Ratiaria
About
A Roman military base and arsenal grew up on the Danube's right bank in the 1st century, serving as a supply point during Trajan's Dacian Wars. Trajan raised its status to a full Roman colony after his 106 CE victory over Decebalus, naming it Colonia Ulpia Traiana Ratiaria. It later became the seat of a provincial governor and the base of legio XIII Gemina. The site lies 2 kilometers west of the modern village of Archar.
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
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