The Camp Market-Place
The space behind the tents of the Tribuni is thus
The space between the Principia and the agger.
used. On one side of the square of the Praetorium is the market, on the other the office of
the Quaestor and the supplies which he has
charge of. Then behind the last tent of the Tribuni on
either side, arranged at right angles to those tents, are the
quarters of the cavalry picked out of the extraordinarii,
well as of some of those who are serving as
volunteers from personal friendship to the
The Staff, or Praetoria cohors.
All these are arranged parallel to
the side aggers, facing on the one side the Quaestorium, on
the other the market-place. And, generally speaking, it falls
to the lot of these men not only to be near the Consul in the
camp, but to be wholly employed about the persons of the
Consul and the Quaestor on the march and all other occasions.
Back to back with these again, facing the agger, are placed
the infantry who serve in the same way as these cavalry.1
Beyond these there is another empty space or road left,
one hundred feet broad, parallel to the tents of the Tribuni,
skirting the market-place, Praetorium, and Quaestorium, from
agger to agger. On the further side of this road the rest of
the equites extraordinarii
are placed facing the market-place
and Quaestorium: and between the quarters of these cavalry
of the two legions a passage is left of fifty feet, exactly opposite
and at right angles to the square of the Praetorium, leading
to the rearward agger.
Back to back with the equites extraordinarii
are the infantry
of the same, facing the agger at the rear of the whole camp.
And the space left empty on either side of these, facing the
agger on each side of the camp, is given up to foreigners and
such allies as chance to come to the camp.
The result of these arrangements is that the whole camp is
The space round the quarters.
a square, with streets and other constructions
regularly planned like a town. Between the line
of the tents and the agger there is an empty space
of two hundred feet on every side of the square, which is turned
to a great variety of uses. To begin with, it is exceedingly convenient for the marching in and out of the legions. For each
division descends into this space by the via
which passes its own
quarters, and so avoids crowding and hustling each other, as
they would if they were all collected on one road. Again, all
cattle brought into the camp, as well as booty of all sorts taken
from the enemy, are deposited in this space and securely
guarded during the night-watches. But the most important
use of this space is that, in night assaults, it secures the tents
from the danger of being set on fire, and keeps the soldiers
out of the range of the enemy's missiles; or, if a few of them
do carry so far, they are spent and cannot penetrate the tents.