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

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The Roman A rmy
The late Roman version of the fort at Drobeta on the Danube, with
blocked gates and extra fan-shaped towers at the corners. (Drawing
courtesy of Graeme Stobbs)
of panic-stricken haste (Johnson, 1983). There may have been an Imperial impetus
behind the forti f i c a ti onof c i ti e s , s i n ce Am m i a nus says that Va l en ti n i a n
included civilian settlements as well as forts in his defense policy. Some civilian
sites were moved to more easily defensible hilltop sites, especially in the Alpine
regions through which the tribesmen passed on their raids into Gaul and Italy
(Johnson, 1983).
These changes were not limited to provincial towns and cities. The ancient
c i ty of Rome had been wall ed in the early Rep u bl i c , but had long since outgrown
the old wall s , the urban sprawl ex tending into the su rrounding land
without the need for external protection. In the late third century, the Emperor
Au relian dec i ded to build new defen s e s , en closing Rome within massive high
walls with close-set towers and well-defended gates. For Romans with a sense of
history and the eternal destiny of Rome, this no doubt heralded a new era of insecurity
and doubt.