Titulus (fortification)

A titulus is a detached segment of rampart,[1][2] found at the gateways of Roman camps from the middle of the second century BCE. The earliest known example is at Renieblas near Numantia.[3] Examples from the Flavian and Antonine periods are common in Britain. They are interpreted as making it difficult for enemies to rush directly at the gates, but three unusually large examples (at the entrance to the southern Roman camp at the base of Burnswark Hill) may also have been the sites from which ballistas launched the stone missiles that have been found in the fort on Burnswark Hill itself.[4]

The neuter form titulum has also been used. [5]

References

1. Henderson, A., & Keppie, L. (1987). Titulus or Titulum? Britannia, 18, 281-284. doi:10.2307/526456 https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/britannia/article/titulus-or-titulum/13A9CBB2B58D94A2249150F1838466C9#
2. Frere, S.S., and St Joseph, J.K.S. 1983: Roman Britain from the Air, Cambridge
3. Henderson, A., & Keppie, L. (1987). Titulus or Titulum? Britannia, 18, 281-284. doi:10.2307/526456 https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/britannia/article/titulus-or-titulum/13A9CBB2B58D94A2249150F1838466C9#, referring to Schulten, A., Numantia: die Ergebnisse der Ausgrabungen 1905–1919 (München, 1914–1931) Band IV. pl. 1: Keppie, L., The Making of the Roman Army (London, 1984), fig. 12.
4. John H. Reid and Andrew Nicholson (2019). "Burnswark Hill: the opening shot of the Antonine reconquest of Scotland?" (PDF). Journal of Roman Archaeology. p. 476-477.
5. "titulum". Oxford Reference.