THE STORMING OF A CITY 219
nōluisse, cōnstituit eīs[1] bellum īnferre. Agrīs vāstātīs, vīcīs incēnsīs, pervēnit ad oppidum validissimum quod et nātūrā et arte mūnitum erat. Cingēbātur mūrō vīgintī quīnque pedēs[2] altō. Ā lateribus duōbus marī mūniēbātur; ā tertiō latere collis, in quō oppidum erat situm, praeruptō fastīgiō ad plānitiem vergēbat; ā quārtō tantum[3] latere aditus erat facilis.
VINEA
Hoc oppidum oppugnāre, cum[4] opus esset difficillimum, tamen cōnstituit Caesar. Et castrīs mūnītīs Pūbliō negōtium dedit ut rēs ad oppugnandum[5] necessāriās parāret.
Rōmanōrum autem oppugnātiō est haec.[6] Prīmum turrēs aedificantur quibus mīlitēs in summum murum ēvādere possint;[7] vīneae[8] fīunt quibus tēctī mīlitēs ad murum succēdant ; pluteī[9] parantur post quōs mīlitēs tormenta[10] administrent; sunt quoque arietēs quī mūrum et portās discutiant. Hīs omnibus rēbus comparātīs, deinde agger[11] ab eā parte ubi aditus est facillimus exstruitur et cum
- ↑ eīs, § 501. 15.
- ↑ pedēs, § 501. 21.
- ↑ tantum, adv. only.
- ↑ cum … esset, a clause of concession, § 501. 46.
- ↑ ad oppugnandum, a gerund expressing purpose.
- ↑ haec, as follows.
- ↑ possint, subjv. of purpose. Three similar constructions follow.
- ↑ vīneae. These vineae were wooden sheds, open in front and rear, used to protect men who were working to take a fortification. They were about eight feet high, of like width, and double that length, covered with raw hides to protect them from being set on fire, and moved on wheels or rollers.
- ↑ pluteī, large screens or shields with small wheels attached to them. These were used to protect besiegers while moving up to a city or while serving the engines of war.
- ↑ tormenta. The engines of war were chiefly the cata- pult for shooting great arrows, and the ballista, for hurling large stones. They had a range of about two thousand feet and were very effective.
- ↑ ** The agger, or mound, was of chief importance in a siege. It was begun just out of reach of the missiles of the enemy, and then gradually extended towards the point to be attacked. At the same time its height gradually increased until on a level with the top of the wall, or even higher. It was made of earth and timber, and had covered galleries running through it for the use of the besiegers. Over or beside the agger a tower was moved up to the wall, often with a battering-ram (aries) in the lowest story. (See picture, p. 221.)
