The Roman Armies in the Near East

Abstract

Roman military buildings provided protection elsewhere in the circumstances of the Arabs' “small war” against the Ottomans, who also kept watch in Roman ruins. A large part of army life consisted of planning, supervising, and carrying out construction work, including military buildings, and measures to improve infrastructure – for example, the construction of roads for the relocation of troops, and the administration and permeation of conquered territories. Military buildings were frequently linked to them – watchtowers, road stations, fortified water stations – due to the military's security duties. The network of relationships between the military and civilians in military provinces and garrisons can be described as a “military society” or “garrison society”. Soldiers who had received their honorable discharge, the honesta missio after completion of their term of service or prematurely due to serious injuries were allowed to count as veterans.