The large-scale provision of defenses around small towns in Roman Britain during the 2nd c. CE is without parallel in the Roman Empire. Although the relationship between defended small towns and the Roman road network has been noted previously, provincial-level patterns remain to be explored. Using network analysis and spatial inference methods, this paper shows that defended small towns in the 2nd c. are on average better integrated within the road network – and located on road segments important for controlling the flow of information – than small towns at random. This research suggests that the fortification of small towns in the 2nd c. was structured by the connectivity of the Roman road network and associated with the functioning of the cursus publicus.

公元 2 世纪，在罗马不列颠的小城镇周围大规模提供防御工事。CE 在罗马帝国中是没有可比性的。虽然之前已经注意到防御小城镇与罗马道路网络之间的关系，但省级模式仍有待探索。使用网络分析和空间推理方法，本文表明，在 2 世纪保卫小城镇。平均而言，与随机的小城镇相比，它们更好地融入了道路网络——并且位于对控制信息流很重要的路段上。这项研究表明，2世纪小城镇的设防。由罗马道路网络的连通性构成，并与cursus publicus的运作相关联。