Greek Camps and Camp Followers

This chapter shows to what extent it is possible to describe the Greek art of castrametation. Camp security rested on two fundamental pillars, the first being to make the best possible use of territorial features and the second to set guards and lookouts, while at the same time seeking to reduce as far as possible the labors of citizen‐soldiers on campaign. A first defensive line of guards was located on the perimeter of the camp itself, its main duty being to protect entry points and prevent unauthorized access to the camp zone, especially at night, when bonfires pinpointed army limits. It was these soldiers who prevented Alexander of Macedon, for instance, from entering the Greek camp at Plataea. Greek military camps, in short, did not reply on a permanent, static defense, such as walls, entrenchments, and ditches, but rather on a temporary, active defense consisting mainly of guards and sentries.