10-17-2010, 01:36 PM
Quote:Are there any collections of relative Fossa sections for marching camps?There is evidence to suggest that the ditch is the least important element of the marching camp, although its defensive potential was clearly appreciated. At Arosfa Gareg in Wales (which Mike has mentioned above), the excavator (the late Professor Barri Jones) cut a section across the E rampart and found that the 3.6m-wide rampart (earth and stone fronted by a turf cheek) was fronted by no ditch at all. The ditch around the well-known camp at Durno (Mons Graupius :wink: ) almost peters out in sections, showing a lack of concern regarding either uniformity or defensive value. Remember that, for Vegetius, the minimum requirement was simply a rampart (Epit. 3.8; cf. 1.24), and Hyginus suggests that the ditch is added "for the sake of discipline" (i.e. to keep the troops busy; De mun. castr. 49).
But I digress. McNab's book has been cobbled together from a hotch-potch of previous Ospreys, but I think I recognise this statement as belonging to Nic Fields. He has probably taken Vegetius literally. In practice, camp ditches are often around 1.8m wide and 0.8m deep, but just as there are smaller ones (or none at all!) there will be bigger ones, too.
