Ad Pirum


Ad Pirum was a Roman fortress active during the time of the late Roman Empire. It is located on the Hrušica Plateau in southwestern Slovenia, in the hamlet of Hrušica in Podkraj. It was built in the 320s.

Structure and function

Excavations show the fortress to be of oval shape, in length, in width, and with a wall at a height of 6–8 m and a thickness of about 2.7 m; the wall towers were 10 m high. This structure represented a major fort of the Claustra Alpium Iuliarum, a network of forts and walls to securing Roman Italy from eastern invasions, including the road between Roman Italy and Pannonia. It was typically manned with 500 soldiers.