§ 1. It is agreed among all that the ordering of the Roman camps was most excellent. Lipsius describes it most accurately in book 5 of The Roman Military System. This is a schematic outline of it, in which I note these matters briefly.
- The praetorium occupies the place most suitable for observation and command, and is in the midst of the commanders. They mark out for the commander a square place whose sides are two hundred feet long.
Here the commander’s tent-companions, baggage, and other things were quartered. Around it were the quaestor, the legates, and the tribunes.
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The quaestorium was on the right, two hundred feet long and one hundred feet wide.
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The legates were stationed to the left of the praetorium, with their tents joined together; its length was one hundred feet and its width fifty feet.
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The tribunes and prefects pitched their tents in a straight line behind the praetorium, each in a separate tent, so that all might have their own legion in view. Lipsius places the prefects of the allies at the sides and gives good reasons for it, though he thinks that they were placed without intervals.
The cavalry among the evocati were beside the prefects of the allies, and the infantry close to them. The extraordinary cavalry and infantry were stationed across the open space toward the rampart. Lipsius arranged this most prudently. Behold: they wished to entrust the protection of the chief commander and the other commanders to the allies. Why, unless so that, by trust thus placed in them, they might bind their fidelity more closely? But there was also another, more hidden reason: they kept the chief men of the allies near themselves, before their faces and eyes, lest they secretly form any plan or undertake an innovation.
Although these men surround the commander on every side and hold him under guard, it is nevertheless not so arranged that there is no citizen protection if it is needed. For the evocati, veteran soldiers, are on either side; there are several hundred men in his own tent-company; the quaestor and legates sit nearby with their men; and the tribunes are stationed in front, among whom there is always a refuge for him and, through them, a passage into the midst of the legions.
Another consideration is that the spaces here are large and empty. Why? Either for dignity or for usefulness. For dignity: there are the two forums, where, if any dispute or injury arises, those who can settle or punish it are near at hand. For usefulness: there is the great Quintana, because, if it is necessary to draw up the army within the camp, that can be done very easily there and in both forums. Likewise, if the army must be led out, when the extraordinary troops have been removed and set aside to the flank, there is a great space for arranging it. The rest of the distribution is clear to sight.
Lipsius places the velites near the rampart. Its system of foot-measurements must also be carefully noted here, though it does not apply to our camps. “I call podismi,” he says, “footages, or measurements in feet. But because the foot is twofold, simple and great, we shall use both: the former in measurements of length or breadth, and the latter in measurements of both together. For in Varro a great foot is that which others call flat or spread out, and which our people commonly call square or superficial.”
Those who relate that the Romans received this system from Pyrrhus seem to me to err; for before the war which they waged with Pyrrhus, I read of camps, a rampart, and all the rest. It is certain, however, that the Persians or Parthians instead borrowed many things from the Romans. They excelled to such a degree that they carried empty sacks with them and, in sandy places, filled them with sand to place them in front of the rampart.
§ 2. Our camps are arranged altogether better, and those who mark them out take the greatest account of the sites. Bernardino de Mendoza, part 1, chapter 36, requires so great a distance between the legions that other soldiers can be brought in if necessity demands. He also so arranges the camp that the standards stand at a definite interval, by which each man may easily find his own. He then creates greater spaces at the front and sides than existed among the ancients, chapter 36. He separates the watch station eighty feet from the standard. He places the king in the center.
There are still appointed inspectors of the rounds, although they also employ the labor of others. Those who are general inspectors and traverse the entire camp must know the languages of the nations serving on watch.
The master of the artillery resides near the commander, as do those assigned to the engines. The market for saleable goods must be neither far from the prince nor far from the judge of capital cases, because many disputes arise there. Men are generally grouped according to nations, so that individual nations occupy separate places. Mendoza orders the cavalry to be divided in the same way, so that the armored and light cavalry are separated; disturbances otherwise arise easily.
The fortifications which Mendoza describes yield little to the ancient ones. First, he orders a ditch to be dug down, and it is fitting that a rampart from the excavated earth be added. He orders the inner side of the ditch to be fortified with wagons. This fortification is stronger than the stakes of the ancients, for men could tear down a rampart with their hands, but by no means wagons. Artillery and loads, useful for offense and defense, can also be placed upon the wagons. I marvel that those who admire everything ancient do not understand that fortifications made from wagons are stronger and more convenient than the ancient ones were—not only because they are stronger, but also because they are movable and useful on a march.
Above all things the gunpowder must be guarded most carefully, not by gunners, who always need a burning match, but by spearmen and men bearing double axes.
Great care is taken concerning the gates, so that the soldiers can depart in complete ranks. The road which leads to the watering-place must also be wide, lest those going and returning hinder one another. If a river flows through the camp, this is greatly useful; nevertheless, provision is made so that the livestock are watered at a lower place or outside the camp, while the upper part is kept clean for the soldiers’ uses.
Great account is also taken of the watches. Toward evening those whose duty this is come to the commander—indeed, most of the chiliarchs and centurions. At night the heavy-armed soldiery generally keeps watch, because greater protection is necessary.
Among prudent and resolute commanders the order of watches is very advantageous to security and health. A fourth part of the camp keeps watch; three parts rest. Therefore, if there are twenty thousand men in the camp, five thousand keep watch. Because armored soldiers and veterans are among them, this is a force great enough against sudden assaults. Nor is it burdensome for anyone to provide for the repose of the rest by his own labor every fourth day.
The watches are led out in the evening, lest the enemy discover the place where the advance sentries take their positions. The watches are ordinarily thirty paces from the ditches and rampart; the advance sentries are as far from them again as allows them to remain in sight.
Watches of cavalry are spread all around, so that no one can secretly enter or leave the camp. The watchword is not given to the advance sentries until they have taken their places.
Because camps are not always arranged in the same manner, but account is taken of hills, rivers, roads, and forests, provision is made in another manner lest men err on the roads or in finding the praetorium and other advantageous places. When cohorts have been stationed by tent-companies, the tribunes, centurions, and decurions immediately take care to traverse and observe those roads, and then the other soldiers do so. This is accomplished most readily when the standards are displayed and there is no great variation in the camp.
This must be attended to especially: not merely a good place but the best place must be selected for the camp. For if you pass it by, the enemy will take it, and thus you will be inferior to him because you have given him an opportunity against you.