The Roman Army, 31 BC–AD 337: A Sourcebook

Veterans 217
settlements of veterans in Italy by Vespasian are recorded in Samnium (text no.
351), at Panormus, Abella, and Nola (see Blume et al. 1848:211, 230. 236).
351 Hyginus, Types of Disputes (Thulin 1913:94–5)
We should also watch out for the following point: if in the case of two
landholders there is a measure of conformity with the area which is
stated in the bronze record and in the map notations, even though one
owner has sold some part (of his land). Indeed I discovered this in
Samnium, where the lands which the divine Vespasian had allocated to
veterans were still occupied by the people to whom they had been
allocated, but in a different way. For some had bought certain places
and added them to their own land, making a boundary by means of a
road, or a river, or in some other way. But neither those who sold part
of their holdings, nor those who bought and added something to theirs,
worked out a definite area. Instead they sold or bought on the basis of
defining each area as best it could be in some way or other, as I pointed
out, either by a road, or a river, or by some other method.
Hyginus’ comments are based on personal observation and indicate that at
least these veterans settled by Vespasian remained on their holdings.
352 Hyginus Gromaticus, The Establishment of ‘Limites’ (Thulin
1913:144)
In some colonies which were established later, for example, Ammaedara
in Africa, the decumanus maximus and the kardo maximus start from
the town and are drawn through the four gates just like a military
camp, the limites making wide roads. This is the most attractive system
of establishing limites. The colony embraces all four areas of allocated
land, is convenient for the farmers on every side, and all the inhabitants
have equal access to the forum from all directions. Similarly, in military
camps the groma (a surveying instrument) is set up at the crossroads
where men can assemble, as if to a forum.
For land survey methods, see p. 126. Ammaedara (Haïdra in Tunisia) was a
Flavian veteran colony (as can be seen from the title—colonia Flavia Augusta
Emerita Ammaedara), founded on the site of the legionary camp vacated by
the III Augusta, which by Vespasian’s time at the latest had been moved to
Thevestis. Archaeology of the site confirms that two roads intersected at right
angles in the centre of the settlement, though the adjacent land division has a
different orientation. The comparison with a Roman military camp should not
be pressed too far, since, although a camp had a gate in each of its four sides, its