Possumblog

Not in the clamor of the crowded street, not in the shouts and plaudits of the throng, but in ourselves, are triumph and defeat.--Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

REDIRECT ALERT! (Scroll down past this mess if you're trying to read an archived post. Thanks. No, really, thanks.)

Due to my inability to control my temper and complacently accept continued silliness with not-quite-as-reliable-as-it-ought-to-be Blogger/Blogspot, your beloved Possumblog will now waddle across the Information Dirt Road and park its prehensile tail at http://possumblog.mu.nu.

This site will remain in place as a backup in case Munuvia gets hit by a bus or something, but I don't think they have as much trouble with this as some places do. ::cough::blogspot::cough:: So click here and adjust your links. I apologize for the inconvenience, but it's one of those things.


Tuesday, February 22, 2005

Obscure Architectural Term of the Day!

CASTRUM (Latin). Roman military camp, built on a common rectangular layout throughout the Empire. A castrum was surrounded by a rampart and a wall with towers, and crossed by two main streets, the cardo and the decumanus, running between four gates -- the porta praetoria, porta dextra, porta sinistra, and porta decumana. The headquarters (praetorium) lay at their intersection, and the barracks, armoury and other essential military buildings in the four quarters made by the streets. Camps were strategically places along the limes to secure the border.

From the Penguin Dictionary of Architecture, Third Edition.

Here's a nice website with all sorts of diagrams and photos documenting the history of Ostia, including the construction of its castrum.


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