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Castra
*** Shopping-Tip: Castra
'''Castra''', originally a castrum, is a
Celtic fortification, which is like a round walled castle in the top of a hill. Romans later used the name for their military camps, which were rectangular.
In the
Roman Empire, a '''castra''' (the plural form of ''castrum, castri'', a
fortification) was a Roman
military camp. Roman camps were always constructed according to a certain pattern, with two main crossing streets: the "
Cardus Maximus", running north and south, and the "
Decumanus Maximus" running east and west, dividing the camp into four quarters. These streets terminated at four gates. The
Forum (Roman) forum was located at the intersection of the Cardus Maximus and the Decumanus Maximus.
The rest of the streets and constructions were parallel to these streets, which formed a quadricular pattern widely used in cities.
Many villages in
Europe originated as Roman military camps and still show traces of their original pattern (e.g.
Castres in
France,
Barcelona in
Spain). The pattern was also used by
Spanish colonization of the Americas Spanish colonizers in America following strict rules by the Spanish monarchy for founding new cities in the
New World.
Many of the towns of
England still retain forms of the word ''castra'' in their names --
Lancaster, England Lancaster,
Chester and
Manchester, for example.
{{commons|Fort (Roman)}}
Category:Ancient Roman military technology
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