12-21-2012, 06:32 PM
Now that my fortresses book is on the verge of publication (the dates on both Pen & Sword's and Amazon's websites are wrong) I have been putting the finishing touches to the accompanying website (includes plans of every known fortress superimposed on Google vertical aerial photos, links to relevant websites, and details of visible remains where applicable) I have been dreading the discovery of some new fortress or interesting detail that throws everything up in the air. I didn't expect to produce one such little surprise myself.
The fortress at Albing in Austria has always shown up its defences quite clearly from the air and they have even been excavated (it was one of von Groller's pet obsessions). However, the latest Google coverage has some rather tasty details of the headquarters building with an extremely clear image of an accompanying groma structure, very similar to the well-known example from Tazoult-Lambèse–Lambaesis. It is possible to make out the central passageway and minor passageways to either side on all three external faces (Lambaesis differs in having double pedestrian passageways on the side next to the principia). The number of fortresses with groma structures keeps increasing at a steady rate, to the point where I am beginning to think they were de rigeur (in the High Empire, at least).
Mike Bishop
The fortress at Albing in Austria has always shown up its defences quite clearly from the air and they have even been excavated (it was one of von Groller's pet obsessions). However, the latest Google coverage has some rather tasty details of the headquarters building with an extremely clear image of an accompanying groma structure, very similar to the well-known example from Tazoult-Lambèse–Lambaesis. It is possible to make out the central passageway and minor passageways to either side on all three external faces (Lambaesis differs in having double pedestrian passageways on the side next to the principia). The number of fortresses with groma structures keeps increasing at a steady rate, to the point where I am beginning to think they were de rigeur (in the High Empire, at least).
Mike Bishop
