Centenarium

It is called even in the plural centenaria, because in the Limes Tripolitanus there were more than 2000 of these "fortifications", connected to create a defensive system against desert tribe raids.

[1] The first centenaria were built during the reign of Trajan and during Septimius Severus expansions of Roman Libya and Africa Proconsularis, when the Limes Tripolitanus was established.

[2] From around the time of disbandment of the Legio III Augusta in 238 AD, legionaries built around two thousand centenaria in the areas around Leptis Magna and Sabratha.

The centenaria system of production, based on autochthonous Berbers who were partially Latinized and often even Christians, was successful and worked very well until Byzantine times.

[4] There is much conjecture about the origin of the word centenarium and whether it is etymologically tied to the locally built fortified farmhouses called Gasr (plural Gsur).