Roman Marching Camp

  • The Roman Marching Camp was used by the Roman Army from the 3rd century BCE onwards.
  • No marching camp was ever overrun.

Origin

  • The Romans started building temporary marching camps during the Pyrrhic War (290-275 BCE). Frontinus considers the Romans to have copied the idea from Pyrrhus’ own camps.
  • Prior to this a suitable area had been chosen without being fortified.

Mobility

  • The construction and defense of the Roman Marching camp was so successful, that none were ever overrun.
  • The Roman Legions could march 20 miles in a day, whereas their Barbarian enemies could only manage half that distance.
  • This meant the Roman Army could quickly arrive to assist beleaguered units or quickly depart if overwhelmed by the enemy, buying time to fight later on ground of their own choosing.

Advance Guard

  • To begin with, a detachment of ten soldiers in the Vanguard would select a suitable place near a supply of fresh water, timber and forage with no high ground nearby.
  • Then, using flags, they would mark the outline of the camp either in a square or oblong shape. They would then mark out with coloured flags, the commanders tent and the tented areas of each legion, cohort and century.
  • They would mark out four gates for access, one in each wall, and from these gates, two roads would be marked out to intersect in the middle of the camp.

Construction

  • The coloured flags told each legion exactly which area they had to prepare. When the first legion arrived, instead of building, they would position themselves around the camp to defend it. The cavalry was also used in this way. The next legion to arrive would locate their pre-allocated flags, then start to prepare the ditches and embankments, with each new legion to arrive constructing their own section. By the time the last legion had arrived, the fort was almost complete.
  • Vegetius states that the ditch was five feet wide and three feet deep. The spoil was then used to make the rampart which was reinforced by a wooden palisade. The wood for this was often carried by the legion. A two hundred foot gap was left between the walls and the tents, so that any hand held weapons thrown over the defenses would be ineffectual.

Safe Havens

  • The army could then spend a night in security before setting off again in daylight the next day. They would repeat this each night until they met the enemy.
  • The Marching camps also gave the Roman Army a series of safe bases to fall back to, in the event of a surprise attack en-route. Often, these temporary camps would later be developed into small towns or become fortresses, as happened in Britain.
  • During the Gallic Wars (58-50 BCE) Julius Caesar had to fall back on his marching camps several times, which he used with great effect to defeat the Gauls.

Sources

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