Acropolis of Praeneste
About
A fortified summit above the sanctuary, today the hilltop village of Castel San Pietro Romano, served as Praeneste's ancient citadel, walled like the other old Latin hill towns of Alatri and Segni. Its height let defenders watch the approach from Rome long before an enemy reached the terraced sanctuary below. By 117 CE it has guarded the city for longer than anyone in Praeneste could say.
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.
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 →