Fort du Camp-des-Romains, Military fort in Saint-Mihiel, France

Fort du Camp-des-Romains, also called Fort Victor, is a Séré de Rivières fort on the Hauts-de-Meuse at 380 metres, the highest in that line. Its entrance, set into an earthen embankment, has a light stone facade with a round-arched doorway closed by a dark metal gate, a projecting cornice above, and two flat pilasters. A long wall of rectangular stone blocks with two narrow openings and a rounded archway stands on a rough rocky base.

The fort belongs to the Séré de Rivières line built after the 1870 war, when France lost Alsace and Moselle. With Fort des Paroches it defended Saint-Mihiel and linked the fortresses of Verdun and Toul; at 380 m it is the highest of the Hauts-de-Meuse line and signalled optically to Fort du Rozelier. A decree of 21 January 1887 by War Minister Georges Boulanger gave it the name Victor, for Marshal Claude-Victor Perrin, carved on the entrance pediment; the decree was revoked on 13 October 1887 but the name stayed on the stone.

The name comes from the camp de César on the côte de Gondrecourt, a 19-hectare plateau 575 by 340 metres where a two-metre wall and ditch survived into the 19th century. Excavations there yielded Roman Republic denarii, Imperial coins, weapon fragments and pottery shards. The fort's Boulanger name, Victor, honoured Marshal Claude-Victor Perrin and is carved on the entrance pediment.

The fort is not open to visitors as it remains under French military control with public access restricted for safety reasons. You can view it from the surrounding area and appreciate its commanding position on the hilltop.

The fort's entrance bears the name "Victor", engraved after the 21 January 1887 decree by War Minister Georges Boulanger renaming forts after military figures, here Marshal Claude-Victor Perrin. Boulanger's successor Théophile Ferron revoked the decree on 13 October 1887, yet the inscription stayed on the pediment.