Sinjar

Singara

FortMesopotamia · Sinjar, Nineveh Governorate, IraqBuilt 115 CE

About

Trajan's general Lusius Quietus took Singara from the Parthians in 115 CE, planting a Roman garrison on the southern slope of the Sinjar range beside the Mygdonius watercourse. A milestone dated 116 CE, found near the village of Karsi on the far side of the mountain, marks the military road Roman engineers cut across the range to link the new outpost to the rest of the province. The garrison secured the route running from Edessa east to the Tigris, the empire's furthest reach in this direction. When Trajan died in August 117 CE his conquests east of the Euphrates were given up within the year, and Singara's garrison marched out. Rome would not hold Singara permanently again for another four and a half decades, under Lucius Verus.

What happened here

A legionary fortress holds five thousand men and is laid out to the same plan everywhere, so a transferred soldier knows his way around on the first day. Two main streets cross at the headquarters building, where the standards and the pay chest are kept in a sunken strongroom under guard. Around it: the commander's house with a courtyard garden, granaries raised on stone piers, a hospital, workshops, and long barrack blocks divided into rooms for eight men who cook and mess together. Training is daily, and building work is constant — soldiers make their own bricks, tiles and boots. A civilian town grows against the walls, with bars, traders and the unofficial families of men who are not legally allowed to marry.