindobona, Vindolanda, Vindonissa, Viroconium, Voreda
*Zeugma, Ziata

Castra of unknown ancient name

*Bar Hill, Bearsden, Binchester
*Lunt Fort
*Oudenburg
*Zwentendorf

Notes

See also

*Fortification
*List of Ancient Rome-related topics
*Medical community of ancient Rome
*Military history of ancient Rome
*Roman legion

References

*Keppie, Lawrence, The Making of the Roman Army from Republic to Empire, Barnes and Noble Books, New York, 1994, ISBN 1-56619-359-1

External links

General

*Army Picture Index, Illustrated History of the Roman Empire site
*Castrum/Castra in Lewis&Short, online entry for castrum through Perseus
*Castra et Urbs Romana, the Anders Bell essay, Classical Association of Canada site
*De Munitionibus Castrorum (in Latin at The Latin Library)
*Polybius, Histories, Book VI (in English, at LacusCurtius)
*Ramsay's article, Castra at LacusCurtius
*The Hyginus Camp, an analysis with plans and tables at the Gary Brueggeman site.
*The Romans in Britain, Glossary of Military terms. Note that both Latin and Greek terms with the same meaning are included.

Forts and fortifications

*Antonine Wall Fort at Beardsden
*Fortress at Inchtuthill
*Lendering's article on Haltern at livius.org
*Roman Auxiliary Fort at Neath
*Roman Fortress at Exeter
*Roman Stores Depot in Herefordshire
*The Roman Camp in Bonn
*The Roman Military in Britain (Overview)
*Vallum, Smith's article in LacusCurtius
*Westerton: a Roman watchtower...

Camp life

*Castra et Coloniae, Miranda paper on the use of veterans
*Medicine & Surgery in Ancient Rome
*Military Diploma of Discharge
*The Roman Calendar and Festivals (on the divisions of the day and night)
*Tombstone of Anicius Ingenuus (Medicus Ordinarius)
*Vegetius on training, English and Latin
*Vindolanda Tablets Online
* Scheidel's article on Marriage, Families and Survival in the Roman Imperial Army in Princeton/Stanford Working Papers in Classics.

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