Romans were able to build great defensive structures. High walls and mighty towers were mainly of psychological importance, because the barbarians with whom the Romans fought often had no idea at all about the art of besieging fortresses, and the sight of such fortifications aroused fear and respect in them.
Over time, such fortified camps (castra) turned into cities – an interesting fact is that English cities with “chester”, “cester” or “ter” in their names are just such built nearby castra towns – Manchester, Chichester, Colchester, Exeter, etc. “Chester” or “cester” is the English form of the Latin word castrum. Many other European cities also come from the Romans, for example, the German Cologne, which in Roman times was known as Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium.
