Initially, Romans were only building temporary camps for their troops in the territory of the Roman Empire. This changed after the great expansion of Caesar and then Augustus before the turn of the millennium. Conquered territories and new boundaries had to be secured. Construction of permanent camps was concentrated along the new empire boundary on the Danube and Rhine. The inner development included barrack buildings, house for the commander and officers.
Thanks to a number of archaeological researches, unique evidence of fortifications and their inner development have been identified in the Mušov - Burgstall locality (southern Moravia). The fortification built in 172 – 180 AD was situated on an area of more than 32 ha, comprised two and sometimes three lines of spiky trenches with a width ranging from 3 to 4 m and depth of 2 – 3 m. The rampart was piled with earth from trenches and reinforced on the outside and inside of the adobe walls. The wall is estimated to be 3 – 4 m high. It is possible that a wooden palisade with a square ground plan observation towers at regular intervals could stand on the wall crown. The research has also revealed two gates with wooden towers on sides. Limited excavations have further revealed a fraction of the inner development of the base, comprising two buildings with underfloor heating with the so-called hypocaust (one building was probably used as spas), a big wooden house (praefecta castrorum, 44 × 20 m) and rectangular building identified as valetudinarium, i.e. hospital (longer side - 58 m). The yard also featured some workshops with simple wooden rectangular houses delimited by poles in corners and round stoves in the space between the buildings where damaged equipment of legionnaires was repaired. The found bricks bear stamps with the marking - X. Gemina Pia Fidelis legion, documenting the stay of the troops (the legion had its permanent camp in Vindobona – today's Vienna). To the detriment of the cause, the original antique marking of Mušov has not been preserved, either
Archeologický ústav Akademie věd ČR, Brno, v. v. i.
