MARK LETTENEY AND MATTHEW D. C. LARSEN Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Southern California Associate Professor, University of Copenhagen A Roman Military Prison at Lambaesis ABSTRACT This article identifies a military prison (carcer castrensis) in the Roman legionary fortress at Lambaesis (Tazoult, Algeria) and contextualizes the space among North African carceral practices evidenced in epigraphic, papyrological, and literary sources of the first through fourth centuries CE. The identification is made on the basis of architectural comparanda and previously unnoticed inscriptional evidence which demonstrate that the space under the Sanctuary of the Standards in the principia was both built as a prison and used that way in antiquity. The broader discussion highlights the ubiquity of carceral spaces and practices in the ancient and late ancient Mediterranean, and elucidates some of the underlying practices and ideologies of ancient incarceration. KEYWORDS carceral studies, Roman army, North Africa, archaeology, epigraphy I. INTRODUCTION 1 Around 120 CE, Hadrian established Lambaesis (modern day Tazoult, Al- geria) as the permanent castra of the Third Legion “Augusta.” 2 The emperor personally visited in 128 CE, and except for a short interlude between the years of 238 and 253 , the base continued for over two centuries as the center 1 . We would like to thank Elizabeth Fentress and Matthew J. Adams for their expert advice at various stages of this project, and the anonymous reviewers for SLA, who performed a selfless duty with a rare blend of generosity and critical acumen; we hope to have done justice to their questions and concerns. Thank you, as well, is due to Gina Tibbott for her work on the illustrations for this project, and to Mhamed Gueraini for his advice and joyful companionship during our research trip in Algeria. The order of authorship was revealed in a dream. Research for this article was generously supported by an Innovation Grant from the David A. Gardner ‘69 Magic Project, and a Mellon Digitization Grant through the University of Southern California. All translations are our own. 2 . For a broad history of the site, from initial settlement through the castra construction to the history of its excavation, see Michel Janon, Lambèse: capitale militaire de l’Afrique romaine (Ol- lioules: Nerthe, 2005 ). 65 Studies in Late Antiquity, Vol. 5 , Number 1 , pp. 65 –102 . electronic ISSN 2470 -2048  2021 by the Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved. Please direct all requests for permission to photocopy or reproduce article content through the University of California Press's Reprints and Permis- sions web page, http://sla.ucpress.edu/content/permissions. DOI: https://doi.org/10 .1525 /sla.2021 .5 .1 .65 Downloaded from http://online.ucpress.edu/SLA/article-pdf/5/1/65/459453/sla.2021.5.1.65.pdf by guest on 23 April 2021