Tenting arrangements

[Vibius Tiberius Costa]

Okay from memory its 4 in a tent 8 to a contubernum i was wondering how a tent would really be laid out, a minor question i know.

 

Would the 4 or 8 be in each corner?

Would the shields and gear be propped outside or inside at the soldiers feet perhaps?

Feet to feet or head to head.

Would there be anything inside the tent tent?

 

I know I can just ram 'em in anywhere, anyhow but guidance would be great.

 

as usual a levied army at about 150bc

 

vtc

[caldrail]

It's unlikely that tents were given the same level of oversight that a barracks room would, so I would expect each tent to be utilised in a somewhat customised manner. That said, legionaries were used to sleeping head to foot four to a side with their gear ready at the door. There are however the matters of security and volume.

 

Soldiers on the march are not as law abiding as we would prefer, and legionaries were known to be larcenous, something frowned upon yet never eliminated (probably because the centurions sometimes obtained kickbacks by way of bribe or bullying, but also because the centurions didn't like intereference with the conduct of their century from outside sources, civilian or military). In a tent it would be relatively easy to purloin desired equipment. We must allow however for the idea of 'fraternity' the centurions encouraged (that was what the conternurnae were for) and some realisation that stealing amrs and armour was not conducive to group survival.

 

As regards volume, I'm not actually sure how big the tent was. I would expect some variety in size depending on who made them and the availability of soft leather from which they were made. Since the legionaries don't appear to have the same sense of privacy and private space we associate with modern living, my guess is that training and routine would typically lead the layout of a tent to be similar to a barrack room but constrained by a smaller space.

 

I must add that I'm not aware of any sources that cover this aspect of the march. Writers were generally educated senior officers who weren't concerned with the comfort of their men, nor would they consider the grim realities of life as a Roman legionary a suitable subject for civilised readers.

Edited July 20, 2011 by caldrail

[Vibius Tiberius Costa]

Absolutely fantastic stuff caldrail, I shall construct from there

TY

 

vtc

[Melvadius]

Although it dates from probably around 200AD rather than BC I suspect some of the information in Polybius and Pseudo-Hyginus 'Fortifications of the Roman Camp' by Ares Publishers, Inc. may be relevant since this goes into just about every aspect of how a military camp in the Imperial period was laid out.

 

The Republican period may have been a little less formalised in how camps were laid out but so far as tent size is probably fairly accurate. Tents were made from goat skins which when cleaned and prepared do tend to be a fairly standard size (thus the mention below of extending the tent by 2 feet).

 

Pseudo-Hyginus section, starting on page 67, although probably incomplete opens with the lines:

 

1. We have shown the tenting arrangement of the cohorts described above. One tent takes up 10 feet; an increase of tent size takes 2 feet [and] shelters 8 men. A full century has 80 men: there will be 10 tents which run 120 feet in length. Indeed in regard to the half-lane's width of 30 feet, 10 feet are allowed for the tent 15 feet for weapons [and] 8 feet for the pack animals, [hence] there are 24 feet. Twice this [is] 48 feet; since they camp opposite [each other], a lane of 60 feet is created. 12 feet remain which will suffice for those passing by.

 

....

 

BTW The earl;ier section on Polybius provides a more generic description of how Republican period military camps were organised.

[caldrail]

Trusty Polybius rides to the rescue. Am I mistaken, or is Polybius describing a long marquee for each century? That's definitely an indication that the contubernium was a post Marian innovation, an attempt to continue the barrack room into the field, since we know later tents were only designed to shelter an eight man group.

[Melvadius]

The section I posted before is by Pseudo-Hyginus so probably covers the 2nd centuries AD rather than the preceeding Republican period text which is drawn from Polybius.

 

In my view the Polybius account is somewhat less helpful talking about the location of the Consuls and Tribunes tents then talking about the tents of maniples and where the centurions tents are located. He doesn't go into the same specifics as Pseudo-Hyginus about how many men were billeted in each tent only where different units would have ben located on the march and how much space was needed for their tents.

 

However having seen recreated tents made out of goat skins I would have said that making one much larger than could accomodate 8 men, as described by Pseudo-Hyginus, would make for an extremely unweildy load. On this basis probably only officers would have had the 'clout' to have larger tents made and erected for them.

 

It is worth comparing the tents on Trajan's column where the senior officers tent's are obviously built on a different pattern to the rank and file troops. OK this is early Imperial but given re-enactment experience and the unweildiness of larger tents there is the possibility that the contubernium idea predated the reforms enacted around the time of Marius. Purely on the basis of how large a tent can be relatively easily transported and erected against the optimum number of men the same tent could contain.

[caldrail]

A larger tent might be a modular effort laced together or simply open sided tents butted end to end.

 

Regarding the division of sleeping arrangements, if the account of a long tent is correct, it underlines my 'warband' idea in that a century is sheltered together. We do have indications from that era that centuries were seperated not only by organisation, but by preference and custom as well. Does Polybius mention contubernae in his organisation overview? It would seem an odd oversight for him not to mention how troops were banded together to create 'close friends' instead of the familia of a century which fits with Roman thinking.

 

However, I don't necessarily argue that contubernae have a pre-Marian origin, since many ideas in that reform had already been field tested. Nonetheless, until further information comes to light, it represents a change from group affiliation to team affiliation in an era which saw legionaries transition from a militia 'brotherhood' to professional 'soldiers' (as described by Augustus)

Edited July 26, 2011 by caldrail

[Melvadius]

AS far as I can see the Polybius text talks about 'tents of units' rather than 'tent of ...' so the idea of one large marquee seems highly unlikely. What size the tents were however is unclear but centurions are listed as having separate tents. Even if there was some personal variation in how big the tents were rather than a set size I would tend to the view of smaller 8-10 man unit tents rather than larger 'marquees' being much more likely as the norm.

 

From a practical point of view; imagine the confusion of trying to get over a hundred men to sleep inside one long tent and then what would happen if there was an alert called in the middle of the night with only a limited space to exit.

 

We know from archaeological evidence, including an example I saw excavated at Vindolanda, that tents were made up of sewn together goat/ sheep skins. These would take some cutting through to get out of in an emergency if you were stuck in the middle of the tent whereas a smaller tent would allow men to get out quickly and start arming themselves from their equipment stacked outside.

[caldrail]

I've checked out Polybius' Histories Book 6. The camps are composed of individual tents it seems. One thing that did strike me was the detail he went into. A legion, even in militia days, was very regimented and there was a precise order to the camp. Not just where a tent was, but which direction it faced. The overriding principle will not suprise anyone - the Romans are seeking efficiency through order, and they design the layout to allow quick and easy assembly of men in emergency. More suprisingly, Polybius infers the layout reduces harm from enemy attack. Really? Hard to see how that works, but he knew more about that period than I do. Sadly Polybius does not peak inside the tents in any detail.