Altava Roman Fort
About
Rome garrisoned Altava with the cohors II Sardorum as part of Septimius Severus's push to move the frontier of Mauretania Caesariensis south from the Mediterranean coast, work that happened nearly a century after Trajan's death. The new defensive road called the Nova Praetentura ran through here, connecting Rapidum in Numidia all the way to the province's western edge. A vicus grew up independently around the garrison fort, eventually building a huge forum and a pagan temple later converted into a church. Altava's Roman garrison would eventually give way to something far larger: after 429 the town became capital of an independent Berber kingdom that outlasted Rome's presence in the region entirely.
What happened here
Five hundred men, sometimes a thousand, recruited from a province rather than from citizens, and often stationed a long way from where they were raised. Cavalry units get a bigger fort and far more stabling; the smell tells you which kind you are in before the plan does. The layout copies a legionary fortress at a quarter of the size — headquarters, commander's house, granaries, barracks, a bath house usually built outside the walls because of the fire risk. Duties are patrolling, escorting, customs, and policing rather than pitched battle. After twenty-five years a man is discharged with citizenship for himself and his children, recorded on a bronze diploma he keeps for life. A village grows outside the gate within a decade.
Sources
Nearby
 - Museu d'Arqueologia de Catalunya - Barcelona 2014.JPG?width=800)
Roman Maps shows the empire frozen at 11 August 117 CE, the day Trajan died — its moment of greatest territorial extent. Explore the full map →