Carmarthen
About
A cavalry fort was planted around 75 CE to hold the newly conquered Demetae tribal lands of southwest Wales. Its garrison remained until about 120 CE, when the site converted to civilian use and eventually became the tribe's civitas capital. By 117 CE it had already seen four decades of continuous occupation. Later stone walls and a Roman amphitheatre would rise nearby, but in Trajan's day the site was still a working military base.
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 →