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
Battle of Franklin (1864) constructed of dirt and rails, which was intended to be a barrier to traffic, not a full-fledged defensive earthwork. (The gap was also defended by the guns of Battery A, 1st Kentucky Artillery. The men of the 44th Missouri also extended the retrenchment line to the west along their front with hastily dug trenches.) The actual earthworks in the southern portion of the line were formidable. Attacking infantry would be confronted by a ditch about four feet wide and two to three feet deep, then a wall of earth and wooden fence rails four feet above normal ground level, and