Roman army of the mid-Republic x 700m = ca. 50 hectares). Along the perimeter, a ditch ("fossa") would be excavated, and the spoil used to build an earthen rampart ("agger") on the inside of the ditch. On top of the rampart was erected a palisade ("vallum") of cross-hatched wooden stakes with sharpened points. Within this precinct, a standard, elaborate plan was used to allocate space, in a pre-set pattern, for the tents of each of the various components of the army: officers, legionary infantry (split into "hastati", "principes" and "triarii") and legionary cavalry, Italian allied infantry and cavalry, "extraordinarii" and non-Italian allies. The idea was
Rova of Antananarivo the southern part. It was not until the dawn of the 19th century that a perimeter wall of sharpened wooden stakes would constitute another defining feature of rova construction. The Rova of Antananarivo is located above sea level on Analamanga, originally the highest of the numerous hills in Antananarivo. Around 1610 or 1625, Andrianjaka, King of Imerina and grandson of King Andriamanelo, ordered a garrison of 1,000 soldiers to seize the strategic site from its original Vazimba inhabitants. He reportedly succeeded with minimal bloodshed. According to oral history, the mere encampment of his army at the foot of Analamanga was