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Authors: Stephen Dando-Collins
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carry. As part of his equipment, each legionary carried two stakes, which he collected as the legion was about to march and handed in at the next campsite; these stakes lined the top of the palisade that surrounded the camp.
“One simple formula for a camp is employed,” said Polybius, “which is adopted at all times and in all places.” [Poly., VI , 26] Josephus described how, on campaign in Judea, at the head of Vespasian’s column with the road-building party marched ten men from each century of the advance legion whose job it was to mark out each new marching camp to this prescribed formula.
A hilltop campsite was preferred. Once this was leveled, the camp was drawn up, starting with the praetorium , the general’s headquarters, laid out to exact proportions. A white flag denoted its location. A grid pattern of streets and tent lines was drawn from it, with purple flags and spears denoting the location of officers’ tents and those of cohorts and maniples. When the army arrived a little later, troops always entered via the main gate, and knew exactly where to pitch their tents and set up the rest of the camp.
Before they erected or struck their own tents, a detail attended to the tents of legate and tribunes. All officers had tents to themselves. Legionaries slept in eight-man tents originally made of pieces of leather stitched together, with straight sides and gable roofs. Canvas tents became the norm by the second half of the first century. In front of the tribunes’ tents there was an assembly area, with a tribunal, or reviewing stand, built from turf.
Marching camp walls were 10 to 12 feet (3 to 4 meters) high, made ofbricks of turf, while the ditch on the far side which provided the earth for the walls averaged 12 feet (4 meters) deep and 3 feet (1 meter) across, but this varied according to individual commanders. A clear space of 200 feet (60 meters) was left between tent line and camp walls to prevent burning arrows or firebrands from reaching the tents from outside. Plunder, cattle and prisoners were kept in this open space.
Once wooden gates and towers were in place, the legion’s catapults were installed along the walls. There were four camp gates, one in each wall, wide enough to allow troops to pass through ten men abreast. The main entrance, called the Decuman Gate, faced away from the enemy. On the opposite side of the camp, the Praetorian Gate, near the praetorium, faced the enemy. No man, not even a general or a king, was permitted to ride within a camp, as it was apparently considered to bring bad luck. When two young men, probably junior tribunes, rode through his camp just prior to Drusus Caesar’s death in 9 BC , it was seen as an evil omen. [Dio, LV , 1]
While camp construction was being carried out by part of the legion, a guard cohort stood sentry duty and other details went out gathering wood, water and food with the auxiliaries. Once construction was completed and detachments had reportedback in, the legionaries assembled in their maniples, then were dismissed, cohort by cohort, departing for their quarters in disciplined silence.
Each maniple drew lots to allocate sentry duty, which was broken down into four watches, each of three hours’ duration, during the twelve Roman hours of the night, the time being calculated using water clocks. Eight sentries, four in front and four behind, were posted at the tent of the duty tribune, changing with each new watch. Three sentries were also posted outside the praetorium, and two outside the tent of any other general present in camp. Every maniple and cavalry squadron posted a guard at its own quarters, ten sentries were posted at each camp gate, and others manned the wall and guard towers. [Poly., VI , 35–7] During the day, a guard picket was posted outside the camp.
The job of patrolling camp sentries at night fell to the cavalry. The senior decurion of the legion’s cavalry unit delegated four troopers to patrol the sentries during
“One simple formula for a camp is employed,” said Polybius, “which is adopted at all times and in all places.” [Poly., VI , 26] Josephus described how, on campaign in Judea, at the head of Vespasian’s column with the road-building party marched ten men from each century of the advance legion whose job it was to mark out each new marching camp to this prescribed formula.
A hilltop campsite was preferred. Once this was leveled, the camp was drawn up, starting with the praetorium , the general’s headquarters, laid out to exact proportions. A white flag denoted its location. A grid pattern of streets and tent lines was drawn from it, with purple flags and spears denoting the location of officers’ tents and those of cohorts and maniples. When the army arrived a little later, troops always entered via the main gate, and knew exactly where to pitch their tents and set up the rest of the camp.
Before they erected or struck their own tents, a detail attended to the tents of legate and tribunes. All officers had tents to themselves. Legionaries slept in eight-man tents originally made of pieces of leather stitched together, with straight sides and gable roofs. Canvas tents became the norm by the second half of the first century. In front of the tribunes’ tents there was an assembly area, with a tribunal, or reviewing stand, built from turf.
Marching camp walls were 10 to 12 feet (3 to 4 meters) high, made ofbricks of turf, while the ditch on the far side which provided the earth for the walls averaged 12 feet (4 meters) deep and 3 feet (1 meter) across, but this varied according to individual commanders. A clear space of 200 feet (60 meters) was left between tent line and camp walls to prevent burning arrows or firebrands from reaching the tents from outside. Plunder, cattle and prisoners were kept in this open space.
Once wooden gates and towers were in place, the legion’s catapults were installed along the walls. There were four camp gates, one in each wall, wide enough to allow troops to pass through ten men abreast. The main entrance, called the Decuman Gate, faced away from the enemy. On the opposite side of the camp, the Praetorian Gate, near the praetorium, faced the enemy. No man, not even a general or a king, was permitted to ride within a camp, as it was apparently considered to bring bad luck. When two young men, probably junior tribunes, rode through his camp just prior to Drusus Caesar’s death in 9 BC , it was seen as an evil omen. [Dio, LV , 1]
While camp construction was being carried out by part of the legion, a guard cohort stood sentry duty and other details went out gathering wood, water and food with the auxiliaries. Once construction was completed and detachments had reportedback in, the legionaries assembled in their maniples, then were dismissed, cohort by cohort, departing for their quarters in disciplined silence.
Each maniple drew lots to allocate sentry duty, which was broken down into four watches, each of three hours’ duration, during the twelve Roman hours of the night, the time being calculated using water clocks. Eight sentries, four in front and four behind, were posted at the tent of the duty tribune, changing with each new watch. Three sentries were also posted outside the praetorium, and two outside the tent of any other general present in camp. Every maniple and cavalry squadron posted a guard at its own quarters, ten sentries were posted at each camp gate, and others manned the wall and guard towers. [Poly., VI , 35–7] During the day, a guard picket was posted outside the camp.
The job of patrolling camp sentries at night fell to the cavalry. The senior decurion of the legion’s cavalry unit delegated four troopers to patrol the sentries during
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