Very New light on roman tents construction

[D B Campbell]

And the small tent on the left .. is so closeby.
And no ropes can be clearly visible.

I'm sure you (and Sir Ian!) are right about the timber frame on the big tents, and I certainly don't want to rain on your parade, but I'm not sure how much weight you can put on the fact that the little tent is close beside the big tent. (This is perilously close to asking "how big is that man's shield?" Answer: a lot bigger than the sculpture shows!)

Hyginus (de munitionibus castrorum 1) refers to the tensura of the legionary tent, for which a gap of 2 feet is left (iirc). I have always imagined that this was the space for the guy ropes. (Tensura, from the verb tendo, means something like "pulling tight".) But I suppose Hyginus might simply mean that some working space must be left for those erecting the tents.