Romans as Engineers

Donald,

Most of the army was *not* engineers (don't say that - you'll get John
Atkinson all excited!). But they were directed by engineers. Every
day, they'd start their marches early (this is past a certain time
period) and their head units would have already scouted a location and
they'd lay out a camp, just like the one the night before, to house a
legion (thousands of guys). It'd have an earthen rampart and logs
emplaced to make assault difficult. It had a very "standard" shape and
size. EVERY NIGHT in hostile country they did this. What a feat. And I
can understand why the soldiers didn't like it. God, I've dug a
trench, moved a mile, dug it again, as pointless PT. Never for a
serious reason... but it was hard work.

They actually beat the crap out of some forces because they attacked
at night and the enemies hadn't thought to build any defences or have
any night combat drills. The Romans were something amazing in their
time.

Thomas Barclay