Understanding Roman Camps and Classical Greek Architecture

7. A Roman Camp
The Roman camps, or castra, much resulted in medieval cities of Europe, as in the case of León (Legion). Usually aimed to protect the soldiers during the night in the place where they were fighting, but many became temporary and occupied for months, while others became permanent and gave way to cities. Every soldier had to carry useful items included in their stores (sarcinae) everything needed to build a camp:
• Fossa: trench 1 m deep for defensive purposes.
• Vallum: fences made of logs close together to prevent entry.
• Within the fenced area, two main routes were mapped out: a north-south route (via principalis) and another from east to west (via decumanus). At the junction of these two roads stood the tent of the consul or the military tribune, and around the tents of the most important officials was a large open space called the forum to concentrate the troops.
• The rest of the space was reserved for shops to accommodate soldiers, with each shop serving 8 men. Inside the camp, access was only allowed through four main gates (dextra, sinistra, decumanus, and proetoria).
• The two main roads were wide enough for the troops to leave the camp in perfect order and without crowds.

1. Classical Greek Architecture
The Greeks coined the term architectural orders as fixed models for both the load-bearing position (column or wall) and sustained components (roof, deck, etc.) that form a building. According to these elements, we can distinguish three architectural orders:
• Doric: it is the oldest. The column is placed directly into the ground without bases. The body of the column is divided into sections called drums, and top to bottom, all goes with slits called edges. The capital has a square molding called abacus, on which is a convex piece, and located on the capital, the life is smooth.
• Ionic: the column rests on a base to form a unique piece without drums. It also has capitals ending in spiral curls.
• Corinthian: resembles the Doric capital, but the spiral volutes are replaced by a plant motif that mimics a basket with acanthus leaves.
• All Greek temples had a gabled roof and went under a triangular space called the fronton.