Cold war satellite images reveal hundreds of unknown Roman forts

Aerial photographs taken in the 1960s and 70s have dramatic implications for our understanding, experts said. Photograph: Antiquity

Declassified cold-war spy satellite images have thrown new light on the workings of the Roman empire by revealing hundreds of previously undiscovered forts, with dramatic implications for our understanding, experts have said.

Archaeologists examining aerial photographs taken in the 1960s and 70s said they reveal 396 sites of unknown Roman forts in Syria and Iraq across the Syrian steppe.