The Roman Army: A Social and Institutional History - Karatunov.net

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The Roman A rmy
In the later Roman Empire, the military forces were more often on the
defensive than the offensive, and forts changed their appearance
accordingly. The fort at Eining on the Danube was much reduced in size
and separated from the larger fort of the early Empire by a ditch. (Drawing
courtesy of Graeme Stobbs)
within their stron gholds like med i eval castle ga rri s on s . The fort was the ad m i n i stra
tive base, wh ere the unit records and pay chest were kept , and wh ere the
troops were housed wh en they were not out on exercises and patrols or performing
the mu l tiple tasks that are doc u m en ted in the duty ro s ters . The soldiers wen t
o ut to meet threats ra t h er than remaining behind their walls to pro tect thems
elve s . The army sti ll opera ted in this way in the third cen tu ry, but tow a rd the
end of the third and the beginning of the fo u rth cen tu ries forti f i c a ti ons began to
l ook more like the later castles. Ex i s tingforts were rep a i red or ex ten s ively rebu i l t
but with disti n ctive altera ti ons that signify that the hitherto unch a ll en ged ascendancy
of the Romans was waning. While their of fen s ive policy never tru ly disappe
a red , t h ey were now more on the defen s ive than their ance s tors .