Image Details

TATIANA MELTSEN / JEZREEL VALLEY REGIONAL PROJECT

CAMP LEGIO. This artistic reconstruction shows the major components of the legionary base at Megiddo. As was typical for Roman military camps, Legio was fortified with a stone wall and a ditch. Inside, the camp was arranged along two major thoroughfares, each connecting two gates at opposing sides of the camp: the Via Pretoria running lengthwise and the primary Via Principalis running in front of the headquarters compound (principia), where the two roads intersected. The wing of the headquarters that faced the Via Principalis was a transverse basilica, a great hall with a colonnaded facade. Whereas the centrally located principia consisted of offices and courtyards for military gatherings, other buildings served as storage areas, armories, and latrines. The remaining portions of the camp were taken up by rows of barracks, which may have quartered as many as 5,000 soldiers.