Castra
CASTRA.
It is well known that Roman armies never halted for a single night without forming a regular entrenchment, termed castra, capable of receiving within its limits the whole body of fighting men, their beasts of burden, and the baggage. So essential was this operation considered, that even when preparing for an immediate engagement, or when actually assailed by a hostile force, it was never omitted, but a portion of the soldiers were employed in constructing the necessary works, while the remainder were standing to their arms or resisting the enemy; and so completely was it recognised as a part of the ordinary duties of each march, that pervenire ad locum tertiis . . . quartis . . . septuagesimis castris are the established phrases for expressing the number of days occupied in passing from one point to another. Whenever circumstances rendered it expedient for a force to occupy the same ground for any length of time, then the encampment was distinguished as castra stativa (Liv. XXVII.12; Caes. B. G. VIII.15, Caes. B. C. 1.42; Hirt. B. Af. 51, B. Al. 74).
When the protracted and distant wars in which the republic became engaged, as its sway was gradually extended first over the whole of Italy, and subsequently over Greece, Asia, and Africa, rendered it impossible for the legions to return home in winter, they usually retired during the months when active military operations were suspended, into some city where they could be protected from the inclemency of the season, and where the comforts of the men could be readily secured; or they were dispersed up and down in detachments among friendly villages (in hiberna concedere; exercitum in hiberna dimittere; exercitum per civitates in hiberna dividere). It is true that extraordinary emergencies, such as a protracted blockade, or the necessity of maintaining a constant watch upon the movements of a neighbouring and vigorous foe, might compel a commander to keep the field for a whole year or even longer, but to order an army, except in case of necessity, to winter under canvass (hiemare sub pellibus; hiemem sub tentoriis exigere) was long regarded as a severe punishment, inflicted only in consequence of grievous misconduct (Frontin. Strat. IV.1 §24). As the boundaries of the empire were gradually pushed forward into wild and barbarian lands, where there were no large towns and no tribes on whose faith reliance could be placed, such arrangements became impracticable, and armies, whether of invasion or occasion, were forced to remain constantly in camps. They usually, however, occupied different ground in summer and in winter, whence arose the distinction between castra aestiva and castra hiberna, both alike being stativa. Such posts were frequently, if situated advantageously, garrisoned permanently; and the peaceful natives who sought to enrich themselves by trading with their conquerors, settled for security in the immediate vicinity (Caes. B. G. VI.37). Thus in the distant provinces, these forts formed a centre round which a numerous population gradually clustered; and many important towns, still existing in our own country, indicate their origin by the termination chester.
But whether a camp was temporary or permanent, whether tenanted in summer or in winter, the main features of the work were always the same for the same epoch. In hiberna, huts of turf or stone would be substituted for the open tents of the aestiva (hence aedificare hiberna), and in stativa held for long periods the defences would present a more substantial and finished aspect, but the general outline and disposition of the parts were invariable: a camp was laid down, arranged and fortified according to a fixed and well-known plan, modified only by the numbers for whom it was required to provide accommodation, but altogether independent of the nature of the ground or of the fancy of the general, so that each battalion, each company, and each individual, had a place assigned to which they could at once repa
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