Septem

Ad Septem Fratres

Auxiliary FortMauretania Tingitana · CeutaBuilt 42 CE

About

Emperor Claudius folded this Atlantic gateway into the new province of Mauretania Tingitana in 42 CE, raising a Roman stronghold above the harbor across the strait from Baelo Claudia in Spain. Local fishermen salted and exported tunny from these waters, feeding a trade that tied the fort to ports throughout the western Mediterranean. Roads ran overland from here to both Tingis and Volubilis, linking the coastal garrison to the rest of the province's network. The post took its name, Ad Septem Fratres, from seven hills visible along this stretch of coast.

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.