1.
Embrasure (dentistry)
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In dentistry, embrasures are V-shaped valleys between adjacent teeth. They provide a way for food to escape during chewing which essentially aids in the self-cleansing process. They also prevent food from being forced through the area which might cause food packing. Angularis Nigra Nelson, Stanley J. Major M. Ash, Jr. Wheelers Dental Anatomy, Physiology, and Occlusion
2.
Arrowslit
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An arrowslit is a thin vertical aperture in a fortification through which an archer can launch arrows. The interior walls behind an arrow loop are often cut away at an angle so that the archer has a wide field of view. Arrow slits come in a remarkable variety, a common and recognizable form is the cross. Balistraria can often be found in the walls of medieval battlements beneath the crenellations. The invention of the arrowslit is attributed to Archimedes during the siege of Syracuse in 214–212 BC, slits of the height of a man and about a palms width on the outside allowed defenders to shoot bows and scorpions from within the city walls. Although used in late Greece and Roman defences, arrowslits were not present in early Norman castles and they are only reintroduced to military architecture towards the end of the 12th century, with the castles of Dover and Framlingham in England, and Richard the Lionhearts Château Gaillard in France. In these early examples, arrowslits were positioned to protect sections of the castle wall, in the 13th century, it became common for arrowslits to be placed all around a castles defences. In its simplest form, an arrowslit was a vertical opening, however. It was common for arrowslits to widen to a triangle at the bottom, called a fishtail, immediately behind the slit there was a recess called an embrasure, this allowed a defender to get close to the slit without being too cramped. The width of the slit dictated the field of fire, but the field of vision could be enhanced by the addition of horizontal openings, they allowed defenders to view the target before it entered range. Usually, the slits were level, which created a cross shape. When an embrasure linked to more than one arrowslit it is called a multiple arrowslit, embrasure Loophole, legal term Notes Bibliography Media related to Arrowslits at Wikimedia Commons
3.
Cannon
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A cannon is any piece of artillery that uses gunpowder or other usually explosive-based propellants to launch a projectile, which may or may not be explosive. The word cannon is derived from languages, in which the original definition can usually be translated as tube, cane. The Greeks invented the first type—a steam cannon—designed by Archimedes during the Siege of Syracuse, ctesibius built a steam cannon in Alexandria and in the fifteenth century Leonardo da Vinci designed another, the Architonnerre, based on Archimedes work. The earliest form of artillery was developed in Song China, over time replacing siege engines. In the Middle East, the first use of the cannon is argued to be during the 1260 Battle of Ain Jalut between the Mamluk Sultanate and Mongol Empire. The first cannon in Europe were in use in the Iberian Peninsula by the mid-13th century and it was during this period, the Middle Ages, that cannon became standardised, and more effective in both the anti-infantry and siege roles. After the Middle Ages most large cannon were abandoned in favour of greater numbers of lighter, Cannon also transformed naval warfare in the early modern period, as European navies took advantage of their firepower. In World War I, the majority of fatalities were caused by artillery. Most modern cannon are similar to those used in the Second World War, Cannon was widely known as the earliest form of a gun and artillery, before early firearms were invented. The word has been used to refer to a gun since 1326 in Italy, both Cannons and Cannon are correct and in common usage, with one or the other having preference in different parts of the English-speaking world. Cannons is more common in North America and Australia, while cannon as plural is more common in the United Kingdom, Cannon in general have the form of a truncated cone with an internal cylindrical bore for holding an explosive charge and a projectile. The thickest, strongest, and closed part of the cone is located near the explosive charge, as any explosive charge will dissipate in all directions equally, the thickest portion of the cannon is useful for containing and directing this force. Field artillery cannon in Europe and the Americas were initially made most often of bronze, though later forms were constructed of cast iron and eventually steel. However, cast iron cannon have a tendency to burst without having any previous weakness or wear. The following terms refer to the components or aspects of a classical western cannon as illustrated here. In what follows, the words near, close, and behind will refer to those parts towards the thick, closed end of the piece, and far, front, in front of, and before to the thinner, open end. Bore, The hollow cylinder bored down the centre of the cannon, including the base of the bore or bottom of the bore, the diameter of the bore represents the cannons calibre. Chamber, The cylindrical, conical, or spherical recess at the nearest end of the bottom of the bore into which the gunpowder is packed
4.
Pillbox (military)
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Pillboxes are concrete dug-in guard posts, normally equipped with loopholes through which to fire weapons. The originally jocular name arose from their similarity to the cylindrical and hexagonal boxes in which medical pills were once sold. They are in effect a trench firing step hardened to protect against small-arms fire and grenades, the concrete nature of pillboxes means that they are a feature of prepared positions. They were probably first used in the Hindenburg Line and this is likely to have been the time when they acquired their incongruous English name. The Oxford English Dictionarys earliest record of the use of the word pillbox in connection with a defensive post is from 13 September 1917, some pillboxes were designed to be prefabricated and transported to their location for assembly. During World War I, Sir Ernest William Moir produced a design for concrete machine-gun pillboxes constructed from a system of interlocking precast concrete blocks, around 1500 Moir pillboxes were eventually produced and sent to the Western Front in 1918. Pillboxes are often camouflaged in order to conceal their location and to maximize the element of surprise. The French Maginot Line built between the world consisted of a massive bunker and tunnel complex, but as most of it was below ground little could be seen from the ground level. The exception were the concrete blockhouses, gun turrets, pillboxes, between the Abyssinian Crisis of 1936 and World War II, the British built about 200 pillboxes on the island of Malta for defence in case of an Italian invasion. Less than 100 pillboxes still exist, and most are found on the eastern part of the island. A few of them have been restored and are cared for, some pillboxes are still being destroyed nowadays as the authorities do not consider them to have any architectural or historic value, despite heritage NGOs calling to preserve them. About 28,000 pillboxes and other hardened field fortifications were constructed in England in 1940 as part of the British anti-invasion preparations of World War II, about 6,500 of these structures still survive. Pillboxes for the Czechoslovak border fortifications were built before the Second World War in Czechoslovakia in defence against a German attack, none of these were actually used against their intended enemy during the German invasion, but some were used against the advancing Soviet armies in 1945. The Japanese also made use of pillboxes in their fortifications of Iwo Jima, pillboxes were hard to defeat and required artillery, anti-tank weapons or grenades to overcome. Notes Bibliography CBA staff, A Review Of The Defence of Britain Project, Council for British Archaeology, retrieved 30 May 2006 Hellis, John, Pillbox Study Group, retrieved 10 September 2009 OED staff, pillbox, n
5.
Taunton Stop Line
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The Taunton Stop Line was a World War II defensive line in south west England. It was designed to stop an advance from the west. Stop Lines used a combination of geography and construction to make continuous defences, the innermost and longest was the GHQ Line. They were constructed as part of a package of field fortifications planned under the leadership of General Sir Edmund Ironside, highbridge was also the starting point for the east-west GHQ Line. Other armaments used included Boys Anti-tank Rifle and mobile QF2 pounder guns and these included Bridgwater and Creech St Michael. Two divisions from GHQ Home Forces Reserve were originally assigned to man the line, many pillboxes can still be seen along the length of the line. pillboxes-somerset. com Somerset pillboxes http, //www. pillboxesuk. co
6.
Fortifications of Mdina
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The fortifications of Mdina are a series of defensive walls which surround the former capital city of Mdina, Malta. The city was founded as Maleth by the Phoenicians in around the 8th century BC, the ancient city was surrounded by walls, but very few remains of these have survived. Most of the extant fortifications were built by the Order of Saint John between the 16th and 18th centuries, the city has withstood a number of sieges, and it was defeated twice – first by the Aghlabids in 870 and then by Maltese rebels in 1798. Today, the city walls are still intact except for some outworks, Mdina has been on Maltas tentative list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites since 1998. The city of Mdina occupies the tip of a plateau located on ground in the northern part of the island of Malta. The site has been inhabited since prehistory, and by the Bronze Age it was a place of refuge since it was naturally defensible, the Phoenicians colonized Malta in around the 8th century BC, and they founded the city of Maleth on this plateau. It was taken over by the Roman Republic in 218 BC, the Punic-Roman city was about three times the size of present-day Mdina, extending into a large part of modern Rabat. Melites walls had a thickness of around 5 m and were surrounded by a 700 m -long ditch, very little remains of the Punic-Roman walls of Melite still survive. The remains of a city gate or tower were discovered in Saqqajja in modern Rabat, parts of the ditch have survived under present-day St. Rita Street and the Church of St. Paul. The lower foundations of some Punic-Roman ramparts, consisting of rusticated ashlar blocks three courses high still in situ, were found near the Magazine Curtain in the part of Mdina. The only other remains of the ancient walls are Punic-Roman masonry blocks which were reused in the medieval period and these include a wall around Greeks Gate, and some stones which were discovered in excavations at Inguanez Street and the Xara Palace. At some point following the fall of the Western Roman Empire and this was done to make the citys perimeter more easily defensible, and similar reductions in city sizes were common around the Mediterranean region in the early Middle Ages. In 870, Melite was captured by the Aghlabids, who massacred its inhabitants, the Byzantines besieged Medina in 1053–54, but were repelled by its defenders. The fortifications of Mdina were rebuilt and modified a number of times over the following centuries. A castle known as the Castellu di la Chitati or the castrum civitas was built on the southeast corner of the city near the main entrance, the city withstood a siege by Hafsid invaders in 1429. By the 15th century, most of Mdinas enciente had a system of double walls, a barbican was built near Mdinas main entrance sometime after 1448. In the 1450s there were fears of a Barbary or Ottoman attack, the main ditch was completed, and the Castellu di la Chitati was partially demolished by royal licence in 1453, due to its ruinous state and the excessive cost for its upkeep. By 1474, cannons had been introduced in Mdina, other extensive preparations for an attack were made in the 1480s, when the fortifications were once again improved under the direction of Sicilian military engineers
7.
Malta
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Malta, officially known as the Republic of Malta, is a Southern European island country consisting of an archipelago in the Mediterranean Sea. It lies 80 km south of Italy,284 km east of Tunisia, the country covers just over 316 km2, with a population of just under 450,000, making it one of the worlds smallest and most densely populated countries. The capital of Malta is Valletta, which at 0.8 km2, is the smallest national capital in the European Union, Malta has one national language, which is Maltese, and English as an official language. John, French and British, have ruled the islands, King George VI of the United Kingdom awarded the George Cross to Malta in 1942 for the countrys bravery in the Second World War. The George Cross continues to appear on Maltas national flag, the country became a republic in 1974, and although no longer a Commonwealth realm, remains a member state of the Commonwealth of Nations. Malta was admitted to the United Nations in 1964 and to the European Union in 2004, in 2008, Catholicism is the official religion in Malta. The origin of the term Malta is uncertain, and the modern-day variation derives from the Maltese language, the most common etymology is that the word Malta derives from the Greek word μέλι, meli, honey. The ancient Greeks called the island Μελίτη meaning honey-sweet, possibly due to Maltas unique production of honey, an endemic species of bee lives on the island. The Romans went on to call the island Melita, which can be considered either as a latinisation of the Greek Μελίτη or the adaptation of the Doric Greek pronunciation of the same word Μελίτα. Another conjecture suggests that the word Malta comes from the Phoenician word Maleth a haven or port in reference to Maltas many bays, few other etymological mentions appear in classical literature, with the term Malta appearing in its present form in the Antonine Itinerary. The extinction of the hippos and dwarf elephants has been linked to the earliest arrival of humans on Malta. Prehistoric farming settlements dating to the Early Neolithic period were discovered in areas and also in caves. The Sicani were the tribe known to have inhabited the island at this time and are generally regarded as being closely related to the Iberians. Pottery from the Għar Dalam phase is similar to found in Agrigento. A culture of megalithis temple builders then either supplanted or arose from this early period, the temples have distinctive architecture, typically a complex trefoil design, and were used from 4000 to 2500 BCE. Animal bones and a knife found behind an altar stone suggest that temple rituals included animal sacrifice. Tentative information suggests that the sacrifices were made to the goddess of fertility, the culture apparently disappeared from the Maltese Islands around 2500 BC. Archaeologists speculate that the builders fell victim to famine or disease
8.
Crenellation
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These gaps are termed crenels, and the act of adding crenels to a previously unbroken parapet is termed crenellation. The solid widths between the crenels are called merlons, a wall with battlements is said to be crenelated or embattled. Battlements on walls have protected walkways behind them, on tower or building tops, the roof is used as the protected fighting platform. The term originated in about the 14th century from the Old French word batailler, the word crenel derives from the ancient French cren, Latin crena, meaning a notch, mortice or other gap cut out often to receive another element or fixing, see also crenation. In medieval England a licence to crenellate granted the permission to fortify their property. The castles in England vastly outnumber the licences to crenellate, royal pardons were obtainable, on the payment of an arbitrarily determined fine, by a person who had fortified without licence. The surviving records of such licences, generally issued by letters patent, there has been academic debate over the purpose of licensing. The view of military-focused historians is that licensing restricted the number of fortifications that could be used against a royal army and they indicated to the observer that the grantee had obtained royal recognition, acknowledgment and compliment. The crown usually did not charge for the granting of such licences, battlements have been used for thousands of years, the earliest known example is in the fortress at Buhen in Egypt. Battlements were used in the walls surrounding Assyrian towns, as shown on bas reliefs from Nimrud, traces of them remain at Mycenae in Greece, and some ancient Greek vases suggest the existence of battlements. The Great Wall of China has battlements, late merlons permitted fire from the first firearms. From the 13th century, the merlons could be connected with wooden shutters that provided added protection when closed, the shutters were designed to be opened to allow shooters to fire against the attackers, and closed during reloading. The Romans used low wooden pinnacles for their first aggeres, in the battlements of Pompeii, additional protection derived from small internal buttresses or spur walls, against which the defender might stand so as to gain complete protection on one side. Loop-holes were frequent in Italian battlements, where the merlon has much greater height, Italian military architects used the so-called Ghibelline or swallowtail battlement, with V-shaped notches in the tops of the merlon, giving a horn-like effect. This would allow the defender to be protected whilst shooting standing fully upright, the normal rectangular merlons were later nicknamed Guelph. In Muslim and African fortifications, the merlons often were rounded, the battlements of the Arabs had a more decorative and varied character, and were continued from the 13th century onwards not so much for defensive purposes as for a crowning feature to the walls. They serve a similar to the cresting found in the Spanish Renaissance. European architects persistently used battlements as a decorative feature throughout the Decorated
9.
Battlement
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These gaps are termed crenels, and the act of adding crenels to a previously unbroken parapet is termed crenellation. The solid widths between the crenels are called merlons, a wall with battlements is said to be crenelated or embattled. Battlements on walls have protected walkways behind them, on tower or building tops, the roof is used as the protected fighting platform. The term originated in about the 14th century from the Old French word batailler, the word crenel derives from the ancient French cren, Latin crena, meaning a notch, mortice or other gap cut out often to receive another element or fixing, see also crenation. In medieval England a licence to crenellate granted the permission to fortify their property. The castles in England vastly outnumber the licences to crenellate, royal pardons were obtainable, on the payment of an arbitrarily determined fine, by a person who had fortified without licence. The surviving records of such licences, generally issued by letters patent, there has been academic debate over the purpose of licensing. The view of military-focused historians is that licensing restricted the number of fortifications that could be used against a royal army and they indicated to the observer that the grantee had obtained royal recognition, acknowledgment and compliment. The crown usually did not charge for the granting of such licences, battlements have been used for thousands of years, the earliest known example is in the fortress at Buhen in Egypt. Battlements were used in the walls surrounding Assyrian towns, as shown on bas reliefs from Nimrud, traces of them remain at Mycenae in Greece, and some ancient Greek vases suggest the existence of battlements. The Great Wall of China has battlements, late merlons permitted fire from the first firearms. From the 13th century, the merlons could be connected with wooden shutters that provided added protection when closed, the shutters were designed to be opened to allow shooters to fire against the attackers, and closed during reloading. The Romans used low wooden pinnacles for their first aggeres, in the battlements of Pompeii, additional protection derived from small internal buttresses or spur walls, against which the defender might stand so as to gain complete protection on one side. Loop-holes were frequent in Italian battlements, where the merlon has much greater height, Italian military architects used the so-called Ghibelline or swallowtail battlement, with V-shaped notches in the tops of the merlon, giving a horn-like effect. This would allow the defender to be protected whilst shooting standing fully upright, the normal rectangular merlons were later nicknamed Guelph. In Muslim and African fortifications, the merlons often were rounded, the battlements of the Arabs had a more decorative and varied character, and were continued from the 13th century onwards not so much for defensive purposes as for a crowning feature to the walls. They serve a similar to the cresting found in the Spanish Renaissance. European architects persistently used battlements as a decorative feature throughout the Decorated
10.
Merlon
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A merlon is the solid upright section of a battlement or crenellated parapet in medieval architecture or fortifications. Merlons are sometimes pierced by narrow, vertical embrasures or slits designed for observation, the space between two merlons is called a crenel, and a succession of merlons and crenels is a crenellation. Crenels designed in later eras, for use by cannons, were also called embrasures. The word comes from the French language, adapted from the Italian merlone, possibly a form of mergola, connected with Latin mergae, or from a diminutive moerulus. An alternative etymology suggests that the medieval Latin merulus functioned as a diminutive of Latin merle, as an essential part of battlements, merlons were used in fortifications for millennia. The best-known examples appear on buildings, where battlements, though defensive, could be attractively formed. Some buildings have false decorative battlements, other shapes include, three-pointed, quatrefoil, shielded, flower-like, rounded, pyramidal, etc. depending either from the type of attacks expected or aesthetic considerations. In Roman times, the merlons had a sufficient to shelter a single man. As new weapons appeared in the Middle Ages, the merlons were enlarged and provided with loop-holes of various dimensions and shapes, the shutters could be opened by hand, or by using a pulley. Battlement Embrasure, also called a crenel Defensive walls Balestracci, D, I materiali da costruzione nel castello medievale. Luisi, R. Scudi di pietra, I castelli e l’arte della guerra tra Medioevo e Rinascimento
11.
Domestic architecture
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Houses use a range of different roofing systems to keep precipitation such as rain from getting into the dwelling space. Houses may have doors or locks to secure the dwelling space, most conventional modern houses in Western cultures will contain one or more bedrooms and bathrooms, a kitchen or cooking area, and a living room. A house may have a dining room, or the eating area may be integrated into another room. Some large houses in North America have a recreation room, in traditional agriculture-oriented societies, domestic animals such as chickens or larger livestock may share part of the house with humans. The social unit that lives in a house is known as a household, most commonly, a household is a family unit of some kind, although households may also be other social groups, such as roommates or, in a rooming house, unconnected individuals. Some houses only have a space for one family or similar-sized group. A house may be accompanied by outbuildings, such as a garage for vehicles or a shed for gardening equipment, a house may have a backyard or frontyard, which serve as additional areas where inhabitants can relax or eat. The English word house derives directly from the Old English Hus meaning dwelling, shelter, home, house, the house itself gave rise to the letter B through an early Proto-Semitic hieroglyphic symbol depicting a house. The symbol was called bayt, bet or beth in various related languages, and became beta, ideally, architects of houses design rooms to meet the needs of the people who will live in the house. Such designing, known as design, has become a popular subject in universities. Feng shui can also mean the aura in or around a dwelling, making it comparable to the real-estate sales concept of indoor-outdoor flow, the square footage of a house in the United States reports the area of living space, excluding the garage and other non-living spaces. The square metres figure of a house in Europe reports the area of the enclosing the home. The number of floors or levels making up the house can affect the square footage of a home, many houses have several large rooms with specialized functions and several very small rooms for other various reasons. These may include an area, a sleeping area, and separate or combined washing. Some larger properties may also feature such as a spa room, indoor pool, indoor basketball court. In traditional agriculture-oriented societies, domestic animals such as chickens or larger livestock often share part of the house with human beings, most conventional modern houses will at least contain a bedroom, bathroom, kitchen or cooking area, and a living room. Little is known about the earliest origin of the house and its interior, roman architect Vitruvius theories have claimed the first form of architecture as a frame of timber branches finished in mud, also known as the primitive hut. Philip Tabor later states the contribution of 17th century Dutch houses as the foundation of houses today, as far as the idea of the home is concerned, the home of the home is the Netherlands
12.
Bow and arrow
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The bow and arrow is a projectile weapon system that predates recorded history and is common to most cultures. Archery is the art, practice, or skill of applying it, a bow is a flexible arc that shoots aerodynamic projectiles called arrows. A string joins the two ends of the bow and when the string is drawn back, the ends of the bow are flexed, when the string is released, the potential energy of the flexed stick is transformed into the kinetic energy of the arrow. Archery is the art or sport of shooting arrows from bows, today, bows and arrows are used primarily for hunting and for the sport of archery. Someone who makes bows is known as a bowyer, and one who makes arrows is a fletcher —or in the case of the manufacture of arrow heads. The bow and arrow appears around the transition from the Upper Paleolithic to the Mesolithic, at the site of Nataruk in Turkana County, Kenya, obsidian bladelets found embedded in a skull and within the thoracic cavity of another skeleton, suggest the use of stone-tipped arrows as weapons. After the end of the last glacial period, use of the bow seems to have spread to every inhabited continent, including the New World, the oldest extant bows in one piece are the elm Holmegaard bows from Denmark which were dated to 9,000 BCE. High-performance wooden bows are made following the Holmegaard design. Microliths discovered on the south coast of Africa suggest that arrows may be at least 71,000 years old, the bow was an important weapon for both hunting and warfare from prehistoric times until the widespread use of gunpowder in the 16th century. Organised warfare with bows ended in the mid 17th century in Europe, the British upper class led a revival of archery from the late 18th century. Sir Ashton Lever, an antiquarian and collector, formed the Toxophilite Society in London in 1781, under the patronage of George, the basic elements of a bow are a pair of curved elastic limbs, traditionally made from wood, joined by a riser. Both ends of the limbs are connected by a known as the bow string. By pulling the string backwards the archer exerts compressive force on the section, or belly, of the limbs as well as placing the outer section, or back. While the string is held, this stores the energy released in putting the arrow to flight. The force required to hold the string stationary at full draw is used to express the power of a bow. Other things being equal, a draw weight means a more powerful bow. The various parts of the bow can be subdivided into further sections, the topmost limb is known as the upper limb, while the bottom limb is the lower limb. At the tip of each limb is a nock, which is used to attach the bowstring to the limbs, the riser is usually divided into the grip, which is held by the archer, as well as the arrow rest and the bow window
13.
Aigues-Mortes
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Aigues-Mortes is a French commune in the Gard department in the Occitanie region of southern France. The medieval city walls surrounding the city are well preserved, the inhabitants of the commune are known as Aigues-Mortais or Aigues-Mortaises. Aigues-Mortes is located in the Petite Camargue some 90 km northwest of Marseilles, by road, Aigues-Mortes is about 33 km southwest of Nîmes, and 20 km east of Montpellier in a direct line. Access to the commune is by route D979 coming south from Saint-Laurent-dAigouze to Aigues-Mortes town, route D979 continues southwest through the commune to Le Grau-du-Roi. Route D62 also starts from Aigues-Mortes heading southwest parallel to D979 before turning eastwards, route D62A continues to Plan dEau du Vidourie. The commune is composed of a portion of the wet plains and it is separated from the Gulf of Lions by the town of Le Grau-du-Roi, however Aigues-Mortes is connected to the sea through the Canal du Rhône à Sète. There is only one other hamlet in the commune called Mas de Jarras Listel on the western border, a rail branch line from Nîmes passes through Aigues-Mortes from north-east to south-west, with a station in the town of Aigues-Mortes, to its terminus on the coast at Le-Grau-du-Roi. This line also transports sea salt, the communes of Saint-Laurent-dAigouze and Le Grau-du-Roi are adjacent to the town of Aigues-Mortes. Its inhabitants are called Aigues-Mortais or Aigues-Mortise, in Occitan they are aigamortencs, Aigues-Mortes is one of 79 member communes of the Schéma de cohérence territoriale of South Gard and is also one of 34 communes in the Pays Vidourle-Camargue. Aigues-Mortes is one of the four communes of the Loi littoral of SCoT in the South of Gard, attested in the Latinized form Aquae Mortuae in 1248. The name comes from the Occitan Aigas Mortas meaning dead water, or stagnant water equivalent to toponymic types in the Morteau Oil dialect cf. Morteau, mortua Aqua and Morteaue, mortua Aqua. The name comes from the Aigues-Mortes marshes and ponds that stretch around the village, Grau comes from the Occitan grau meaning pond with extension. Grau du Roy in French means pond of the King, the foundation of the city is said to have been by Gaius Marius, around 102BC but there is no documentary evidence to support this. A Roman by the name of Peccius fitted out the first salt marsh, salt mining started from the Neolithic period and was continued in the Hellenistic period, but the ancient uses of saline have not resulted in any major archaeological discovery. It is likely any remains were destroyed by modern saline facilities. In 791, Charlemagne erected the Matafère tower amid the swamps for the safety of fishermen and salt workers. Some argue that the signaling and transmission of news was not foreign to the building of tower which was designed to give warning in case of arrival of a fleet. This monastery still existed in 812, as confirmed by an act of endowment made by the Badila from Nîmes at the abbey
14.
Archimedes
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Archimedes of Syracuse was a Greek mathematician, physicist, engineer, inventor, and astronomer. Although few details of his life are known, he is regarded as one of the scientists in classical antiquity. He was also one of the first to apply mathematics to physical phenomena, founding hydrostatics and statics and he is credited with designing innovative machines, such as his screw pump, compound pulleys, and defensive war machines to protect his native Syracuse from invasion. Archimedes died during the Siege of Syracuse when he was killed by a Roman soldier despite orders that he should not be harmed. Cicero describes visiting the tomb of Archimedes, which was surmounted by a sphere and a cylinder, unlike his inventions, the mathematical writings of Archimedes were little known in antiquity. Archimedes was born c.287 BC in the city of Syracuse, Sicily, at that time a self-governing colony in Magna Graecia. The date of birth is based on a statement by the Byzantine Greek historian John Tzetzes that Archimedes lived for 75 years, in The Sand Reckoner, Archimedes gives his fathers name as Phidias, an astronomer about whom nothing is known. Plutarch wrote in his Parallel Lives that Archimedes was related to King Hiero II, a biography of Archimedes was written by his friend Heracleides but this work has been lost, leaving the details of his life obscure. It is unknown, for instance, whether he married or had children. During his youth, Archimedes may have studied in Alexandria, Egypt and he referred to Conon of Samos as his friend, while two of his works have introductions addressed to Eratosthenes. Archimedes died c.212 BC during the Second Punic War, according to the popular account given by Plutarch, Archimedes was contemplating a mathematical diagram when the city was captured. A Roman soldier commanded him to come and meet General Marcellus but he declined, the soldier was enraged by this, and killed Archimedes with his sword. Plutarch also gives an account of the death of Archimedes which suggests that he may have been killed while attempting to surrender to a Roman soldier. According to this story, Archimedes was carrying mathematical instruments, and was killed because the thought that they were valuable items. General Marcellus was reportedly angered by the death of Archimedes, as he considered him a valuable asset and had ordered that he not be harmed. Marcellus called Archimedes a geometrical Briareus, the last words attributed to Archimedes are Do not disturb my circles, a reference to the circles in the mathematical drawing that he was supposedly studying when disturbed by the Roman soldier. This quote is given in Latin as Noli turbare circulos meos. The phrase is given in Katharevousa Greek as μὴ μου τοὺς κύκλους τάραττε
15.
Polybius
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Polybius was a Greek historian of the Hellenistic period noted for his work, The Histories, which covered the period of 264–146 BC in detail. The work describes the rise of the Roman Republic to the status of dominance in the ancient Mediterranean world, Polybius was born around 200 BC in Megalopolis, Arcadia, when it was an active member of the Achaean League. His father, Lycortas, was a prominent, land-owning politician, consequently, Polybius was able to observe first hand the political and military affairs of Megalopolis. He developed an interest in riding and hunting, diversions that later commended him to his Roman captors. In 182 BC, he was quite an honor when he was chosen to carry the funeral urn of Philopoemen. In either 169 BC or 170 BC, Polybius was elected hipparchus and his early political career was devoted largely towards maintaining the independence of Megalopolis. Polybius’ father, Lycortas, was a prominent advocate of neutrality during the Roman war against Perseus of Macedon. Lycortas attracted the suspicion of the Romans, and Polybius subsequently was one of the 1,000 Achaean nobles who were transported to Rome as hostages in 167 BC, Polybius remained on cordial terms with his former pupil Scipio Aemilianus and was among the members of the Scipionic Circle. Polybius remained a counselor to Scipio when he defeated the Carthaginians in the Third Punic War, following the destruction of Carthage, Polybius likely journeyed along the Atlantic coast of Africa, as well as Spain. After the destruction of Corinth in the year, Polybius returned to Greece. Polybius was charged with the task of organizing the new form of government in the Greek cities. He apparently interviewed veterans to clarify details of the events he was recording and was given access to archival material. Little is known of Polybius later life, he most likely accompanied Scipio to Spain and he later wrote about this war in a lost monograph. Polybius probably returned to Greece later in his life, as evidenced by the many existent inscriptions, polybius’ Histories cover the period from 264 BC to 146 BC. Its main focus is the period from 220 BC to 167 BC, describing Romes efforts in subduing its arch-enemy, Carthage, in Book VI, Polybius describes the political, military, and moral institutions that allowed the Romans to succeed. He describes the First and Second Punic Wars, in Book XII, Polybius discusses the worth of Timaeus’ account of the same period of history. He asserts Timaeus point of view is inaccurate, invalid, therefore, Polybiuss Histories is also useful in analyzing the different Hellenistic versions of history and of use as a credible illustration of actual events during the Hellenistic period. In the seventh volume of his Histories, Polybius defines the historians job as the analysis of documentation, the review of relevant geographical information, and political experience
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The Histories (Polybius)
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Polybius’ Histories were originally written in 40 volumes, only the first five of which are extant in their entirety. The bulk of the work is passed down to us through collections of excerpts kept in libraries in Byzantium, Polybius Histories begin in the year 264 BC and end in 146 BC. He is primarily concerned with the 53 years in which Ancient Rome became a dominant world power and this period, from 220–167 BC, saw Rome subjugate Carthage and gain control over Hellenistic Greece. Books I through V cover the affairs of important states at the time and deal extensively with the First, in Book VI he describes the Roman Constitution and outlines the powers of the consuls, Senate and People. He concludes that the success of the Roman state was based on their constitution, which combined elements of a democracy, aristocracy. Tyche, which means fate or fortune, plays an role in Polybius’ understanding of history. Tyche takes on a meaning in his work. It can mean fortune or happenstance, but tyche was also personified as a goddess according to Hellenistic convention, the exploration of Tyche is also the impetus for Polybius beginning his work, in that he discusses the fortunate events that led to Rome’s domination of the Mediterranean. In Book VI Polybius digresses into an explanation of the Roman constitution, the purpose for this is involved in the Hellenistic nature of the work, particularly his audience, Greeks. Greeks at this time believed that the strength of a state is manifested in the strength of its constitution, the mixed constitution was touted as the strongest constitution as it combined the three integral types of government, monarchy, aristocracy and democracy. Polybius makes further distinction in the forms of government by including the nefarious counterparts to the mentioned above, tyranny, oligarchy. These governments, according to Polybius cycle in a process called anacyclosis, the Romans avoided this problem through the structure of their Republic. The first English translation, made by Christopher Watson, was published in London in 1568 as The hystories of the most famous, F. W. Walbank wrote a comprehensive commentary on the Histories in three volumes, which was published in 1957. Herodotus Thucydides Xenophon Mogens Herman Hansen 1995, Sources for the Ancient Greek City-State, Symposium, August, 24-271994, danske, Videnskabernes Selskab,376 pages ISBN 87-7304-267-6 Robert Pashley, Travels in Crete,1837, J. Murray C. Michael Hogan, Cydonia, Jan. 23,2008, The Modern Antiquarian Polybius, Frank W. Walbank, the Rise of the Roman Empire. English and Greek version The Histories Translation by W. R. Paton Short introduction to the life and work of Polybius Polybius and the Founding Fathers, the separation of powers
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Scorpio (weapon)
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The scorpio or scorpion was a type of Roman artillery piece. Also known by the name of the triggerfish, it was described in detail by Vitruvius, in the progressive evolution of catapults, the next major improvement after the scorpio was the cheiroballistra. A weapon of remarkable precision and power, the scorpio was particularly dreaded by the enemies of the Roman Empire, the scorpio was a smaller catapult-type weapon, more of a sniper weapon than a siege engine, operated by one man. The scorpio was basically an early crossbow, a catapult with bolts, probably first invented by the Greeks and this catapult used a system of torsion springs to propel the bolts. The complexity of construction and in particular the torsion springs led to great sensitivity to any variation in temperature or moisture, during the Roman Republic and early empire, sixty scorpions per legion was the standard, or one for every centuria. The scorpio had mainly two functions in a legion, in precision shooting, it was a weapon of marksmanship capable of cutting down any foe within a distance of 100 meters. During the siege of Avaricum in the war against the Gauls, in parabolic shooting, the range is greater, with distances up to 400 meters, and the firing rate is higher. With precision shooting the rate of fire was significantly less, scorpions were typically used in an artillery battery at the top of a hill or other high ground, the side of which was protected by the main body of the legion. In this case, there are sixty scorpions present which can fire up to 240 bolts per minute at the enemy army, the weight and speed of a bolt was sufficient to pierce enemy shields, usually also wounding the enemy so struck. The Scorpion was often a cumbersome and costly siege weapon, as it was difficult to move
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Musket
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A musket is a muzzle-loaded, smoothbore firearm, fired from the shoulder. Muskets were designed for use by infantry, a soldier armed with a musket had the designation musketman or musketeer. The musket replaced the arquebus, and was in turn replaced by the rifle. By the end of the 17th century, a version of the musket had edged out the arquebus, and the addition of the bayonet edged out the pike. In the 18th century, improvements in ammunition and firing methods allowed rifling to be practical for use. In the 19th century, rifled muskets became common, combining the advantages of rifles, about the time of the introduction of cartridge, breechloading, and multiple rounds of ammunition just a few years later, muskets fell out of fashion. Musket calibers generally ranged from 0.50 to 0.90 in, rifled muskets of the mid-19th century, like the Springfield Model 1861, were significantly more accurate, with the ability to hit a man sized target at a distance of 500 yards or more. However, in the Italian War of 1859, French forces were able to defeat the longer range of Austrian rifle muskets by aggressive skirmishing and rapid bayonet assaults during close quarters combat. According to the Etymology Dictionary, firearms were often named after animals, and the word derived from the French word mousquette. An alternative theory is that derives from the 16th century French mousquet, -ette, from the Italian moscetto, -etta, the Italian moscetto is a diminutive of mosca, a fly. Hand cannons arrived in Europe from Asia sometime in the early 14th century and they were more commonly used by the early 15th century, particularly in the Hussite wars. It is possible that the noise was at least as important as the missile and these were very short ranged, inaccurate and difficult to load and fire. Hand cannons had a handle, or no handle at all. A wooden stock was added, allowing the weapon to be easily held. The hand cannon evolved into the arquebus by the mid 15th century, the matchlock mechanism was a simple solution to this problem, and placed the match in a clamp on the end of a lever. When a trigger was pulled, the lever would rotate and allowed the match to come in contact with the touch hole, the first European usage of firearms in large ratios was in Hungary under king Matthias Corvinus. Every third soldier in the Black Army of Hungary had an arquebus, gradual advances in the empirical understanding of the corning of gunpowder made possible a more powerful explosive. The cost of gunpowder also gradually fell, by the 16th century the handheld firearm became commonplace, replacing the crossbow and longbow in all advanced armies, and known as the arquebus
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Arbalest
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The arbalest was a late variation of the crossbow coming into use in Europe during the 12th century. A large weapon, the arbalest had a steel prod, since the arbalest was much larger than earlier crossbows, and because of the greater tensile strength of steel, it had a greater force. The strongest windlass-pulled arbalests could have up to 22 kN of force, a skilled arbalestier could loose two bolts per minute. The term arbalest is sometimes used interchangeably with crossbow, arbalest is a Medieval French word originating from the Roman name arcuballista, which was then used for crossbows, although originally used for types of artillery. Modern French uses the word arbalète, which is one step further from the stem. The word applies to both crossbow and arbalest, in some cases, the word has been used to refer to arbalists, the people who actually used the weapon
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Christian symbolism
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Christian symbolism is the use of symbols, including archetypes, acts, artwork or events, by Christianity. It invests objects or actions with an inner meaning expressing Christian ideas, the symbolism of the early Church was characterized by being understood by initiates only, while after the legalization of Christianity in the 4th-century more recognizable symbols entered in use. Christianity has borrowed from the stock of significant symbols known to most periods. The shape of the cross, as represented by the letter T, at the end of the 2nd century, it is mentioned in the Octavius of Minucius Felix, rejecting the claim by detractors that Christians worship the cross. In his book De Corona, written in 204, Tertullian tells how it was already a tradition for Christians to trace repeatedly on their foreheads the sign of the cross. An early example of the halo, used to identify Christ in paintings, is found in the Miracles of the Loaves and Fishes mosaic of SantApollinare Nuovo. Instances of the St Thomas cross, a Greek cross with clover leaf edges, popular in southern India, the Patriarchal cross, a Latin cross with an additional horizontal bar, first appears in the 10th century. Although the cross was used as a symbol by early Christians, the purported discovery of the True Cross by Constantines mother, Helena, and the development of Golgotha as a site for pilgrimage led to a change of attitude. In the early period, the plain cross became depicted as the crux gemmata, covered with jewels. The first depictions of crucifixion displaying suffering are believed to have arisen in Byzantine art, Early Western examples include the Gero Cross and the reverse of the Cross of Lothair, both from the end of the 10th century. Marie-Madeleine Davy described in great detail Romanesque Symbolism as it developed in the Middle Ages in Western Europe, among the symbols employed by the early Christians, that of the fish seems to have ranked first in importance. The Staurogram ⳨, also Monogrammatic Cross or Tau-Rho symbol, is composed by a tau superimposed on a rho, in such a way the symbol expresses the idea that the Cross saves. The two letters tau and rho can also be found separately as symbols on early Christian ossuaries, the Monogrammatic Cross was later seen also as a variation of the Chi Rho symbol, and it spread over Western Europe in the 5th and 6th centuries. The Chi Rho is formed by superimposing the first two letters chi and rho of the Greek word ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ =Christ in such a way to produce the monogram, widespread in ancient Christianity, it was the symbol used by the Roman emperor Constantine I as vexillum. This symbol was explained in the Epistle of Barnabas and by Clement of Alexandria. For other christograms such as IHS, see Article Christogram, initially it was also understood as a symbol like others used in Early Christian art. By about the 5th century the more often took on the appearance of the conventional depiction of Christ, as it had developed by this time. The dove as a Christian symbol is of frequent occurrence in ancient ecclesiastical art
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Fortification
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Fortifications are military constructions or buildings designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and also used to solidify rule in a region during peace time. Humans have constructed defensive works for many thousands of years, in a variety of increasingly complex designs, the term is derived from the Latin fortis and facere. From very early history to modern times, walls have been a necessity for cities to survive in a changing world of invasion. Some settlements in the Indus Valley Civilization were the first small cities to be fortified, in ancient Greece, large stone walls had been built in Mycenaean Greece, such as the ancient site of Mycenae. A Greek Phrourion was a collection of buildings used as a military garrison. These construction mainly served the purpose of a tower, to guard certain roads, passes. Though smaller than a fortress, they acted as a border guard rather than a real strongpoint to watch. The art of setting out a camp or constructing a fortification traditionally has been called castramentation since the time of the Roman legions. Fortification is usually divided into two branches, permanent fortification and field fortification, there is also an intermediate branch known as semi-permanent fortification. Castles are fortifications which are regarded as being distinct from the fort or fortress in that they are a residence of a monarch or noble. Roman forts and hill forts were the antecedents of castles in Europe. The Early Middle Ages saw the creation of towns built around castles. Medieval-style fortifications were made obsolete by the arrival of cannons in the 14th century. Fortifications in the age of black powder evolved into much lower structures with greater use of ditches and earth ramparts that would absorb, Walls exposed to direct cannon fire were very vulnerable, so were sunk into ditches fronted by earth slopes. The arrival of explosive shells in the 19th century led to yet another stage in the evolution of fortification, steel-and-concrete fortifications were common during the 19th and early 20th centuries. However the advances in warfare since World War I have made large-scale fortifications obsolete in most situations. Demilitarized zones along borders are arguably another type of fortification, although a passive kind, many military installations are known as forts, although they are not always fortified. Larger forts may be called fortresses, smaller ones were known as fortalices
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Ancient history
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Ancient history is the aggregate of past events from the beginning of recorded human history and extending as far as the Early Middle Ages or the Postclassical Era. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with Sumerian Cuneiform script, the term classical antiquity is often used to refer to history in the Old World from the beginning of recorded Greek history in 776 BC. This roughly coincides with the date of the founding of Rome in 753 BC, the beginning of the history of ancient Rome. In India, ancient history includes the period of the Middle Kingdoms, and, in China. Historians have two major avenues which they take to better understand the ancient world, archaeology and the study of source texts, primary sources are those sources closest to the origin of the information or idea under study. Primary sources have been distinguished from secondary sources, which cite, comment on. Archaeology is the excavation and study of artefacts in an effort to interpret, archaeologists excavate the ruins of ancient cities looking for clues as to how the people of the time period lived. The study of the ancient cities of Harappa, Mohenjo-daro, the city of Pompeii, an ancient Roman city preserved by the eruption of a volcano in AD79. Its state of preservation is so great that it is a window into Roman culture and provided insight into the cultures of the Etruscans. The Terracotta Army, the mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor in ancient China, the discovery of Knossos by Minos Kalokairinos and Sir Arthur Evans. The discovery of Troy by Heinrich Schliemann, most of what is known of the ancient world comes from the accounts of antiquitys own historians. Although it is important to take account the bias of each ancient author. Some of the more notable ancient writers include Herodotus, Thucydides, Arrian, Plutarch, Polybius, Sima Qian, Sallust, Livy, Josephus, Suetonius, furthermore, the reliability of the information obtained from these surviving records must be considered. Few people were capable of writing histories, as literacy was not widespread in almost any culture until long after the end of ancient history, the earliest known systematic historical thought emerged in ancient Greece, beginning with Herodotus of Halicarnassus. He was also the first to distinguish between cause and immediate origins of an event, the Roman Empire was one of the ancient worlds most literate cultures, but many works by its most widely read historians are lost. Indeed, only a minority of the work of any major Roman historian has survived, prehistory is the period before written history. The early human migrations in the Lower Paleolithic saw Homo erectus spread across Eurasia 1.8 million years ago, the controlled use of fire occurred 800,000 years ago in the Middle Paleolithic. 250,000 years ago, Homo sapiens emerged in Africa, 60–70,000 years ago, Homo sapiens migrated out of Africa along a coastal route to South and Southeast Asia and reached Australia
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Abatis
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An abatis, abattis, or abbattis is a field fortification consisting of an obstacle formed of the branches of trees laid in a row, with the sharpened tops directed outwards, towards the enemy. The trees are usually interlaced or tied with wire, abatis are used alone or in combination with wire entanglements and other obstacles. There is evidence it was used as early as the Roman Imperial period, a classic use of an abatis was at the Battle of Carillon during the Seven Years War. The 3,600 French troops defeated an army of 16,000 British. The British found the defences almost impossible to breach and were forced to withdraw with some 2,600 casualties, an important weakness of abatis, in contrast to barbed wire, is that it can be destroyed by fire. An important advantage is that an improvised abatis can be formed in forested areas. This can be done by cutting down a row of trees so that they fall with their tops toward the enemy. An alternative is to place explosives so as to blow the trees down, abatis are rarely seen nowadays, having been largely replaced by wire obstacles. However, it may be used as a replacement or supplement when barbed wire is in short supply, a form of giant abatis, using whole trees instead of branches, can be used as an improvised anti-tank obstacle. Though rarely used by conventional military units, abatises are still officially maintained in United States Army. Furthermore, it is recommended that the trees remain connected to the stumps, US military maps record an abatis by use of an inverted V with a short line extending from it to the right. Zasechnaya cherta Pamplin Historical Park & The National Museum of the Civil War Soldier includes large and authentic reproduction of abatis used in the U. S. Civil War
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Agger (ancient Rome)
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An agger is an ancient Roman embankment or rampart, or any artificial elevation. The agger was an embankment that gave Roman roads the proper draining base, basically the agger is a ridge that supports the road surface. The material used to build the aggers was dug from lateral ditches, once the material was dug out of the ditches that were known as scoop ditches, they were used as the storm drain for that road. These ditches could also be used for soldiers to hide in if they ever were under attack from enemies, on the most important road routes, the agger could be 4 to 5 feet high and 45 to 50 feet wide. Along less important routes the road is set directly on the levelled ground surface with stones laid to provide drainage with the lateral ditches barely visible. The material was found locally, though the Romans would not hesitate to bring in the material from other places if they could find no suitable stone. The course of a Roman road can often be traced today by the line of the agger across the landscape. A well-known example is the Agger Servianus, a part of the Servian walls of Rome, which protected the city on its most vulnerable side and it consisted of a double rampart bearing formidable fortifications
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Broch
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A broch is an Iron Age drystone hollow-walled structure of a type found only in Scotland. Brochs belong to the classification complex atlantic roundhouse devised by Scottish archaeologists in the 1980s and their origin is a matter of some controversy. The theory that they were defensive military structures is not accepted by modern archaeologists. Although most stand alone in the landscape, some examples exist of brochs surrounded by clusters of smaller dwellings, the word broch is derived from Lowland Scots brough, meaning fort. In the mid-19th century Scottish antiquaries called brochs burgs, after Old Norse borg, place names in Scandinavian Scotland such as Burgawater and Burgan show that Old Norse borg is the older word used for these structures in the north. Brochs are often referred to as duns in the west, antiquaries began to use the spelling broch in the 1870s. A precise definition for the word has proved elusive, brochs are the most spectacular of a complex class of roundhouse buildings found throughout Atlantic Scotland. Researcher Euan MacKie has proposed a smaller total for Scotland of 104. The origin of brochs is a subject of continuing research and this view contrasted, for example, with that of Sir Lindsay Scott, who argued, following Childe, for a wholesale migration into Atlantic Scotland of people from southwest England. Meanwhile, the increasing number – albeit still pitifully few – of radiocarbon dates for the use of brochs still suggests that most of the towers were built in the 1st centuries BC. A few may be earlier, notably the one proposed for Old Scatness Broch in Shetland, Caithness, Sutherland and the Northern Isles have the densest concentrations, but there are also a great many examples in the west of Scotland and the Hebrides. Although mainly concentrated in the northern Highlands and the Islands, a few occur in the Borders, on the west coast of Dumfries and Galloway. In a c.1560 sketch there appears to be a broch by the next to Annan Castle in Dumfries. This small group of southern brochs has never been satisfactorily explained, the original interpretation of brochs, favoured by nineteenth century antiquarians, was that they were defensive structures, places of refuge for the community and their livestock. They were sometimes regarded as the work of Danes or Picts, from the 1930s to the 1960s, archaeologists like V. Gordon Childe and later John Hamilton regarded them as castles where local landowners held sway over a subject population. The castle theory fell from favour among Scottish archaeologists in the 1980s, once again, however, there is a lack of archaeological proof for this reconstruction, and the sheer number of brochs, sometimes in places with a lack of good land, makes it problematic. Brochs close groupings and profusion in many areas may indeed suggest that they had a defensive or even offensive function. Often they are at key strategic points, in Shetland they sometimes cluster on each side of narrow stretches of water, the broch of Mousa, for instance, is directly opposite another at Burraland in Sandwick
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Castra
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In the Roman Empire, the Latin word castrum was a building, or plot of land, used as a fortified military camp. Castrum was the used for different sizes of camps including a large legionary fortress, smaller auxiliary forts, temporary encampments. The diminutive form castellum was used for fortlets, typically occupied by a detachment of a cohort or a century, in English, the terms Roman fortress, Roman fort and Roman camp are commonly used for castrum. However, scholastic convention tends toward the use of the camp, marching camp. For a list of known castra see List of castra, the term castrum appears in three Italic languages, Oscan, Umbrian and Latin. g. Castrum Album, Castrum Inui, Castrum Novum, Castrum Truentinum, Castrum Vergium. The plural was used as a place name, as Castra Cornelia. Castrorum Filius was one of names used by the emperor Caligula, the terms stratopedon and phrourion were used by Greek language authors to translate castrum and castellum, respectively. A castrum was designed to house and protect the soldiers, their equipment and this most detailed description that survives about Roman military camps is De Munitionibus Castrorum, a manuscript of 11 pages that dates most probably from the late 1st to early 2nd century AD. Regulations required a major unit in the field to retire to a properly constructed camp every day, to this end a marching column ported the equipment needed to build and stock the camp in a baggage train of wagons and on the backs of the soldiers. They could throw up a camp under enemy attack in as little as a few hours. Judging from the names, they used a repertory of camp plans, selecting the one appropriate to the length of time a legion would spend in it, tertia castra, quarta castra. A camp of three days, four days, etc, more permanent camps were castra stativa, standing camps. The least permanent of these were castra aestiva or aestivalia, summer camps, in which the soldiers were housed sub pellibus or sub tentoriis, under tents. For the winter the soldiers retired to castra hiberna containing barracks and other buildings of solid materials. The camp allowed the Romans to keep a rested and supplied army in the field, neither the Celtic nor Germanic armies had this capability, they found it necessary to disperse after only a few days. The largest castra were legionary fortresses built as bases for one or more whole legions, previously, legions were raised for specific military campaigns and subsequently disbanded, requiring only temporary castra. From then on many castra of various sizes were established many of which became permanent settlements, from the most ancient times Roman camps were constructed according to a certain ideal pattern, formally described in two main sources, the De Munitionibus Castrorum and the works of Polybius
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Castro culture
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Castro culture is the archaeological term for the material Celtic culture of the north-western regions of the Iberian Peninsula from the end of the Bronze Age until it was subsumed by Roman culture. This cultural area extended east to the Cares river and south into the lower Douro river valley and it was the result of the autonomous evolution of Atlantic Bronze Age communities, after the local collapse of the long range Atlantic network of interchange of prestige items. These villages were closely related to the settlements which characterized the first Bronze Age, frequently established near the valleys. These early hill-forts were small, being situated in hills, peninsulas or another naturally defended places, the artificial defenves were initially composed of earthen walls, battlements and ditches, which enclosed an inner habitable space. The major inner feature of these multi-functional undivided cabins were the hearth, circular or quadrangular, since the beginning of the 6th century BCE the Castro culture experienced an inner expansion, hundreds of new hill-forts were founded, while some older small ones were abandoned for new emplacements. Sometimes, human remains have been found in cists or under the walls, not only did the number of settlements grow during this period, but also their size and density. Carthaginian merchants brought imports of wine, glass, pottery and other goods through a series of emporia, commercial post which sometimes included temples and other installations. While the archaeological record of the Castro Iron Age show suggests a very egalitarian society, many of them also presented an inner and upper walled space, relatively large and scarcely urbanised, called acrópole by local scholars. These oppida were generally surrounded by ditches and stone walls, up to five in Briteiros. Gates to these oppida become monumental and frequently have sculptures of warriors, Cividade de Bagunte was one of the largest cities with 50 hectares. The cities are surrounded by a number of smaller castros, some of which may have been defensive outposts of cities, such as Castro de Laundos, that was probably an outpost of Cividade de Terroso. A cividade may also have been the origin of Bracara Augusta, although there are no archaeological findings apart from an ancient parish name, Bracara Augusta later became the capital of the Roman province of Gallaecia, which encompassed all the lands once participant of the Castro culture. During the next century Gallaecia was still theatre of operation for Perpenna, Julius Caesar, but only after the Romans defeated the Asturians and Cantabrians in 19 BCE is evident—thought inscriptions, numismatic and other archaeological findings—the submission of the local powers to Rome. Strabo wrote, probably describing this process, until they were stopped by the Romans, pollen analyses confirms the Iron Age as a period of intense deforestation in Galicia and Northern Portugal, with meadows and fields expanding at the expense of woodland. They also grew beans, peas and cabbage, and flax for fabric and clothes production, other vegetables where collected, nettle, large quantities of acorns have been found hoarded in most hill-forts, as they were used for bread production once toasted and crushed in granite stone mills. The second pillar of local economy was animal husbandry, gallaecians bred cattle for meat, milk and butter production, they also used oxen for dragging carts and ploughs, while horses were used mainly for human transportation. They also bred sheep and goats, for meat and wool, wild animals like deer or boars were frequently chased. Archaeologists have found hooks and weights for nets, as well as open seas fish remains, mining was an integral part of the culture, and it attracted Mediterranean merchants, first Phoenicians, later Carthaginians and Romans
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Circular rampart
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The period during which these structures appeared stretches from the Neolithic to the Middle Ages. The key feature of a rampart is the embankment forming the primary means of the defensive fortification. It can be constructed in ways, as a simple earth embankment, as a wood. Circular ramparts usually have a moat or ditch in front of them, often several concentric rings were built, which produced a more effective defensive position against attackers. The interior of such sites often shows evidence of such as halls, barns. They are often hidden in woods and discovered by aerial photography, archaeological profiles through the defences and excavations of the interior enable analysis of the period the site was occupied, the pottery used and the type of food consumed
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City gate
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A city gate is a gate which is, or was, set within a city wall. City gates were built to provide a point of controlled access to and departure from a walled city for people, vehicles, goods. The city gate was also used to display diverse kinds of public information such as announcements, tax and toll schedules, standards of local measures. City gates, in one form or another, can be found across the world in cities dating back to ancient times to around the 19th century. Many cities would close their gates after a certain curfew each night, for example a bigger one like Prague or a smaller one like Flensburg, in the north of Germany. With increased stability and freedom, many walled cities removed such fortifications as city gates, although many still survive, many surviving gates have been heavily restored, rebuilt or new ones created to add to the appearance of a city, such as Bab Bou Jalous in Fes. With increased levels of traffic, city gates have come under threat in the past for impeding the flow of traffic, ireland, St. Laurences Gate, 13th Century, in Drogheda, Co
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Crannog
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A crannog is typically a partially or entirely artificial island, usually built in lakes, rivers and estuarine waters of Scotland and Ireland. Crannogs have been interpreted as free-standing wooden structures, as at Loch Tay, although more commonly they exist as brush. However, in such as the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. As a result, completely stone crannogs supporting drystone architecture are common there, today, crannogs typically appear as small, circular islets, often 10 to 30 metres in diameter, covered in dense vegetation due to their inaccessibility to grazing livestock. The Irish word crannóg derives from Old Irish crannóc, which referred to a structure or vessel, stemming from crann. The modern sense of the term first appears sometime around the 12th century, its popularity spread in the period along with the terms isle, ylle, inis. There is some confusion on what the term originally referred to. The additional meanings of crannog can be related as structure/piece of wood, wooden pin, crows nest, pulpit, drivers box on a coach. The Scottish Gaelic form is crannag and has the additional meanings of pulpit, Crannogs are widespread in Ireland, with an estimated 1,200 examples, while Scotland has 347 sites officially listed as such. Previously unknown crannogs in Scotland and Ireland are still being found as underwater surveys continue to investigate loch beds for completely submerged examples, the largest concentrations of crannogs in Ireland are found in the Drumlin Belt of the Midlands, North and Northwest. In Scotland, crannogs favour a western or Atlantic distribution, with concentrations in Argyll and Dumfries. In reality, the Western Isles contain the highest density of lake-settlements in Scotland, one lone Welsh example at Llangorse Lake exists, likely a product of Irish influence across the Irish Sea. Crannogs took on different forms and methods of construction based on what was available in the immediate landscape. The classic image of a prehistoric crannog stems from both post-medieval illustrations and highly influential such as Milton Loch in Scotland by C. M. The Milton Loch interpretation is of a small islet surrounded or defined at its edges by timber piles, Crannogs are traditionally interpreted as simple prehistorical farmsteads. A strict definition of a crannog, which has long been debated, sites in the Western Isles do not satisfy this criterion, although their inhabitants shared the common habit of living on water. The visible structural remains are traditionally interpreted as duns, or in more recent terminology as Atlantic roundhouses and this terminology has recently become popular when describing the entire range of robust, drystone structures that existed in later prehistoric Atlantic Scotland. In some early digs, labourers merely hauled away tons of materials with little regard to anything that was not of immediate economic value
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Ditch (fortification)
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A ditch in military engineering is an obstacle, designed to slow down or break up an attacking force, while a trench is intended to provide cover to the defenders. In medieval fortification, a ditch was constructed in front of a defensive wall to hinder mining. When filled with water, such a defensive ditch is called a moat, however, moats may also be dry. Today ditches are obsolescent as an obstacle, but are still often used as anti-vehicle obstacles. A fence concealed in a ditch is called a ha-ha, scarp, the inner side of the ditch is called the scarp slope. This may be revetted with masonry or brickwork, in which case, cordon, a course of protruding masonry along the top of a scarp wall, intended to make it harder for an enemy to stand a ladder against it. Rampart, the wall of the fort which can be made of earth or masonry, is topped by a parapet for the defenders to fire over. Berm, a ledge between the wall and the exterior slope of the rampart, designed to increase the stability of the rampart. Faussebraye, a parapet between the rampart and the inner edge of the ditch. Carnot wall, a wall between the rampart and the inner edge of the ditch. Chemin de ronde, a pathway running along the berm, behind the faussebraye or Carnot wall, cunette, a narrow channel that runs along the floor of the ditch for drainage purposes. Bartardeau, a type of dam across a ditch that is part wet. Counterscarp, the slope or wall of the ditch. Sally port, a door allowing the defenders to enter the ditch should it be occupied by the enemy. Caponier, a masonry or brick structure extending into the ditch or traversing across it, it is pierced with loopholes to enable the defenders to fire along the floor of the ditch. Counterscarp gallery, a passage constructed behind the wall and pierced with loopholes. Glacis, an earth slope angled away from the ditch, the height and angle of the glacis was calculated to protect the rampart from direct fire but to allow the defenders to fire over it. Place-of-arms, an area of the covered way at an angle of the ditch
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Defensive wall
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A defensive wall is a fortification used to protect a city, town or other settlement from potential aggressors. In ancient to modern times, they were used to enclose settlements, beyond their defensive utility, many walls also had important symbolic functions – representing the status and independence of the communities they embraced. Existing ancient walls are almost always masonry structures, although brick, depending on the topography of the area surrounding the city or the settlement the wall is intended to protect, elements of the terrain may be incorporated in order to make the wall more effective. Walls may only be crossed by entering the city gate and are often supplemented with towers. Simpler defensive walls of earth or stone, thrown up around hillforts, ringworks, early castles, from very early history to modern times, walls have been a near necessity for every city. Uruk in ancient Sumer is one of the worlds oldest known walled cities, before that, the city of Jericho in what is now the West Bank had a wall surrounding it as early as the 8th millennium BC. The Assyrians deployed large labour forces to build new palaces, temples, some settlements in the Indus Valley Civilization were also fortified. By about 3500 B. C. hundreds of small farming villages dotted the Indus floodplain, many of these settlements had fortifications and planned streets. Mundigak in present-day south-east Afghanistan has defensive walls and square bastions of sun dried bricks, babylon was one of the most famous cities of the ancient world, especially as a result of the building program of Nebuchadnezzar, who expanded the walls and built the Ishtar Gate. Exceptions were few — notably, ancient Sparta and ancient Rome did not have walls for a long time, initially, these fortifications were simple constructions of wood and earth, which were later replaced by mixed constructions of stones piled on top of each other without mortar. In Central Europe, the Celts built large fortified settlements which the Romans called oppida, the fortifications were continuously expanded and improved. In ancient Greece, large stone walls had been built in Mycenaean Greece, in classical era Greece, the city of Athens built a long set of parallel stone walls called the Long Walls that reached their guarded seaport at Piraeus. Large tempered earth walls were built in ancient China since the Shang Dynasty, although stone walls were built in China during the Warring States, mass conversion to stone architecture did not begin in earnest until the Tang Dynasty. The large walls of Pingyao serve as one example, likewise, the famous walls of the Forbidden City in Beijing were established in the early 15th century by the Yongle Emperor. The Romans fortified their cities with massive, mortar-bound stone walls, the most famous of these are the largely extant Aurelian Walls of Rome and the Theodosian Walls of Constantinople, together with partial remains elsewhere. These are mostly city gates, like the Porta Nigra in Trier or Newport Arch in Lincoln, apart from these, the early Middle Ages also saw the creation of some towns built around castles. These cities were only protected by simple stone walls and more usually by a combination of both walls and ditches. From the 12th century AD hundreds of settlements of all sizes were founded all across Europe and these cities are easy to recognise due to their regular layout and large market spaces
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Dun
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Dun is a generic term for an ancient or medieval fort. It is mainly used in the British Isles to describe a kind of hillfort, the term comes from Irish dún or Scottish Gaelic dùn, and is cognate with Old Welsh din comes. In some areas duns were built on any suitable crag or hillock, particularly south of the Firth of Clyde, there are many duns on the west coast of Ireland and they feature in Irish mythology. For example, the tale of the Táin Bó Flidhais features Dún Chiortáin, duns seem to have arrived with the Celts in about the 7th century BC. Early duns had near vertical ramparts made of stone and timber, vitrified forts are the remains of duns that have been set on fire and where stones have been partly melted. Use of duns continued in some parts into the Middle Ages, duns are similar to brochs, but are smaller and probably would not have been capable of supporting a very tall structure. Good examples of this kind of dun can be found in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland and it is ultimately cognate to English town
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Gatehouse
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A gatehouse, in architectural terminology, is a building enclosing or accompanying a gateway for a castle, manor house, fort, town or similar buildings of importance. Gatehouses made their first appearance in the early antiquity when it became necessary to protect the entrance to a castle or town. Over time, they evolved into very complicated structures with many lines of defence, strongly fortified gatehouses would normally include a drawbridge, one or more portcullises, machicolations, arrow loops and possibly even murder-holes where stones would be dropped on attackers. In some castles, the gatehouse was so strongly fortified it took on the function of a keep, examples of such gate keeps can be found at Bodiam Castle and Beaumaris Castle. In the late Middle Ages, some of these arrow loops might have converted into gun loops. Sometimes gatehouses formed part of fortifications, perhaps defending the passage of a bridge across a river or a moat. York has four important gatehouses, known as Bars, in its city walls, the French term for gatehouse is logis-porche. This could be a large, complex structure that served both as a gateway and lodging or it could have composed of a gateway through an enclosing wall. A very large gatehouse might be called a châtelet, at the end of the Middle Ages, many gatehouses in England and France were converted into beautiful, grand entrance structures to manor houses or estates. Many of them became a separate feature free-standing or attached to the manor or mansion only by an enclosing wall, by this time the gatehouse had lost its defensive purpose and had become more of a monumental structure designed to harmonise with the manor or mansion. On the continent of Europe, there are examples of surviving gatehouses in France, Austria. Bargate, in Hampshire is a gatehouse in the city centre of Southampton. Constructed in 1180 as part of the Southampton town walls Ightham Mote, Durham Castle, in Durham has an 11th-century gatehouse that is now used as accommodation for students attending University College, Durham. Layer Marney Tower, the apotheosis of the Tudor gatehouse, stokesay Castle, a 13th-century fortified manor house in Shropshire has a Jacobean half-timbered gatehouse. Stanway House, Stanway, Gloucestershire, where the gatehouse measures 44 ft. by 22 ft. and has three storeys, westwood House, Worcestershire, which has a frontage of 54 ft. with two storeys. Burton Agnes Hall, East Riding of Yorkshire, which has three storeys and is flanked by octagonal towers at the angles. Hylton Castle, Hylton, Sunderland, although it is an actual castle, château de Châteaubriant, two gatehouses, one for the lower bailey, one for the upper ward. Château de Suscinio, a large 15th-century gatehouse in the style, Morbihan
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Gord (archaeology)
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A gord is a medieval Slavonic fortified wooden settlement, sometimes known as a burgwall after the German term for such sites. Gords were built during the late Bronze and early Iron Ages by the Lusatian culture (c, 1300–500 BCE, and later in the 8th–7th centuries BCE, in what are now Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Poland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, eastern Germany, and India. These settlements were founded on strategic sites such as hills, riverbanks, lake islands. A typical gord was a group of houses built either in rows or in circles, surrounded by one or more rings of walls made of earth and wood. Some gords were ring-shaped, with a round, oval, or occasionally polygonal fence or wall surrounding a hollow, others, built on a natural hill or a man-made mound, were cone-shaped. Those with a defense on one side, such as a river or lake, were usually horseshoe-shaped. Most gords were built in densely populated areas on sites that offered particular natural advantages, as Slavic tribes united to form states, gords were also built for defensive purposes in less-populated border areas. Gords in which rulers resided or that lay on trade routes quickly expanded, near the gord, or below it in elevation, there formed small communities of servants, merchants, artisans, and others who served the higher-ranked inhabitants of the gord. Each such community was known as a suburbium and its residents could shelter within the walls of the gord in the event of danger. Eventually the suburbium acquired its own fence or wall, in the High Middle Ages, the gord usual evolved into a castle or citadel and the suburbium into a town. Some gords did not stand the test of time and were abandoned or destroyed, notable archeological sites include Biskupin, Poland, and Bilsk, Ukraine. The term ultimately descends from the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European root ǵʰortós, enclosure, from this same root come the Germanic word elements *gard and *gart, and likely also the names of Graz, Austria and Gartz, Germany. Cognate to these are English words such as yard, garth, girdle, also cognate but less closely related are Latin hortus, a garden, and its English descendants horticulture and orchard. Further afield, in ancient Iran, a fortified settlement was called a gerd. Burugerd or Borujerd is a city in the West of Iran, the Indian suffix -garh, meaning a fort in Hindi, Sanskrit, and other Indo-Iranian languages, appears in many Indian place names. The Proto-Slavic word gordъ later differentiated into grad and gorod, etc and it is the root of various words in modern Slavic languages pertaining to fences and fenced areas. Some of them are in countries which once were but no longer are mainly inhabited by Slavic-speaking peoples, the word survives in the names of several villages and town districts, as well as in the names of the German municipalities Puttgarden, Wagria and Putgarten, Rügen. Garðaríki - Varangian name for Kievan Rus, interpreted as cities Biskupin, fortified settlements in other cultures, Kraal, Motte-and-bailey
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Hillfort
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A hillfort or hill fort is a type of earthworks used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze and Iron Ages, some were used in the post-Roman period. The fortification usually follows the contours of a hill, consisting of one or more lines of earthworks, with stockades or defensive walls, and external ditches. Hill forts developed in the Late Bronze and Early Iron Age, roughly the start of the first millennium BC, the terms hill fort, hill-fort and hillfort are all used in the archaeological literature. They all refer to a site with one or more ramparts made of earth, stone and/or wood. Many small early hill forts were abandoned, with the ones being redeveloped at a later date. Similar but smaller and less defendable earthworks are found on the sides of hills and these are known as hill-slope enclosures and may have been animal pens. It has been estimated that in about 5000 BC during the Neolithic between 2 million and 5 million lived in Europe, in the Late Iron Age it had an population of around 15 to 30 million. Outside Greece and Italy, which were densely populated, the vast majority of settlements in the Iron Age were small. Hill forts were the exception, and were the home of up to 1,000 people, with the emergence of oppida in the Late Iron Age, settlements could reach as large as 10,000 inhabitants. As the population increased so did the complexity of prehistoric societies, around 1100 BC hill forts emerged and in the following centuries spread through Europe. They served a range of purposes and were variously tribal centres, defended places, foci of ritual activity, during the Hallstatt C period, hill forts became the dominant settlement type in the west of Hungary. Julius Caesar described the large late Iron Age hill forts he encountered during his campaigns in Gaul as oppida, by this time the larger ones had become more like cities than fortresses and many were assimilated as Roman towns. Hill forts were occupied by conquering armies, but on other occasions the forts were destroyed, the local people forcibly evicted. For example, Solsbury Hill was sacked and deserted during the Belgic invasions of southern Britain in the 1st century BC. Excavations at hill forts in the first half of the 20th century focussed on the defenses, the exception to this trend began in the 1930s with a series of excavations undertaken by Mortimer Wheeler at Maiden Castle, Dorset. From 1960 onwards, archaeologists shifted their attention to the interior of hill forts, currently, post-processual archaeologists regard hill forts as symbols of wealth and power. Michael Avery has stated the view of hill forts by saying
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Limes
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A limes was a border defence or delimiting system of Ancient Rome. It marked the boundaries and provinces of the Roman Empire, the word limes was utilized by Latin writers to denote a marked or fortified frontier. This was the definition and usage of the term. It is now common to accept that limes was not a term used by the Romans for the imperial frontier. This is a modern, anachronistic interpretation, the term became common after the 3rd century AD, when it denoted a military district under the command of a dux limitis. The limites represented the line of the Roman Empire at its greatest extent in the 2nd century AD. It stretched over 5,000 km from the Atlantic coast of northern Britain, through Europe to the Black Sea, the remains of the limites today consist of vestiges of walls, ditches, forts, fortresses and civilian settlements. Certain elements of the line have been excavated, some reconstructed, the two sections of the limes in Germany cover a length of 550 km from the north-west of the country to the Danube in the south-east. The 118 km long Hadrians Wall was built on the orders of the Emperor Hadrian c, AD122 at the northernmost limits of the Roman province of Britannia. It is an example of the organization of a military zone and illustrates the defensive techniques. The Antonine Wall, a 60 km-long fortification in Scotland, was started by Emperor Antoninus Pius in AD142 as a defense against the Barbarians of the north and it constitutes the northwestern-most portion of the Roman Limes. Limes Norici, the frontier of the Roman province Noricum, from the River Inn along the Danube to Cannabiaca in Austria, Limes Pannonicus, the frontier of the Roman province Pannonia, along the Danube from Klosterneuburg Austria to Taurunum in Serbia. A mediaeval limes is the Limes Saxoniae in Holstein, the stem of limes, limit-, which can be seen in the genitive case, limitis, marks it as the ancestor of an entire group of important words in many languages, for example, English limit. Modern languages have multiplied its abstract formulations, for example, from limit comes the abbreviation lim, used in mathematics to designate the limit of a sequence or a function, see limit. In metaphysics, material objects are limited by matter and therefore are delimited from each other, in ethics, men must know their limitations and are wise if they do. An etymology was given in detail by Julius Pokorny, Indogermanisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch. According to him, it comes from Indo-European el-, elei-, lei-, to bow, to bend, the Latin meaning was discussed in detail by W. Gebert. The sense is that a limit bends across one in some way, the limes was a cross-path or a cross-wall, which the Romans meant to throw across the path of invaders to hinder them
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Oppidum
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An oppidum is a large fortified Iron Age settlement. They continued in use until the Romans began conquering Europe, north of the River Danube, where the population remained independent from Rome, oppida continued to be used into the 1st century AD. Oppidum is a Latin word meaning the settlement in any administrative area of ancient Rome. The word is derived from the earlier Latin ob-pedum, enclosed space, possibly from the Proto-Indo-European *pedóm-, in his Commentarii de Bello Gallico, Julius Caesar described the larger Celtic Iron Age settlements he encountered in Gaul during the Gallic Wars in 58 to 52 BC as oppida. Although he did not explicitly define what features qualified a settlement to be called an oppidum and they were important economic sites, places where goods were produced, stored and traded, and sometimes Roman merchants had settled and the Roman legions could obtain supplies. They were also political centres, the seat of authorities taking decisions that affected large numbers of people, Most of the places that Caesar called oppida were city-sized fortified settlements. However, Geneva, for example, was referred to as an oppidum, Caesar also refers to 20 oppida of the Bituriges and 12 of the Helvetii, twice the number of fortified settlements of these groups known today. That implies that Caesar likely counted some unfortified settlements as oppida, a similar ambiguity is in evidence in writing by the Roman historian Livy, who also used the word for both fortified and unfortified settlements. In his work Geographia, Ptolemy listed the coordinates of many Celtic settlements, however, research has shown many of the localisations of Ptolemy to be erroneous, making the identification of any modern location with the names he listed highly uncertain and speculative. An exception to that is the oppidum of Brenodurum at Bern, in particular, Dehn suggested defining an oppidum by four criteria, Size, The settlement has to have a minimum size, defined by Dehn as 30 hectares. Topography, Most oppida are situated on heights, but some are located on areas of land. Fortification, The settlement is surrounded by a wall, usually consisting of three elements, a facade of stone, a construction and an earthen rampart at the back. Chronology, The settlement dates from the late Iron Age, the last two centuries BC and they could be referred to as the first cities north of the Alps. The period of 2nd and 1st centuries BC places them in the known as La Tène. A notional minimum size of 15 to 25 hectares has often been suggested, however, the term is not always rigorously used, and it has been used to refer to any hill fort or circular rampart dating from the La Tène period. One of the effects of the inconsistency in definitions is that it is uncertain how many oppida were built, in European archaeology, the term oppida is also used more widely to characterize any fortified prehistoric settlement. For example, significantly older hill-top structures like the one at Glauberg have been called oppida, the Spanish word castro, also used in English, means a walled settlement or hill fort, and this word is often used interchangeably with oppidum by archaeologists. According to prehistorian John Collis oppida extend as far east as the Hungarian plain where other settlement types take over, central Spain has sites similar to oppida, but while they share features such as size and defensive ramparts the interior was arranged differently
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Palisade
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A palisade—sometimes called a stakewall or a paling—is typically a fence or wall made from wooden stakes or tree trunks and used as a defensive structure or enclosure. Typical construction consisted of small or mid-sized tree trunks aligned vertically, the trunks were sharpened or pointed at the top, and were driven into the ground and sometimes reinforced with additional construction. The height of a palisade ranged from around a metre to as high as 3-4 m, as a defensive structure, palisades were often used in conjunction with earthworks. Palisades were an excellent option for small forts or other hastily constructed fortifications, since they were made of wood, they could often be quickly and easily built from readily available materials. They proved to be effective protection for short-term conflicts and were a deterrent against small forces. However, because they were wooden constructions they were vulnerable to fire. Often, a palisade would be constructed around a castle as a wall until a permanent stone wall could be erected. They were frequently used in New France, both the Greeks and Romans created palisades to protect their military camps. The Roman historian Livy describes the Greek method as being inferior to that of the Romans during the Second Macedonian War, the Greek stakes were too large to be easily carried and were spaced too far apart. This made it easy for enemies to them and create a large enough gap in which to enter. In contrast, the Romans used smaller and easier to carry stakes which were placed closer together, many settlements of the native Mississippian culture of the Midwestern United States also made use of palisades. The most prominent example is the Cahokia Mounds site in Collinsville, a wooden stockade with a series of watchtowers or bastions at regular intervals formed a 2-mile-long enclosure around Monks Mound and the Grand Plaza. Archaeologists found evidence of the stockade during excavation of the area and indications that it was several times. The stockade seems to have separated Cahokias main ceremonial precinct from other parts of the city, the English settlements in Jamestown, Virginia and Plymouth, Massachusetts were originally fortified towns surrounded by palisades. In the late century, when milled lumber was not available or practical. The walls were made of vertical half timbers, the outside, rounded half with its still on faced Adirondack weather. Typically, the cracks between the logs were filled with moss and sometimes covered with small sticks. Inside, the cracks were covered with narrow wooden battens and it also presented a more finished look inside
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Promontory fort
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A promontory fort is a defensive structure located above a steep cliff, often only connected to the mainland by a small neck of land, thus utilizing the topography to reduce the ramparts needed. Although their dating is problematic, most seem to date to the Iron Age and they are mainly found in Brittany, Ireland, the Orkney Islands, the Isle of Man, Devon and Cornwall. Only a few Irish promontory forts have been excavated and most date to the Iron Age, though some, others, like Dalkey Island contain imported Eastern Mediterranean pottery and have been reoccupied and changed in the early medieval period. Dunbeg contains an early medieval corbelled stone hut, on the Isle of Man promontory forts are found particularly on the rocky slate headlands of the south. Four out of more than 20 have been excavated and several, especially in Santon, all have a rampart on their vulnerable landward side, and excavations at Cronk ny Merriu have shown that access to the fort was via a strongly built gate. Promontory forts can be all along the coast of Penwith. Maen Castle, near to Lands End is one of the oldest and they are also found in other districts, e. g. The Rumps near Padstow and Dodman Point In Devon, The Aran Islands, Burgh Island and Bolt Tail are located on the south coast and Embury Beacon and Hillsborough on the north coast. The famous site at Tintagel may be an example of promontory fort whose occupation continued into the post Roman. Caesars de Bello Gallico describes the Veneti in southern Armorica – a powerful sea-faring people allied with the southern British during the war of 56 BC – as living in clifftop oppida and their capital was Darioritum on the Morbihan bay, now modern Vannes/Gwened. The Veneti were linguistically British, they spoke Breton, which was derived from Cornish, when they were attacked by the Romans in Brittany, Julius Caesar reports that Cornwall sent them military aid. Hill fort Nancy Edwards, The Archaeology of Early Medieval Ireland, manx National Heritage - Promontory Forts Cronk ny Merriu MNH Maen Castle Retrieved 14 May 2007. Pretanic World - Chart of Neolithic, Bronze Age and Celtic Stone Structures
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Rampart (fortification)
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In fortification architecture, a rampart is a length of bank or wall forming part of the defensive boundary of a castle, hillfort, settlement or other fortified site. It is usually broad-topped and made of excavated earth or masonry or a combination of the two, hillforts, ringforts or raths and ringworks all made use of ditch and rampart defences, and of course they are the characteristic feature of circular ramparts. The ramparts could be reinforced and raised in height by the use of palisades and this type of arrangement was a feature of the motte and bailey castle of northern Europe in the early medieval period. The composition and design of ramparts varied from the mounds of earth and stone, known as dump ramparts, to more complex earth and timber defences. One particular type, common in Central Europe, used earth, stone, vitrified ramparts were composed of stone that was subsequently fired, possibly to increase its strength. Well known examples of classical stone ramparts include Hadrians Wall and the Walls of Constantinople. After the fall of the Roman Empire in Europe, there was a return to the use of earthwork ramparts which lasted well into the 11th century. As castle technology evolved during the Middle Ages and Early Modern times, ramparts continued to part of the defences. Fieldworks, however, continued to use of earth ramparts due to their relatively temporary nature. Parapet, a low wall on top of the rampart to shelter the defenders, crenellation, rectangular gaps or indentations at intervals in the parapet, the gaps being called embrasures or crenels, and the intervening high parts being called merlons. Loophole or arrowslit, an opening in a parapet or in the main body of the rampart. Chemin de ronde or wallwalk, a pathway along the top of the rampart but behind the parapet, which served as a fighting platform and a means of communication with other parts of the fortification. Machicolation, an overhanging projection supported by corbels, the floor of which was pierced with openings so that missiles, brattice, a timber gallery built on top of the rampart and projecting forward from the parapet, to give the defenders a better field of fire. At the same time, the plan or trace of these began to be formed into angular projections called bastions which allowed the guns mounted on them to create zones of interlocking fire. Exterior slope, the front face of the rampart, often faced with stone or brick, interior slope, the back of the rampart on the inside of the fortification, sometimes retained with a masonry wall but usually a grassy slope. Parapet which protected and concealed the defending soldiers, banquette, a continuous step built onto the interior of the parapet, enabling the defenders to shoot over the top with small arms. Barbette, a platform for one or more guns enabling them to fire over the parapet. Embrasure, an opening in the parapet for guns to fire through, terreplein, the top surface or fighting platform of the rampart, behind the parapet
Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Embrasure". Encyclopædia Britannica. 9 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 309.
Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "
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