What Were the Key Defences for a Roman Fort?

In this video, Louee Dessent explains the key components for the defence of a Roman fort on the frontier. The deep V-shaped ditch, turfed ramparts, wooden palisade, gatehouses and towers all made tricky obstacles for would-be attackers. Roman soldiers could also rain down projectiles using bolt-throwers, bows and javelins.

[@survivehistory]

If you enjoyed this Short, check out the full length episode and please consider supporting the channel at: ko-fi.com/survivehistory

[@deanreevesii]

You know what make this short so good? It's not AI generated, and you have a real human being narrating the explanation. Thanks for being real.

[@mikeyb856]

Make sure to remember that this must be a historical recreation set up by kind volunteers and reenactors. Very impressive, but imagine the scale of a fort in this stile cuntructed by a whole legion!

[@amh9494]

I believe it's Lunt fort I went with my school as a kid.

[@rooknado]

⁠@@amh9494I don’t believe it is, this instruction on

[@tmarritt]

Really? I thought it was a original

[@mikeyb856]

@@tmarritt 🤓☝️

[@LadZeroUltra]

A whole legion wouldnt have manned a fort like this. Legions were usually upwards of 4000 men and would be on the move constantly in times of war. Comparatively small detachments from a given legion may have manned forts at different times and served to keep locals in check and keep an eye out for enemies or criminals. Realistically however, away from the ever expanding front many forts would have been kept by local auxillaries as they were far easier to source and not valued on the front like citizen soldiery. If you want to talk forts for an entire legion to occupy youd be talking about what effectively amount to fortified camps for a legion awaiting deployment to attack a nearby city or similar target. These forts could be up to 100 acres (40 hectares) in size (which is pretty big, i own about that much land) and were essentially just masses of tents with a palisade around them. In places that the empire valued highly more permanent stone forts would be erected and have permanent garrisons attached.

[@hampusbroqvist]

O my, imagine randomly walking in the woods and just seeing a fully manned roman fort jeez 5000 likes.

[@xXCREEKSTARXx]

And then remembering they probably built that overnight 😂

[@thebossmonster12]

I can't imagine the amount of trees that you'd have to use to build a fort to contain a legion, you probably would have been out of the woods by the time you saw the fort

[@chadgrenadier6713]

​@@thebossmonster12im pretty sure they carried most of the building materials on them and then could construct and deconstruct the fort when needed

[@ommsterlitz1805]

No they didn't, trees where literally everywhere in Europe witch was a gigantic almost untouched forest at that point@@chadgrenadier6713

[@bryant7542]

*Raids it like a Barbarian*

[@wrednax8594]

Assuming this stance costs 50% of your movement range

[@blueben54]

Total war Rome 2 reference

[@trollmastermike52845]

Chad plays rome Gold Edition

[@wafflemr431]

And it doesn’t even look like this 🤬

[@diarmuidosullivan7391]

But in real life it didn't. That's part of what made them so incredible - they'd build one every night and still move further than others could.

[@GamerGateVeteran]

You are the VIP of this comment section

[@hanneswiggenhorn2023]

I think what many people overlook in how brilliant this design is is the warfare back then. Pretty much every line of defense of these forts has the idea of breaking formations in it. This is why the ditches and blockades exist. It's relatively easy to cross both without problems as an individual, but nearly impossible in any kind of tight formation

[@heroinflames]

And it slows the enemy down which gives the defender more time to throw pilums or shoot areows against the enemy. Also as an attacker you are forced to look down and watch your steps or even give up your defence position because you habe to climb the hill or move barricades. At the battle of Alesia the Ceasar had like 50.000 Legeionaries defending such Walls in both directions agains like 250.000 men and they won. Thats how effective the Roman army and their defence was

[@richardvye9958]

​@@heroinflamesCaesar is known to have exaggerated and embellished numbers to make his feats more impressive. I wouldn't trust those numbers as accurate but more ad propaganda for Caesar's triumph.

[@kristianjensen5877]

This type of fortification would also be quite tiring to approach. Running to the fort on foot, possibly under fire from arrows, then traversing the slippery ditch, trying to avoid getting impaled on the sudes due to people pressing on from behind, would take a toll on attackers before they then would have had to assault/traverse the palisades.

[@dillongage]

Its such a good design its more or less how all of our forts are still designed. Same basic principles. However, we dont assualt forts on foot anymore. Probably because we realized its a really bad idea.

[@Voron_Aggrav]

@@dillongage ehm, have you been paying attention to current events? we're definitely seeing a lot of advances on strong points being done by Foot because Vehicles would be getting stuck or otherwise never reach the front lines

[@jaguarholly7156]

The sudes caltrops were usually tied to a big log and the big log was usually burried. This made it nearly impossible to remove them quickly.

[@benpurcell4935]

Basically an ancient version of the Czech hedgehog.

[@keagan0000]

That’s really cool

[@zimzimph]

​@@benpurcell4935oh neat, didn't know they were designed in Czechoslovakia

[@michaelpettersson4919]

The romans figured out what those that ppace dragon teeth to stop tanks keep forgetting. Ukraine are now filled with non anchored dragon theeth. During WW2 they where anchored.

[@jaguarholly7156]

@@michaelpettersson4919 try english better.

[@davidgillies620]

And the astonishing thing was the rapidity with which these forts were constructed: hours typically.

[@InfinitePlain]

10 thousand man hours.

[@summonerscode6994]

Yeah! It was a common fear to see a marching Roman army in your land at night tand then you wake up and instead of an army, its an armored fort.

[@bluewizzard8843]

They sure look like it.

[@bluewizzard8843]

​@@InfinitePlainna a typical Legion was 6000 max under real war scenarios mostly half that.

[@InfinitePlain]

@@bluewizzard8843 3,000 men working 3 and a bit hours….

[@michaelmarcus6269]

If I remember correctly, the Legions built these at the end of the days march. Every legionary carried a part of the fortification. The camps were laid out in good order so troops could easily get through them. The Legions were an amazing fighting force.

[@ricksimon9867]

Not quite. It is true that the legionarii would dig the ditch and the ramp every afternoon, and use the sudes. But the rest, the palisades and watchtowers, they would take several days to built. This is a fortification that would be built to last a whole season, if not longer. _

[@robertaylor9218]

@@ricksimon9867I don’t think that’s accurate. Remember the legion was an independent fighting unit. Scouts, cavalry, skirmishers, their own logistics etc. I remember a video discussing a legion’s march as a great snake (miles long) coiling and uncoiling every day. The legion would send out from the night’s fort in waves based on duties. So the first to arrive would begin with the ditches, then palisade, then they would move on from there (I don’t remember clearly if the towers or palisades went up first). Also much of the materials were prefabricated and re-used.

[@ricksimon9867]

@@robertaylor9218 I don't understand what you are trying to say. You must be aware that the legionarii could not build a fortification with palisades and watchtowers every afternoon. _

[@Skitch213]

@@ricksimon9867 I mean, it's not outside the realms of possibility though. We are talking about a force of roughly 5,000 men per legion and anything up to 10,000 more bodies in the form of slaves and camp followers in the baggage train. That baggage train could easily have the capacity to carry with it planks and pre-built palisade struts. Legion rolls up, digs ditches and sets up preliminary defences, baggage train catches up and unloads, then the camp is thrown up pretty quickly thereafter. Not saying that's what happened, or that it happened every single night a legion made camp, but is it possible? I'd say for sure.

[@SantaClaus-kk8zr]

@@Skitch213 I imagine it was more of a ‘We are staying here for a few days, shack up.’ Rather than it being a fresh fort every day. Given how large the legions were, these camps likely were substantially larger than we see here, and thus much more of a logistics nightmare to rebuild over and over without constantly needing more materials after the ones you use wear down or are lost.

[@YourTypicalMental]

I like the clever idea of having the watch towers be detached from the wall. Attackers couldn't overwhelm one and harass the defenders from a vantage point without already breaching the wall.

[@markeastridge9649]

Improves control of fires and ability to hastily repair.

[@robertaylor9218]

More blind spots though. But considering the towers weren’t fortified this seems like the way to go.

[@badart3204]

@@robertaylor9218yeah but you can just throw big rocks to get them because you don’t need to see them in order to arc the rock

[@bruhmoment11111]

​@@robertaylor9218In medieval fortresses, the towers would extend out from the walls to prevent blindspots. But I get why they wouldn't do that with this structure.

[@robertaylor9218]

@@bruhmoment11111 that was part of it. When you build a long and high wall you need “posts” as structural anchors and reinforcement. Towers are a natural way to do this, and can be made as miniature fortresses for storage and defense.

[@Tiblious]

Solid short and I assume longer video. Educational. No tik tok tracks polluting the ear waves. Much success to future videosn

[@edi9892]

Don't forget that they cleared out the field in front for at least 100m and quite often added pits all over the place. They may or may not have spikes and can be very shallow, but that's enough to break ankles and impede movements of large formations...

[@MG-bs5mr]

Children's play parks have improved so much since my day

[@RealEllenDeGeneres]

Imagine if the romans made their forts based around old playgrounds. All their bones would be snapped and skin ripped off from hot metal slides by the time they breached the wall.

[@MG-bs5mr]

@@RealEllenDeGeneres 🤣🤣 The metal slides would also serve as an early warning at night with that horrible screeching sound they'd sometimes make as you went down it. 😁👍

[@katt5950]

If this is the one just outside Coventry (it looks like it) then they do actually bring children to it on school field trips.

[@MG-bs5mr]

@@katt5950 awesome 😀👍

[@robryan2079]

Even if you get past all that, you’d have pissed off legionaries waiting for you 💀

[@draconian_dragons6588]

With pilum at the ready

[@Cal-Corgan]

Or laughing ones.

[@robryan2079]

@@Cal-Corgan this is true

[@jayyrod1]

Ditches ditches ditches. The more ditches, the better.

[@D.Ambrose]

It’s time tested. Literally has defeated every military advancement since the phalanx to the Abrams tank. Big hole makes going hard.

[@veselinjokanovic3032]

Is this a reference to the ancient warfare historian who loves ditches and has a very difficult to spell name? 😂 If so, I'm glad 😂

[@thijsfb]

​@@veselinjokanovic3032 roel konijnendijk, aka the ditch king

[@veselinjokanovic3032]

@@thijsfb Absolutely love that guy.

[@noreply-7069]

​​@@thijsfb A Dutch ditch enthusiast?

[@johnradetzki1860]

Just remember: If you think you're that guy that could've stormed the gate and lived, you probably would've actually died on a stationary spike poking out of the ground.

[@Technoanima]

The ankle breakers were so effective that Gauls would build hand-carry bridges to cover them to make landings.

[@shipmate3577]

I charged over a ditch like that and it slows you down more than you can imagine. Worse if it’s muddy too, but even dry you lose all momentum even if you jump it

[@Harrowed2TheMind]

Sounds rather tiring, too, since it all adds up. I guess the defender would have an advantage in melee against the attacker after all their effort, especially considering they must have been running in full gear to avoid arrow/pillum/sling fire up to that point.

[@jaysleezy5464]

I'm an Ironworker and some of the worst work is carrying rebar into and through trenches. Often its inches deep with water and mud, plus your tools on your belt, all uneven terrain, with gravel on the banks, carrying 100+ lbs. of steel lol.

[@leeshackelford7517]

A simple ditch.......or a fence not destroyed first (Pickett's Charge)....or a very shallow narrow stream (Nagashino)........is enough hindrance for the defender to do a whole lot of damage

[@THECHEESELORD69]

@@Harrowed2TheMindyes you get stuck in the ditch, the enemy can just throw or shoot stuff at you.

[@Drikkerbadevand]

I always wondered if they deliberately grew thorny bushes on those ditches.. would be a hell to get through as it snagged on your clothes

[@hanneswiggenhorn2023]

I'm honestly not too sure because I don't think many of those would stay for long? Because I assume for long term fortification you would use stone? What I could imagine is they cut out some nearby thorns and threw them in, and some may lay seeds there

[@touch_of_cobalt]

Using the jagged upper parts of felled trees as a defensive obstacle is known as an abatis and may have been used as far back as the Roman period.

[@laupernut]

The NZ Maori used broken sea shells around their forts placed in front of and in the ditches.

[@NigelTolley]

I agree that thorns and brambles were likely grown on permanent forts. Nature's barbed wire. Also, a fresh (fir) tree dragged end first into a road is easy to pass in one direction, and near impossible in the other. That's got a name, though I forget it right now. Abatis?

[@JeffHenry-cq3is]

Won’t have time to grow them

[@thebossmonster12]

Ahhh yes my Daily Roman Empire video

[@user-vs9cz9pm1n]

While this doesn't seem like a proper fortress, it's still better than open field

[@peterclarke7006]

These were usually temporary fortresses thrown up after a march, and would be improved on every day they stayed in one place. Absolutely wild to think they did something like this every time the moved to a new location. I've always wondered how much of the walls they took with them as a sort of early flat pack, and how much they had to build from scratch.

[@chamberlane2899]

@@peterclarke7006they likely took very little of the fort with them. Europe at this time was yet to see the deforestation brought by the age of sail and exploration, so the forests would have been very densely packed with many tall, thick, and straight trees. (Imagine your stereotypical medieval fantasy forest, but all the trees are stupid tall.) With several hundred to several thousand men in one location, I’m sure it would be much easier and faster to cut new walls on site rather than attempt to tow many large pieces of lumber for a days march.

[@kaptein1247]

Id like to imagine wooden fortresses like this were very common. Especially before the middle ages

[@davidhouseman4328]

​@peterclarke7006 like just the Sudes. They allow you to quickly have some defence while your building. Other than that it's easier to take from the land.

[@davidhouseman4328]

​@kaptein1247 you have to man them so you more likely to fortify your town or forts soon become towns. Like the Burhs in response to vikings.

[@pineapple7767]

based ass channel you should get the whole history channel just for this bro

[@MRptwrench]

Too bad the writers for HBO's GoT didn't know this before they wrote the abysmal Battle of Wintefell.

[@EB05312]

Imagine stumbling upon a Roman fort though

[@NigelTolley]

There was a proper one about half a mile from my old house, Iron Age, possibly older.

[@danielkrcmar5395]

This one is being built not far outside Wrexham, Wales UK. You can go visit and watch them build it in what we believe to be the original techniques.

[@EB05312]

@@NigelTolley but I mean one in the condition it would’ve been in when the Romans were still around and being manned with Roman soldiers

[@AlveolarNasal]

Gotta learn this for future apocalyptic events.

[@robertaylor9218]

That explains why soldiers (at least after the Marian reforms) carried turf cutters.

[@SantaClaus-kk8zr]

Honestly Rome itself is absolutely ludicrously fascinating both in terms of their technological advancements, but also practical engineering. I mean how many civilizations had the luxury of communal toilets? Regardless of the grossness? Aqueducts, roads, naval advancements, even time and weather reading. All were either created or improved heavily on by the Romans. Not to mention all of these warfare related things like rapidly built forts such as this one.

[@THECHEESELORD69]

They also invented steam power! Well kind of, if you know the story then you know what I’m talking about.

[@user-em1ux8qe1o]

Very insightful!

[@Comanchee0689]

"What should we call the slope that we made going up to the wall?" "You mean the Ramp Part?" Probably...

[@Kingdomkey123678]

The rampart is the fighting platform and wall combo at the top of the slope Your pun was a good chuckle though

[@Mrtweet81]

Wooden palisades made of stone, what a neat idea

[@NanoDeer]

First video I've seen from you. If this is what your channel is like, I'm here for it!

[@blackinferno57]

I do love the idea that a little fence, a hill, and essentially 2 cubby houses, if you put aggro men with weapons inside, its dangerous as hell and a strategic point for sure

[@Chris-jo1zr]

I believe this is Park in the Past, just up near Chester in the North West

[@user-cl3lz5gs2x]

This is very captivating!

[@GK-mr9ko]

My primitive chimp male brain when I’m 1 sec into a video and see a fort: 👁️👄👁️

[@SportyMabamba]

N E U R O N A C T I V A T I O N

[@juliusmatijosius2219]

We've all been there, brother

[@KrakenPines]

Knowing how hard it is to run with a backpack and gear and hit ice all while never excersizing is one hell of a combination! I could see how fear could set in slipping on that hill with a sword. Not like nowadays with guns basically you get so close just to fail 😮

[@Briguy1027]

Cool fort!

[@AP-zr3bz]

This is super cool

[@shannondavis3686]

You got to remember, those little sticks and ditches were being traversed at night by onrushing groups. Who wouldn’t of been able to see the Sudes, and the actual caltrops littered throughout the ditch. With the added chaos of javelins and arrows raining down on your group. A simple stick trap can cause 3 men to be caught up long enough to be removed as a threat. One man gets stuck, two have to pull him off to make way for the oncoming horde.

[@cathsaigh2197]

Mud wouldn't really be less slippery than grass. I'd think the grass is more to prevent erosion. Without the grass a couple of rainy days would have the rampart back in the ditch.

[@con_zur]

Crazy how much similarities there are with modern fortifications

[@History_Buff]

I believe that caltrops were the ancient version of caltrops. That would be the ancient version of a Cheval de Frise or Czech Hedgehog. More the Hedgehog since it's individual instead of a connected section.

[@tylerday3037]

Or the general name of abatis for this same type of barrier

[@randomuser942464]

It's crazy how often and quickly they built these

[@spontaneousbootay]

One could make it past the caltrops only to slide back into it

[@quinncampbell9255]

Personally I've always had trouble understand an army that had to March and bring food with no power, then after marching hundred miles with all the gear, make a camp/fort. The amount of wood needed and used with hand tools is amazing.

[@FoliumSakura]

ah yes, the classic chainmail tunic and summer shorts combo. Truly a fearsome warrior to battle both the foes and the elements

[@Armored_Ariete]

no shorts thats his tunic

[@taggerung890]

Im glad they included the ditch #iykyk

[@Vikingr4Jesus5919]

"Dig your section, soldati. No ditches, no bitches." - Commander Biggus Dickus

[@EC23331]

I remember going to one during primary school

[@howelingmadwolf9415]

Nice play house

[@klamansisupreme]

woah, they really build this

[@Original50]

Salvé, from Upper Germanic-Rhaetian Limes, near the Kastell Alteburg in Hessia.

[@anthonyburke5656]

You have the “dudes” tied wrong, you have them like a D-Day anti landing barge trap, as the Legions used them, they were very loosely tied tripods, to impede and tangle, not impale. The object being to slow down the attackers to give time and better targets to defenders.

[@antokarman2064]

Man, even then the romans had already balling with those ankle breakers

[@ericley6479]

Ahh thank you, now I can more accurate think about Rome on an hourly basis

[@SpartanJoe193]

Roel Konijnendijk is gonna love this.

[@survivehistory]

🤣🤣🤣

[@randomargument972]

While on the march, they had to make one of these every night before nightfall.

[@badassmcgilicutty6415]

That would be really easy to beat.

[@jonnyfatboy7563]

that one kid down the street with all the cool stuff at his...

[@christophedlauer1443]

I've never heard the term caltrop used for barricades like these - in my mind, I'm imagining a 12ft tall viking stepping on one of them if I hear "caltrop" The true genius of these forts was that they could be set up QUICKLY because they were so uniform and most, if not all the material was carried by the soldiers. If they had the time, they could pack it up and redeploy somewhere else without sourcing material at the new site again.

[@aarondavis8943]

Kind of missing the main point on purpose as they usually do when discussing Roman temporary forts: they're useless unless they're full of Roman soldiers, unlike permanent stone forts. You can tell just by looking at it that enemies could quite easily breach this if it weren't for the pilums and rocks raining down.

[@NigelTolley]

I think they would grow brambles around the slopes and trenches. Just an impenetrable defence on a permanent fort. Plus food.

[@stephenappleton117]

Important to watch at 11:52 pm

[@Ciech_mate]

Uncanny how similar fitness standards are for some armed forces throughout the world.

[@MarkWarburton-bo9ve]

Just live as you want

[@angrydalek]

and in ACO its pretty much a “hmm, how malicious do I feel right now” moment.

[@TheGroundedAviator]

Along with anything else human creativity could come up with.

[@theprancingprussian]

The caltrop lookin things would probably be interchangable for other anti cavalry traps

[@muhammedballi6189]

i have to ask if the "obstacles" of sticks might help the attacker by giving him a "hand" in the pitch

[@anastasisparastatidis5479]

*And to think that a bunch of french villagers could ram through this just to have some fun*

[@robertturley2974]

Why do i feel like this isnt some official history project and is actually just a bunch of bros living out the dream of being a part of the roman empire

[@handir6771]

Imagine trying to get through all that with 100s of dudes at your back trying to get there too while the enemy is just throwing everything they have at you. You'd probably struggle just to stand by the time you got there from all the work to get there, next thing you know you get your shit rocked by a Roman Legionary who hasn't moved an inch the whole time and was just waiting for you to tire yourself out.

[@davinlee761]

So, is it possible for the enemy to encircle, maintain distance and just rain down fire arrow on the fortification to burn down the fort and its garrison? Without risking a costly assault.

[@MorseStone]

Relatable.

[@benjaminmclaren8782]

Now remember! When fighting undead ice zombies, you will want to position your armies in FRONT of your prepared defences. This will give you the advantage of extra deaths for more drama!

[@THECHEESELORD69]

Oh and forget about the buildings inside the uncool stone walls, they don’t matter as they could never be attacked with siege weapons. (Realistically if a fire starts in the town then you HAVE to put it out quick.)

[@UsaKen_PMC]

Me defending a village before assassinate the pillagers' captain to activate the Bad Omen effect :

[@H1Guard]

I guess the viewer must imagine a real palisade where they used little branches.

[@NoOneHere2020]

Imaging going through your childhood making friends and gaining relationships only to trip and fall on one of the wooden spikes and that’s it, your entire life in whole ended by tripping onto sharpened timber, fuckin brutal man

[@chrisholladay]

Caltrops were also more effective as deterrent for horses rather than needing to hurt the horse, they have less control over self preservation than the soldier and would often prefer to stop or buck the rider than run into a spike

[@superspies32]

I also read from another documentary that trained the horse to charge like on Lords of the Rings are nearly impossible. Usually calvary only charged to completely destroyed disrupted enemy formation due to battle or fear of them. Most of calvary charge will ended up in disaster if infantry still keep the formation like the Ney's disastrous charges at battle of Waterloo

[@user-cx6pw6mf9h]

Park in the past - Hope, Wales?

[@fabio.1]

For a second I thought this guy was a cartoon character, I must sleep a little I guess

[@tonk4265]

This is how it felt to build a fort for you army men in the backyard

[@Darth_Traitorous]

Were the Roman sentries at night alert or did they just want their shift and so they could go to bed. That Fort is made out of wood unless it's raining fire arrows would work. It happened, I mean they had burning logs to deal with.

[@legion162]

Is this place just outside Wrexham, looks identical to the place I went a few weeks ago for the Auxilia event

[@Dan-Ky-Kang]

Shoutout to the frontliners who had to go through this crap

[@Omfghellokitty]

How well do you think those stick walls would keep out a zombie wave

[@herekongato]

I just realized now how good ac valhalla nailed these forts, they look the same

[@tom3167]

Hell yeah

[@hunterjames8653]

Best is this would appear overnight you would see some tokens going to camp and then the next day their putting finishing touches and theirs already a lookout

[@puppethound]

Archers have entered to conversation

[@theduke7539]

forgot to mention how quickly they could build this fort. A legion tasked with building a fortified camp could cut the timber and build a camp fortified on all sides like this in less than 2 days. Each man was a skilled carver and each legionarie doubled as a lumberjack. They could fell trees, gather wood and stone, dig the trench, all very quickly. Their ability to establish fortifications very quickly had as much to do with their success as their ability to fight

[@ricksimon9867]

Well they had practise. They did the ditches, ramparts, and sudes every day when they were marching long distances through enemy territory. _

[@jacobevans489]

Heres another fun fact to remember. Legionaries would build this. Ever. Single. Fucking. Day. On march. They built forts like this as a matter of setting up camp. Thats the thing a lot of folk forget. They built way more then they fought. Which is a bitch when youre looking for an ideal time to attack. They were almost always alert or defended.

[@JACKplusBLANK]

These guys are definitely thinking about the Roman Empire

[@RockeltBeltMonkey]

So basically Takeshis Castle but less deadly. Got it.

[@themomaw]

I almost wonder if the spikes should go down in the ditch. On flat ground, they aren't big enough or dense enough to be much of an obstacle since you can just step through or yank them out. But at the bottom of the ditch where you are trying not to fall on the spikes?

[@Captain-Jinn]

Supposedly the spikes were tied to logs beneath that were buried; making them much more difficult to remove than one would first suspect. That, along with a large group of men charging in the same direction without full visibility, would make shishkebabs on more than one occasion, I imagine.

[@randomcow505]

@@Captain-Jinn Its more so when a ton of people are coming they have to break formation to get around it

[@jacobward3952]

Is that filmed in hope, north wales?

[@JerrytheCan]

The ancient caltrops are interesting but that is actually wrong, those were actually used to stop tanks from being able to run over the fort and take control of Stalingrad

[@Zokeyr]

At what point do you just charge the front gate?

[@__tengu__]

Love Age of Emperis

[@mudpie6927]

Every Roman cohort would carry a stick so that they didn't have to stop and forage when they were constructing something.

[@InvaliDidea123]

The rope pullsthe block,the block falls releases the chicken, the chicken pulls the pin....