Castell Collen
About
Perched above the River Ithon near modern Llandrindod Wells, this auxiliary fort was built around 75 CE to hold the central Welsh uplands. Its rectangular, round-cornered defenses originally stretched 182 metres end to end before later builders reduced the enclosure. Occupation was not continuous, but troops were present through Trajan's reign as the fort anchored the road network of mid-Wales. Excavated wall footings and gate positions remain visible on the hillside today.
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
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 →