Like every Roman fort, Housesteads followed a standard plan - a rectangle with rounded corners, like a playing card. There were two main roadways, running east-west and north-south, leading to the central headquarters building. Standardisation made fort construction simpler, and allowed Roman soldiers to feel at home wherever they were. Even in the dark, they knew their way around the fort - a big help in the event of a night attack.

The Tungrian soldiers lived in long barrack buildings, each accommodating 80 men - a unit known as a century (because, at an earlier period, it comprised 100 men). Although they were forbidden to marry, many had unofficial families in the vicus, or civilian settlement, which grew up to the south of the fort. The vicus, which was around twice the size of the fort, also had shops and bars, and was a place to relax when off-duty. 

Most of the soldiers' time was not spent in the fort itself. The men were constantly on the move, patrolling the territory on each side of the wall. This was a way of gathering intelligence, and keeping the soldiers fit and alert. They also patrolled the wall itself, and watched the landscape from the local turrets and milecastles. Take a tour of Housesteads here

Food and drink

The men were well fed, eating a wide variety of meats provided by local farmers and by hunting - a favourite pastime for Roman soldiers. They also had imported wine, olive oil, pepper and garum - fermented fish sauce used as a spicy condiment. A staple was bread, and there was a large granary building at the centre of the fort. Roman granaries can be recognised by rows of stone columns, used to support a raised floor. Air circulating beneath the floor kept the grain dry, preventing mould growing. See the granary here

Hospital

To the left of the headquarters is a large building with several rooms arranged around a courtyard. This has been identified as a Valetudinarium, or hospital. Wounded and sick soldiers were cared for by skilled military doctors, who carried out a wide variety of surgical operations, using scalpels, bone-hooks and drills. A medical report, found at the neighbouring fort of Vindolanda, lists 31 Tungrian soldiers unfit for service: 15 sick, six wounded and ten with eye diseases. See the hospital here

Keeping clean

Every Roman fort had a bath-house, which was always outside the fort, to reduce the risk of fire. The one at Housesteads, which is not well-preserved, was 200m to the east of the fort at Knag Burn, a stream providing the water for a cold plunge bath. There was also a hot room, like a sauna, providing dry heat. Furnaces heated air which passed through spaces beneath the hot room's floor and within its walls. The men rubbed their bodies with olive oil, and then scraped themselves clean using a curved metal tool called a strigil.

Latrine

Housesteads is famous for its communal latrine, the most complete Roman loo in Britain. This was to the south-east of the fort on low ground, so that water could flow downhill to it, constantly flushing away the waste. The men sat on wooden seats in rows around a narrow channel where water flowed. After using the toilet, they washed themselves using sponges on sticks which they rinsed in the running water.