The Water Supply Strategies of Roman Military Installations

Abstract: This thesis is an investigation of the water supply strategies of Roman forts (i.e. castella) and fortresses (castra). It deals with fortifications along the Roman frontier in Great Britain in the west, and Syria and Jordan in the east. The plan of the thesis is roughly this: I first provide an overview of Roman military installations. I then summarize and present current scholarly opinion on relevant topics. Subsequently, I subject the historical and archaeological material to analysis, and offer up my findings. In the last part I assess the claims made by earlier scholars against the background of the evidence presented, discuss the implications, and offer my interpretations. The conclusion is that the inter-regional differences are significant, but so are the intra-regional ones