Vegetius: EPITOMA REI MILITARIS LIBRI IIII

On ladders, the sambuca, the exostra, and the tollenon.
22. On ballistae, onagers, scorpions, arcuballistae, staff-slings, slings, by which engines the wall is defended.

XXIII. Aduersum arietes prosunt culcitae laquei lupi columnae grauiores.
XXIIII.

23. Against rams, mattresses, snares, wolves, heavier columns are useful.
24.

De cuniculis, per quos aut murus defoditur aut ciuitas penetratur.
XXV. Quid facere debeant oppidani, si hostes inruperint ciuitatem.

On tunnels, through which either a wall is undermined or the city is penetrated.
25. What the townspeople ought to do, if enemies have broken into the city.

XXVI. Quae sit adhibenda cautela, ne hostes furtim occupent murum.
XXVII.

26. What caution is to be applied, lest the enemies furtively occupy the wall.
27.

Quando oppidanis inferantur insidiae.
XXVIII. Quid faciant obsidentes, ne ab oppidanis patiantur insidias.

When ambushes are brought upon the townspeople.
28. What the besiegers should do, lest they suffer ambushes from the townspeople.

XXVIIII. Quo genere tormentorum ciuitas defendatur.
XXX.

29. By what kind of artillery the city should be defended.
30.

Quemadmodum mensura colligatur ad scalas uel machinas faciendas.
XXXI. Praecepta belli naualis.

How the measurement may be gathered for making ladders or machines.
31. Precepts of naval war.

XXXII. Nomina iudicum, qui praeerant classi.
XXXIII.

32. Names of the judges, who presided over the fleet.
33.

Vnde appellentur liburnae.
XXXIIII. Qua diligentia fabricentur liburnae.

Whence the liburnae are called.
34. With what diligence the liburnae are to be fabricated.

XXXV. Qua obseruatione sit caedenda materies.
XXXVI.

35. With what observance the timber should be felled.
36.

Quo mense caedendae sint trabes.
XXXVII. De modo liburnarum.

In what month the beams are to be cut.
37. On the dimensions of the liburnae.

XXXVIII. Nomina uentorum et numerus.
XXXVIIII.

38. Names of the winds and their number.
39.

Quibus mensibus tutius nauigetur.
XL. Quemadmodum tempestatum obseruanda sint signa.
XLI.

In which months it is safer to navigate.
40. How the signs of tempests are to be observed.
41.

De prognosticis.
XLII. De aestuariis, hoc est de rheumate.

On prognostics.
42. On estuaries, that is, on the rheum (current).

XLIII. De locorum notitia siue remigibus.
XLIIII.

43. On the knowledge of places, or of the rowers.
44.

De telis tormentisque naualibus.
XLV. Quemadmodum nauali bello collocentur insidiae.

On naval missiles and engines.
45. How ambushes are laid in naval warfare.

XLVI. Quid fiat, cum aperto Marte bellum nauale committitur.)

46. What should be done, when a naval war is engaged in open warfare.)

Agrestem incultamque hominum in initio saeculi uitam a communione mutorum animalium uel ferarum urbium consitutio prima discreuit. In his nomen reipublicae repperit communis utilitas. Ideo potentissimae nationes ac principes consecrati nullam maiorem gloriam putauerunt quam aut fundare nouas ciuitates aut ab aliis conditas in nomen suum sub quadam amplificatione transferre.

The first constitution of cities separated the rustic and uncultivated life of men at the beginning of the age from the communion of mute animals or of wild beasts. In these the common utility found the name of the republic. Therefore the most powerful nations and consecrated princes judged no greater glory than either to found new cities, or under a certain amplification into their own name to transfer those founded by others.

In quo opere clementia serenitatis tuae obtinet palmam. Ab illis enim uel paucae uel singulae, a pietate tua innumerabiles urbes ita iugi labore perfectae sunt, ut non tam humana manu conditae quam diuino nutu uideantur natae. Cunctos imperatores felicitate moderatione castimonia, exemplis indulgentiae, studiorum amore praecedis.

In this work the clemency of your serenity obtains the palm. For by them, either a few cities or single ones; by your piety, innumerable cities have been completed by unremitting labor, such that they seem not so much founded by a human hand as born by a divine nod. You surpass all emperors in felicity, moderation, chastity, in examples of indulgence, in love of studies.

Regni animique tui bona cernimus et tenemus quae anticipare et superior optauit aetas et extendi in perpetuum uentura desiderat. Quibus rebus tantum uniuerso orbi praestitum gratulamur, quantum uel humana mens petere uel gratia potuit diuina conferre. Sed dispositionibus uestrae clementiae quantum profecerit murorum elaborata constructio, Roma documentum est, quae salutem ciuium Capitolinae arcis defensione seruauit, ut gloriosius postea totius orbis possideret imperium.

We perceive and possess the goods of your reign and spirit, which the earlier age wished to anticipate and the coming age desires to be extended into perpetuity. For these things we congratulate that so much has been furnished to the whole world as either the human mind could seek or divine grace could confer. But how much the painstaking construction of the walls has advanced by the dispositions of Your Clemency, Rome is the proof: she preserved the safety of the citizens by the defense of the Capitoline citadel, so that thereafter she might more gloriously possess the empire of the whole world.

Ad complementum igitur operis maiestatis uestrae praeceptione suscepti rationes, quibus uel nostrae ciuitates defendendae sint uel hsotium subruendae, ex diuersis auctoribus in ordinem digeram, nec laboris pigebit, cum omnibus profutura condantur.

For the completion, therefore, of the work undertaken at your Majesty’s precept, the methods, by which either our cities may be defended or those of the enemy undermined, from diverse authors I shall digest into order, nor will the labor weary me, since things profitable to all are being compiled.

I. Urbes atque castella aut natura muniuntur aut manu aut utroque, quod firmius ducitur; natura aut locorum edito uel abrupto aut circumfuso mari siue paludibus uel fluminibus; manu fossis ac muro. In illo naturali beneficio tutissimo eligentis consilium, in plano quaeritur fundantis industria. Videmus antiquissimas ciuitates ita in campis patentibus constitutas, ut deficiente auxilio locorum arte tamen et opere redderentur inuictae.

1. Cities and castles are fortified either by nature or by hand or by both, which is held the stronger; by nature, either by the elevation or steepness of the places, or by being surrounded by the sea or by marshes or by rivers; by hand, by ditches and a wall. In that natural advantage the chooser’s counsel is safest; on level ground the founder’s industry is required. We see the most ancient cities thus established on open plains, that, the aid of the places failing, nevertheless by art and by work they were rendered unconquered.

II. Ambitum muri directum ueteres ducere noluerunt, ne ad ictus arietum esset expositus, sed sinuosis anfractibus, iactis fundamentis, clausere urbes, crebrioresque turres in ipsis angulis reddiderunt propterea, quia, si quis ad murum tali ordinatione constructum uel scalas uel machinas uoluerit admouere, non solum a fronte sed etiam a lateribus et prope a tergo uelut in sinu circumclusus obprimitur.

2. The circuit of the wall the ancients did not wish to run straight, lest it be exposed to the blows of battering-rams, but with sinuous windings, the foundations having been laid, they enclosed cities, and they made the towers more numerous at the very angles for this reason, because, if anyone should wish to bring up either ladders or machines to a wall constructed in such an arrangement, he is pressed not only from the front but also from the flanks and nearly from the rear, as if, enclosed in a fold, he were surrounded.

III. Murus autem ut numquam possit elidi, hac ratione perficitur. Interuallo uicenum pedum interposito duo intrinsecus parietes fabricantur.

3. However, the wall, so that it may never be battered down, is completed by this method. With an interval
of twenty feet interposed, two walls are constructed on the inside.

Deinde terra, quae de fossis fuerit egesta, inter illos mittitur uectibusque densatur, (ita ut a muro primus paries pro rata inferior, secundus longe minor ducatur, ut de plano ciuitatis ad similtudinem graduum quasi cliuo molli usque ad propugnacula possit ascendi,) quia nec murus ullis potest arietibus rumpi, quem terra confirmat, et quouis casu destructis lapidibus ea, quae inter parietes densata fuerat, ad muri uicem ingruentibus moles obsistit.

Then the earth,
which has been removed from the ditches, is placed between them and compacted with bars, (so
that from the wall the first wall is carried proportionally lower, the second much lower, so that from
the level plane of the city, in the likeness of steps, as by a gentle slope, one can ascend all the way to the ramparts,) because neither can a wall be broken by any battering rams when the earth strengthens it, and, whatever the accident, if the stones are destroyed, the mass which had been compacted between the walls, in the stead of the wall, withstands those rushing on.

IIII. Cauetur praeterea, ne portae subiectis ignibus exurantur. Propter quod sunt coriis ac ferro tegendae; sed amplius prodest, quod inuenit antiquitas, ut ante portam addatur propugnaculum, in cuius ingressu ponitur cataracta, quae anulis ferreis ac funibus pendet, ut, si hostes intrauerint, demissa eadem extinguantur inclusi.

4. Besides, care is taken that the gates not be burned by fires set beneath them. For which reason they must be covered with hides and iron; but more useful is what antiquity discovered: that a barbican be added before the gate, at whose entrance a portcullis is set, which hangs by iron rings and ropes, so that, if enemies have entered, it being let down, they are destroyed while shut in.

Ita tamen supra portam murus est ordinandus, ut accipiat foramina, per quae de superiore parte effusa aqua subiectum restinguat incendium.

Thus, however, above the gate the wall must be arranged so that it may receive apertures, through which water, poured from the upper part, may extinguish the fire set below.

V. Fossae autem ante urbes latissimae altissimaeque faciendae sunt, ut nec facile possint coaequari replerique ab obsidentibus et, cum aquis coeperint redundare, ab aduersario cuniculum continuari minime patiantur. Nam duplici modo opus subterraneum peragi, earum altitudine et inundatione, prohibetur.

5. Moreover, ditches before the cities are to be made very broad and very deep, so that they can neither easily be leveled and filled by the besiegers and, when they begin to overflow with water, they in no way allow a tunnel to be continued by the adversary. For the subterranean work is prevented from being carried through in a twofold manner, by their depth and by inundation.

VI. Formidatur, ne multitudo sagittariorum de propugnaculis exterritis defensoribus adpositisque scalis occupet murum. Aduersum quod catafractas uel scuta in ciuitatibus debent habere quam plurimi. Deinde per propugnacula duplicia saga ciliciaque tenduntur impetumque excipiunt sagittarum.

6. It is feared lest a multitude of archers from the battlements, with the defenders terrified and ladders set in place, seize the wall.
Against this, as many as possible within the cities ought to have catafracts or shields.
Then across the double battlements cloaks (saga) and haircloths (cilicia) are stretched, and they receive the assault of the arrows.

Neque enim facile transeunt spicula quod cedit ac fluctuat. Inuentum quoque remedium est, ut de ligno crates facerent, quas metallas uocauerunt, lapidibusque complerent, ea arte inter bina propugnacula constitutas, ut, si per scalas ascendisset hostis et partem aliquam ipsius contigisset, supra caput suum uergeret saxa.

Nor indeed do missiles easily pass through that which yields and fluctuates. A remedy too was invented: to make lattices out of wood, which they called metalla, and to fill them with stones,
set by that art between twin battlements, so that, if the enemy had ascended by ladders and touched any part of it, it would incline stones down over his head.

VII. Multa defensionum obpugnationumque sunt genera, quae locis conpetentibus inseremus. Nunc sciendum est obsidendi duas esse species, unam, cum aduersarius oportunis locis praesidiis ordinatis ***** uel aqua prohibet inclusos uel deditionem sperat a fame, quando omnes prohibuerit commeatus.

7. There are many kinds of defenses and of assaults, which we will insert in suitable places. Now it must be known that there are two forms of besieging: one, when the adversary, with garrisons arranged in opportune places, ***** either deprives the enclosed of water or hopes for a surrender from hunger, when he has cut off all supplies.

Hoc enim consilio ipse otiosus ac tutus fatigat inimicum. Ad quos casus possessores, quamuis leui suspitione pulsati, omnem alimoniam uictus intra muros debent studiosissime collocare, ut ipsis exuberet substantia, aduersarios inopia cogat abscedere. Non solum autem porcinum sed et omne animalium genus, quod inclusum seruari non potest, deputari oportet ad laridum, ut adminiculo carnis frumenta sufficiant.

For by this plan
he himself, at ease and secure, wears out the enemy. For such contingencies the possessors, though prompted by even slight suspicion,
ought with the utmost diligence to place all aliment of victual within the walls,
so that provisions may abound for themselves, and scarcity may compel the adversaries to withdraw. Not only swine-flesh but every kind of animal which, when enclosed, cannot be kept,
ought to be turned into lard/bacon, so that by the aid of flesh the grain may suffice.

Aues autem cohortales et sine inpensa in ciuitatibus nutriuntur et propter aegrotantes sunt necessariae. Pabula equis praecipue congerenda et quae adportari nequiuerint exurenda, uini aceti ceterarumque frugum uel pomorum congerendae sunt copiae nihilque, quod usui proficiat, hostibus relinquendum. Nam, ut hortorum cura in uirdiariis domorum uel areis exerceatur, utilitatis ac uoluptatis ratio persuadet.

Aviary/barnyard birds, moreover, are maintained without expense in the cities and on account of
the sick are necessary. Fodder for the horses is especially to be heaped up, and what
cannot be brought in must be burned; quantities of wine, vinegar, and of the other grains or fruits
are to be amassed, and nothing that might profit for use is to be left to the enemies. For, that the care of gardens be exercised in the green-places of homes or in the courtyards, the consideration of utility and
of pleasure persuades.

Parum autem proficit plurimum collegisse, nisi ab exordio dimensione salubri per idoneos erogatio temperetur: numquam periclitati sunt fame qui frugalitatem inter copias seruare coeperunt. Inbellis quoque aetas ac sexus propter necessitatem uictus portis frequenter exclusa est, ne penuria obprimeret armatos, a quibus moenia seruabantur.

Little, moreover, does it profit to have collected very much, unless from the outset the disbursement be tempered by a salubrious apportionment through suitable persons: never have they been endangered by hunger who began to preserve frugality amid abundance.
The unwarlike age and sex also, on account of the necessity of sustenance, have frequently been shut out from the gates, lest penury should oppress the armed men, by whom the walls were guarded.

VIII. Bitumen sulphur picem liquidam oleum, quod incendiarium uocant, ad exurendas hostium machinas conuenit praeparari; ad arma facienda ferrum utriusque temperaturae et carbones seruantur in conditis; ligna quoque hastilibus sagittisque necessaria reponuntur. Saxa rotunda de fluuiis, quia pro soliditate grauiora sunt et aptiora mittentibus, diligentissime colliguntur; ex quibus muri replentur et turres; minima ad fundas siue fustibalos uel manibus iacienda; maiora per onagros diriguntur, maxima uero pondere formaque uolubili in propugnaculis digeruntur, ut demissa per praeceps non solum hostes obruant subeuntes sed etiam machinamenta confringant.

8. Bitumen, sulfur, liquid pitch, oil, which they call incendiary, ought to be prepared for
burning the enemies’ machines; for making arms, iron of both tempers
and charcoal are kept in storerooms; wood also
necessary for spear-shafts and arrows is laid up. Rounded stones from rivers, because by their
solidity they are heavier and more apt for those who cast them, are gathered most diligently; from
which the walls and towers are filled; the smallest are to be cast by slings or staff-slings or by hand;
the larger are directed by onagers, but the largest, by their weight and rolling form,
are arrayed on the battlements, so that, sent down headlong, they may not only overwhelm the foes
coming up but also shatter the engines.

Rotae quoque de lignis uiridibus ingentissimae fabricantur, uel intercisi ex ualidissimis arboribus cylindri, quas taleas uocant, ut sint uolubiles, laeuigantur, quae per pronum labentia subito impetu bellatores solent (equos quoque) deterrere. Trabes quoque et tabulata uel diuersae magnitudinis clauos ferreos esse oportet in promptu. Nam obpugnantium machinis per alias machinas consueuit obsisti, praecipue cum subitis operibus addenda sit muris uel propugnaculis altitudo, ne aduersariorum mobiles turres superemineant et capiant ciuitatem.

Wheels also of green wood of very great size are fashioned, or cylinders cut across from the stoutest trees, which they call taleae, so that they may be rollable; they are smoothed, and, gliding down a slope with sudden impetus, they are accustomed to deter fighting men (horses too). Beams also and floorings or platforms, and iron nails of diverse size, ought to be at hand. For the machines of assailants are wont to be opposed by other machines, especially when by sudden works height must be added to the walls or to the battlements, lest the adversaries’ mobile towers overtop and seize the city.

VIIII. Neruorum quoque copiam summo studio expedit colligi, quia onagri uel ballistae ceteraque tormenta nisi funibus neruinis intenta nihil prosunt. Equorum tamen saetae de caudis ac iubis ad ballistas utiles adseruntur.

9. A supply of sinews too it is expedient to be collected with the highest zeal, because onagers or ballistae and the other engines, unless strung with sinew-ropes (nervine), are of no use. However, the horsehairs from the tails and manes of horses are asserted to be useful for ballistae.

Indubitatum uero est crines feminarum in eiusmodi tormentis non minorem habere uirtutem Romanae necessitatis experimento. Nam in obsidione Capitolii corruptis iugi ac longa fatigatione tormentis, cum neruorum copia defecisset, matronae abscisos crines uiris suis obtulere pugnantibus, reparatisque machinis aduersariorum impetum reppulerunt. Maluerunt enim pudicissimae feminae deformato ad tempus capite libere uiuere cum maritis quam hostibus integro decore seruire.

It is, indeed, undoubted that the hair of women, in engines of this kind, has no lesser virtue—by the experiment of Roman necessity. For in the siege of the Capitol, when the engines had been worn out by continual and long fatigue, and the supply of sinews had failed, the matrons offered their cut-off hair to their husbands fighting; and, after the machines were repaired, they repelled the assault of their adversaries. For the most modest women preferred, with their heads disfigured for a time, to live freely with their husbands rather than to serve enemies with their comeliness intact.

Cornua quoque uel cruda coria proficit colligi ad catafractas texendas aliaque machinamenta siue munimina.

Horns as well, or raw hides, it is profitable to collect for weaving cataphracts
and other machines or muniments.

X. Magna urbis utilitas est, cum perennes fontes murus includit. Quod si natura non praestat, cuiuslibet altitudinis effodiendi sunt putei aquarumque haustus funibus extrahendi. Sed interdum sicciora sunt loca quae montibus sunt saxisque munita; in quibus superposita castella extra murum inferiores reperiunt fontium uenas ac de propugnaculis uel turribus destinatis protegunt telis, ut aquatoribus liber praestetur accessus.

10. A great utility for a city is when the wall encloses perennial springs. But if nature does not furnish this, wells of whatever depth must be dug and draughts of water drawn up by ropes. Yet sometimes the places that are fortified by mountains and rocks are drier; in these, the forts set above find, outside the wall, lower veins of springs and, from the ramparts or designated towers, they protect with missiles, so that free access is afforded to the water-carriers.

Quod si ultra ictum teli, in cliuo tamen ciuitatis subiecta sit uena, castellum paruulum, quem burgum uocant, inter ciuitatem et fontem conuenit fabricari ibique ballistas sagittariosque constitui, ut aqua defendatur ab hostibus. Praeterea in omnibus publicis aedificiis multisque priuatis cisternae sunt diligentissime substruendae, ut receptacula aquis pluuialibus, quae de tectis effluunt, praestent. Difficile sitis uicit, qui quamuis exigua aqua ad potum tamen tantum in obsidione sunt usi.

But if, beyond the range of a missile, the vein nevertheless lies on the slope beneath the city, it is fitting that a very small fort, which they call a burg, be fabricated between the city and the spring, and there that ballistae and archers be stationed, so that the water may be defended from enemies. Moreover, in all public buildings and many private ones, cisterns are to be most diligently built underneath, so that they may provide receptacles for the pluvial waters which flow off from the roofs. The hardship of thirst is overcome by those who, although with scant water for drinking, nevertheless in a siege make use of only so much.

XI. Maritima sit ciuitas et sales defuerint, liquor ex mari sumptus per alueos aliaque patula uasa diffunditur, qui calore solis duratur in salem. Quod si hostis ab unda prohibeat, nam hoc accidit, harenas, quas excitatum uento mare superfuderat, aliquando colligunt et dulci aqua eluunt, quae sole siccata nihilominus mutatur in sales.

11. If the city be maritime and salt is lacking, the liquid taken from the sea is poured out through troughs
and other open vessels, which by the heat of the sun is hardened into salt. But if
the enemy keeps them from the wave—for this happens—they sometimes gather the sands which the sea,
roused by the wind, had poured over, and wash them with fresh water, which, dried by the sun,
is nonetheless changed into salt.

XII. Violenta autem inpugnatio quando castellis uel ciuitatibus praeparatur, mutuo utrimque periculo sed maiore obpugnantium sanguine exercentur luctuosa certamina. Illi enim, qui muros inuadere cupiunt, terrifico apparatu expositis copiis in spem deditionis formidinem geminant tubarum strepitu hominumque permixto; tunc, (quia timor magis frangit insuetos,) primo impetu stupentibus oppidanis, si discriminum experimenta non norunt, admotis scalis inuaditur ciuitas.

12. Violent assault, however, when it is prepared against forts or cities,
mournful combats are waged with peril mutual on both sides, but with greater
bloodshed of the assailants. For those who desire to invade the walls, with
their forces displayed in terrifying apparatus, double the fear into a hope
of surrender by the blare of trumpets mingled with the clamor of men; then,
(because fear breaks the unaccustomed more,) at the first onset, with the
townsmen stupefied, if they do not know the trials of dangers, with ladders
brought up the city is invaded.

Quod si a fidentibus siue militaribus uiris repellatur prima congressio, statim clausis crescit audacia, et iam non terrore, sed uiribus et arte confligitur.

But if the first encounter is repelled by confident or military men,
at once audacity grows for those shut inside, and now it is fought not by terror, but by forces and art.

XIII. Admouentur enim testudines arietes falces uineae plutei musculi turres; de quibus singulis, qualiter fabricentur, quo etiam pacto proelientur uel repellantur, edisseram.

13. For tortoises, rams, scythes, vineae, mantlets, musculi, towers are brought up; about each of them, how they are fabricated, and by what method they are engaged in battle or repelled, I will expound.

XIIII. De materia ac tabulatis testudo contexitur, quae, ne exuratur incendio, coriis uel ciliciis centonibusque uestitur. Haec intrinsecus accipit trabem, quae aut adunco praefigitur ferro et falx uocatur ab eo, quod incurua est, ut de muro extrahat lapides, aut certe caput ipsius uestitur ferro et appellatur aries, uel quod habet durissimam frontem, qua subruit muros, uel quod more arietum retrocedit, ut cum impetu uehementius feriat.

14. A tortoise is constructed of timber and planking, which, lest it be burned by fire, is clothed with hides or cilices and patchwork quilts. This receives inside a beam, which is either fastened on with a hooked iron and is called a sickle from the fact that it is curved, so that it may pull stones from the wall; or else its head is sheathed with iron and is called a ram, either because it has a very hard forehead, with which it undermines walls, or because, after the manner of rams, it draws back, so that with an onrush it may strike more vehemently.

Testudo autem a similitudine uerae testudinis uocabulum sumpsit, quia, sicut illa modo reducit modo proserit caput, ita machinamentum interdum reducit trabem intedum exerit, ut fortius caedat.

The testudo, moreover, took its name from the likeness to the true tortoise, because, just as that one now draws back, now puts forth its head, so the engine sometimes draws back the beam, sometimes thrusts it out, so that it may strike more forcefully.

XV. Vineas dixerunt ueteres quas nunc militari barbaricoque usu causias uocant. E lignis leuioribus machina colligatur, lata pedibus octo, alta pedibus septem, longa pedibus septem, longa pedibus sedecim. Huius tectum munitione duplici tabulatis cratibusque contexitur.

15. The ancients called them "vineae," which now by military and barbaric usage they call "causiae." From lighter timbers let the machine be put together, eight feet wide, seven feet high, seven feet long, sixteen feet long. Its roof, with a double reinforcement, is interwoven with planks and wickerwork.

Latera quoque uimine saepiuntur, ne saxorum telorumque impetu penetrentur. Extrinsecus autem, ne inmisso concremetur incendio, crudis ac recentibus coriis uel centonibus operitur. Istae, cum plures factae fuerint, iunguntur in ordinem, sub quibus obsidentes tuti ad subruenda murorum penetrant fundamenta.

The sides also are fenced with wattle, lest they be penetrated by the impetus of stones and missiles. On the outside, moreover, lest it be consumed by fire sent in, it is covered with raw and fresh hides or with patchwork quilts (centones). These, when several have been made, are joined in a row, under which the besiegers, in safety, penetrate to undermine the foundations of the walls.

Plutei dicuntur qui ad similitudinem absidis contexuntur e uimine et ciliciis uel coriis proteguntur ternisque rotulis, quarum una in medio, duae in capitibus apponuntur, in quaecumque parte uolueris admouentur more carpenti; quos obsidentes applicant muris, eorumque munitione protecti sagittis siue fundis uel missibilibus defensores omnes de propugnaculis ciuitatis exturbant, ut scalis ascendendi facilior praestetur occasio. Agger autem ex terra lignisque extollitur contra murum, de quo tela iactantur.

They call plutei those which, in the likeness of an apse, are woven from wattle-work and are protected with cilicia or with hides, and are furnished with three little wheels, one of which is placed in the middle, two at the ends; they are brought up, to whatever side you wish, after the manner of a cart; the besiegers apply these to the walls, and, protected by their fortification, with arrows or with slings or with missiles they drive all the defenders from the battlements of the city, so that an easier opportunity for ascending with ladders is afforded. Moreover, an agger is raised of earth and timbers against the wall, from which missiles are hurled.

XVI. Musculos dicunt minores machinas, quibus protecti bellatores sudatum auferunt ciuitatis; fossatum etiam adportatis lapidibus lignis ac terra non solum conplent sed etiam solidant, ut turres ambulatoriae sine inpedimento iungantur ad murum. Vocantur autem a marinis beluis musculi; nam quemadmodum illi, cum minores sint, tamen ballenis auxilium adminiculumque iugiter exhibent, ita istae machinae breuiores (uel) deputatae turribus magnis aduentui illarum parant uiam itineraque praemuniunt.

16. They call “muscles” the smaller machines, under cover of which the warriors remove the city’s sweat-wrought work; they also, by bringing in stones, timbers, and earth, not only fill the ditch but even solidify it, so that ambulatory towers may be joined to the wall without impediment. They are called “muscles” from marine beasts; for just as those, although smaller, nevertheless continually offer aid and a prop to whales, so these shorter machines, assigned to the great towers, prepare the way for their arrival and pre-secure the routes.

XVII. Turres autem dicuntur machinamenta ad aedificiorum speciem ex trabibus tabulatisque conpacta et, ne tantum opus hostili concremetur incendio, diligentissime ex crudis coriis uel centonibus communita, quibus pro modo altitudinis additur latitudo. Nam interdum tricenos pedes per quadrum interdum quadragenos uel quinquagenos latae sunt.

17. Towers, moreover, are called engines fashioned in the likeness of edifices, compacted out of beams and planks; and, lest so great a work be consumed by a hostile conflagration, they are most diligently fortified with raw hides or with patchwork quilts, to which width is added in proportion to the measure of the height. For sometimes they are thirty feet square, sometimes forty or fifty feet in breadth.

Proceritas autem ipsarum tanta fit, ut non solum muros sed etiam turres lapideas altitudine superent. His plures rotae mechanica arte subduntur, quarum lapsu uolubili magnitudo tam ampla moueatur. Praesens autem periculum ciuitatis est, si ad murum fuerit turris admota.

However, the tallness of them becomes so great that
not only the walls but even the stone towers they surpass in height. Under these, several wheels
are set by mechanical art, by whose rolling glide a magnitude so vast is moved. Moreover, there is a present peril for the city, if the tower is brought up to the wall.

Plures enim accipit scalas et diuerso genere conatur inrumpere. Nam in inferioribus habet arietem, cuius impetu destruit muros, circa mediam uero partem accipit pontem, factum de duabus trabibus saeptumque de uimine, quem subito prolatum inter turrem murumque constituunt et per eum egredientes de machina bellatores in ciuitatem transeunt et occupant muros. In superioribus autem turris illius partibus contati et sagittarii collocantur, qui defensores urbis ex alto contis missibilibus saxisque prosternant.

For it is furnished with many ladders and attempts to break in by diverse methods. For in the lower parts it has a battering ram, by whose impact it destroys walls; but around the middle part it receives a bridge, made of two beams and fenced with wattle-work, which, suddenly extended, they set between the tower and the wall, and over it, the warriors going out from the machine pass into the city and seize the walls. In the upper parts of that tower, moreover, spearmen and archers are stationed, to cast down the defenders of the city from on high with throwing-spears and stones.

Quo facto ciuitas capitur sine mora. Quid enim auxilii superest, cum hi, qui de murorum altitudine hostium murum?

With this done, the city is taken without delay. For what help remains, when those who from the height of the walls are over-topped by the enemies’ wall?

XVIII. Huic tam manifesto discrimini multis occurritur modis. Primum, si confidentia uel uirtus est militaris, eruptione facta globus egreditur aramatorum et ui hostibus pulsis machinamentum illud ingens dereptis coriis de lignis exurit.

18. To so manifest a peril many ways are employed to meet it. First, if
there is confidence or military valor, a mass of armed men goes out when a sortie is made,
and, the enemies driven back by force, they burn that huge engine, the hides torn from the
timbers.

Quod si oppidani exire non audeant, ad maiores ballistas malleolos uel falaricas cum incendio destinant, ut perruptis coriis uel centonibus intrinsecus flamma condatur. Malleoli uelut sagittae sunt, et, ubi adhaeserint, quia ardentes ueniunt, uniuersa conflagrant. Falarica autem ad modum hastae ualido praefigitur ferro; inter tubum etiam et hastile sulphure resina bitumine stuppisque conuoluitur infusa oleo, quod incendiarium uocant; quae ballistae impetu destinata perrupto munimine ardens figitur ligno turritamque machinam frequenter incendit.

But if the townspeople do not dare to go out, they aim with the larger ballistae malleoli or falaricae with fire, so that, when the hides or patchwork coverlets are broken through, the flame may be lodged within. Malleoli are like arrows, and, when they have stuck, because they come burning, they set everything ablaze. A falarica, moreover, is fashioned after the manner of a spear, with a strong iron fixed to the front; and between the socket and the shaft it is wrapped with sulphur, resin, bitumen, and tow soaked in oil, which they call “incendiary”; launched by the impetus of the ballista, once the defense is broken through it is fixed burning into the wood and frequently sets the turreted machine on fire.

Depositi quoque homines funibus, cum hostes dormiunt, in lanternis portant lucernas et incensis machinis rursum leuantur in murum.

Men also, let down by ropes, when the enemies sleep, in lanterns carry lamps and, the machines set ablaze, in turn are lifted back up onto the wall.

XVIIII. Praeterea partem muri, ad quam machina conatur accedere, caemento atque lapidibus uel luto siue lateribus, postremo tabulatis extruendo faciunt altiorem, ne defensores moenium desuper urbi uentura possit obprimere. Constat autem inefficax machinamentum reddi, si inueniatur inferius.

19. Moreover, the part of the wall to which the engine tries to approach, with cement and stones or with mud or with bricks, and finally by building up with boarding, they make it higher, so that the engine, coming upon the city, may not be able to crush from above the defenders of the walls. It is agreed moreover that the machinery is rendered ineffective, if it is found lower.

Verum obsidentes eiusmodi dolum adhibere consueuerunt. Primo talem extruunt turrem, quae propugnaculis ciuitatis uideatur inferior; deinde secreto aliam de tabulatis intrinsecus turriculam faciunt et, cum muris fuerit machina sociata, subito funibus trochleisque de medio turricula illa producitur, de qua egredientes armati, quia altior inuenitur, statim capiunt ciuitatem.

But the besiegers are accustomed to employ a stratagem of this sort. First they build such a tower as seems lower than the battlements of the city; then secretly they make on the inside another little tower of planking, and, when the machine has been joined to the walls, suddenly by ropes and pulleys that little turret is brought out from the middle, from which the armed men, because it is found to be higher, immediately seize the city.

XX. Interdum longissimas ferratasque trabes obponunt machinae uenienti eamque a muri uicinitate propellunt. Sed cum Rhodiorum ciuitas obpugnaretur ab hostibus et turris ambulatoria supra murorum altitudinem ac turrium omnium pararetur, mechanici ingenio inuentum est tale remedium. Per noctem sub fundamenta muri cuniculum fodit et illum locum, ad quem die postero turris fuerat promouenda, nullo hostium sentiente egesta terra cauauit intrinsecus, et, cum rotis suis moles fuisset inpulsa atque ad locum, qui subtercauatus fuerat, peruenisset, tanto ponderi solo cedente subsedit nec iungi muris aut moueri ulterius potuit.

20. Sometimes they set very long and iron-clad beams in the way of the approaching machine and drive it back from the vicinity of the wall. But when the city of the Rhodians was being besieged by enemies, and a walking tower was being prepared higher than the height of the walls and of all the towers, by the ingenuity of a mechanician such a remedy was found. During the night he dug a tunnel under the foundations of the wall, and the place to which on the following day the tower was to be moved he hollowed out within, with the earth carried away, none of the enemies perceiving; and when the mass had been driven on its wheels and had reached the place that had been under-hollowed, with the ground yielding to so great a weight it subsided and could neither be joined to the walls nor be moved further.

Ita ciuitas liberata est et machina derelicta.

Thus the city was liberated and the siege engine abandoned.

XXI. Admotis turribus funditores lapidibus, sagittarii iaculis, manuballistarii uel arcuballistarii sagittis, iaculatores plumbatis ac missibilibus de muris submouent homines. Hoc facto scalis adpositis occupant ciuitatem.

21. With the towers brought up, slingers with stones, archers with missiles, hand-ballista men or arcuballista men with arrows, and throwers with lead-weighted plumbatae and other missiles drive men away from the walls.
With this done, with ladders set in place, they seize the city.

Sed qui scalis nituntur frequenter periculum sustinent, exemplo Capanei, a quo primum scalarum obpugnatio perhibetur inuenta, qui tanta ui occisus est a Thebanis, ut extinctus fulmine diceretur. Et ideo sambuca exostra et tollennone obsidentes in murum hostium penetrant. Sambuca dicitur ad similitudinem citharae; nam quemadmodum in cithara chordae sunt, ita in trabe, quae iuxta turrem ponitur, funes sunt, qui pontem de superiore parte trochleis laxant, ut descendat ad murum, statimque de turri exeunt bellatores et per eum transeuntes moenia urbis inuadunt.

But those who lean on ladders often sustain peril, after the example of Capaneus, by whom the assault by ladders is reported to have been first invented, who was slain by the Thebans with such force that he was said to have been struck down by a thunderbolt. And therefore the besiegers penetrate the enemy’s wall with a sambuca, an exostra, and a tolleno. It is called a sambuca by likeness to a cithara; for just as on a cithara there are strings, so on the beam which is placed next to the tower there are ropes, which, by pulleys from the upper part, slacken the bridge so that it descends to the wall; and at once the warriors go out from the tower and, crossing over it, assault the walls of the city.

Exostra dicitur pons, quem superius exposuimus, quia de turri in murum repente protruditur. Tollenno dicitur, quotiens una trabes in terram praealta defigitur, cui in summo uertice alia transuersa trabes longior dimensa medietate conectitur eo libramento, ut, si unum caput depressis, aliud erigatur. In uno ergo capite cratibus sine tabulatis contexitur machina, in qua pauci conlocantur armati; tunc per funes adtracto depressoque alio capite eleuati inponuntur in murum.

Exostra is the bridge which we set out above, because it is suddenly thrust from the tower onto the wall. Tollenon is so called whenever a single beam is fixed very deep in the ground, to the topmost apex of which another, longer, transverse beam is attached, measured at its midpoint, with such a counterpoise that, if one end is pressed down, the other is raised. Accordingly, on the one end the engine is woven with wattles without planking, in which a few armed men are placed; then, with the other end drawn in by ropes and pressed down, they, having been lifted, are set upon the wall.

XXII. Aduersum haec obsessos defendere consueuerunt ballistae onagri scorpiones arcuballistae fustibali (sagittarii) fundae. Ballista funibus neruinis tenditur, quae, quanto prolixiora brachiola habuerit, hoc est quanto maior fuerit, tanto spicula longius mittit; quae si iuxta artem mechanicam temperetur et ab exercitatis hominibus, qui mensuram eius ante collegerint, dirigatur, penetrat quodcumque percusserit.

22. Against these, the besieged are accustomed to defend themselves with ballistae, onagers, scorpions, arbalests, fustibali (archers), slings. A ballista is stretched by sinew-cords; the longer its little arm-levers are—that is, the greater it is—the farther it sends its darts; and if it is tuned according to the mechanical art and directed by trained men who have previously determined its measurement, it penetrates whatever it strikes.

Onager autem dirigit lapides, sed pro neruorum crassitudine et magnitudine saxorum pondera iaculatur; nam quanto amplior fuerit, tanto maiora saxa fulminis more contorquet. His duobus generibus nulla tormentorum species uehementior inuenitur. Scorpiones dicebant, quas nunc manuballistas uocant, ideo sic nuncupati, quod paruis subtilibusque spiculis inferunt mortem.

The onager, however, launches stones, but in proportion to the thickness of the sinew-cords and the size of the rocks it hurls stone-masses; for the more ample it is, the larger stones it whirls after the manner of a thunderbolt. Among these two kinds no species of engines is found more vehement. They used to call Scorpions—now called hand-ballistae (manuballistae)—so named because with small and fine darts they bring death.

Fustibalos arcuballistas et fundas describere superfluum puto, quae praesens usus agnoscit. Saxis tamen grauioribus per onagrum destinatis non solum equi eliduntur et homines sed etiam hostium machinamenta franguntur.

I think it superfluous to describe fustibals, arbalests, and slings, which present use recognizes. Yet with heavier stones assigned through the onager not
only are horses and men knocked down but even the enemy’s machines are broken.

XXIII. Aduersum arietes etiam uel falces sunt plura remedia. Aliquanti centones et culcitas funibus chalant et illis obponunt locis, qua caedit aries, ut impetus machinae materia molliore fractus non destruat murum.

23. Against battering rams, and even against sickles, there are several remedies. Some lower quilts (centones) and mattresses by ropes and set them in those places where the ram strikes, so that the machine's impetus, broken by the softer material, may not destroy the wall.

Alii laqueis captos arietes per multitudinem hominum de muro in obliquum trahunt et cum ipsis testudinibus euertunt. Plures in modum forficis dentatum funibus inligant ferrum, quem lupum uocant, adprehensumque arietem aut euertunt aut ita suspendunt, ut impetum non habeat feriendi. Interdum bases columnaeque marmoreae uibrato impetu iaciuntur de muris arietesque confringunt.

Others, with nooses, drag the captured rams obliquely from the wall by a multitude of men and overturn them together with the tortoises themselves. More bind with ropes a toothed iron in the manner of scissors, which they call a wolf, and having seized the ram they either overturn it or suspend it in such a way that it has no impetus for striking. At times marble bases and columns are hurled from the walls with a vibrated impetus and shatter the rams.

Quod si tanta uis fuerit, ut murus arietibus perforetur et, quod saepe accidit, decidat, salutis una spes superest, ut destructis domibus alius intrinsecus murus addatur hostesque intra binos parietes, si penetrare temptauerint, perimantur.

But if such force should arise that the wall is perforated by battering-rams and, as often happens, collapses, one hope of safety remains: that, with the houses demolished, another wall be added on the inside, and that the enemies, if they attempt to penetrate, be slain between the two walls.

XXIIII. Aliud genus obpugnationum est subterraneum atque secretum, quod cuniculum uocant a leporibus, qui cauernas sub terris fodiunt ibique conduntur. Adhibita ergo multitudine ad speciem metallorum, in quibus auri argentique uenas Bessorum rimatur industria, magno labore terra defoditur cauatoque specu in exitium ciuitatis inferna quaeritur uia.

24. Another kind of assault is subterranean and secret, which they call a cuniculus from the hares, who dig caverns beneath the earth and there hide themselves. Accordingly, a multitude is employed after the manner of mines, in which the industry of the Bessi searches out veins of gold and silver; with great labor the ground is dug down, and, a shaft being hollowed out, an underground way is sought for the destruction of the city.

Quae fraus duplicibus operatur insidiis. Aut enim penetrant urbem et noctu non sentientibus oppidanis egrediuntur per cuniculum reseratisque portis suorum agmen inducunt hostesque in ipsis domibus perimunt ignorantes aut certe, cum ad murorum fundamenta peruenerint, suffodiunt eorum maximam partem adpositis siccioribus lignis ruinamque muri tumultuario opere suspendunt; sarmenta insuper iungunt aliaque fomenta flammarum; tunc praeparatis bellatoribus operi ignis inmittitur conbustisque columnis ligneis atque tabulatis muro subito corruente inruptioni aditus reseratur.

This stratagem operates with a double ambush. For either they penetrate the city and, by night, while the townsfolk do not perceive it, they go out through the tunnel and, the gates unbarred, they lead in a column of their own men and slay their enemies, unknowing, in their very houses; or else, when they have reached the foundations of the walls, they undermine the greater part of them, setting in place drier timbers and suspending the collapse of the wall by a makeshift work; they add brushwood and other fomentations for the flames; then, with the warriors made ready for the task, fire is applied, and, the wooden posts and planking burned, with the wall suddenly collapsing, an approach is unbarred for the irruption.

XXV. Innumerabilibus declaratur exemplis saepe caesos ad internicionem hostes, qui peruaserant ciuitatem. Quod sine dubio euenit, si oppidani muros ac turres retinuerint uel altiora occupauerint loca.

25. It is declared by innumerable examples that enemies who had penetrated the city were often cut down to internecine destruction. This without doubt comes to pass, if the townsmen have held the walls and towers, or have occupied higher places.

Tunc enim de fenestris ac tectis omnis aetas ac sexus inrumpentes obruit saxis aliisque generibus telorum; quod ne sustineant, obsidentes portas ciuitatis aperire consuerunt, ut resistere desinant fugiendi potestate concessa. Necessitas enim quaedam uirtutis est desperatio. In hoc casu unum oppidanis auxilium est, siue per diem siue per noctem hostis intrauerit, ut muros turresque teneant ac loca superiora conscedant hostesque per uicos et plateas undique obruant dimicantes.

Then indeed from the windows and the roofs every age and sex overwhelms those breaking in with stones and other kinds of missiles; and, so that they may not withstand it, the besiegers are accustomed to open the gates of the city, that, the power of fleeing having been granted, they may cease to resist. For desperation is a certain necessity of valor. In this case there is one aid for the townspeople, whether by day or by night the enemy has entered: that they hold the walls and towers and ascend the higher places, and overwhelm the enemies, fighting, through the streets and squares from every side.

XXVI. Frequenter dolum excogitant obsidentes ac simulata desperatione longius abeunt. Sed ubi post metum murorum uigiliis derelictis requieuerit incauta securitas, tenebrarum ac noctis occasione captata cum scalis clanculo ueniunt murosque conscendunt.

26. Frequently the besiegers excogitate a stratagem and, with simulated despair, withdraw farther away.
But when, after the fear, with the vigils of the walls abandoned, careless security has relaxed,
seizing the occasion of darkness and night they come secretly with ladders
and scale the walls.

Propter quod maior est adhibenda custodia, cum hostis abscesserit, et in ipsis muris ac turribus teguriola conlocanda, in quibus uigiles hibernis mensibus ab imbri uel frigore, aestiuis defendantur a sole. Illud quoque usus inuenit, ut acerrimos ac sagacissimos canes in turribus nutriant, qui aduentum hostium odore praesentiant latratuque testentur. Anseres quoque non minore sollertia nocturnos superuentus clamoribus indicant.

Because of which greater vigilance is to be applied, when the enemy has withdrawn, and on the very walls and towers little shelters are to be set, in which the sentries in the winter months may be defended from rain or cold, and in summer from the sun. Practice too has discovered this: that they keep the keenest and most sagacious dogs in the towers, who anticipate the approach of enemies by scent and attest it by their barking. Geese too, with no less cleverness, indicate nocturnal arrivals by their cries.

Nam ingressi Capitolinam arcem Galli Romanum nomen eruerant, nisi clamore anserum excitatus Mallius restitisset. Mira diligentia siue fortuna uiros, qui uniuersum orbem erant missuri sub iugum, auis una seruauit.

For
the Gauls, having entered the Capitoline citadel, would have uprooted the Roman name, had not Mallius,
roused by the clamor of the geese, resisted. By wondrous diligence or fortune a single bird saved the men who
were about to send the entire orb under the yoke.

XXVII. Non solum in obsidionibus sed in uniuerso genere bellorum supra omnia ducitur hostium consuetudinem explorare diligenter ac nosse. Oportunitas enim insidiarum aliter non potest inueniri, nisi scias, quibus horis aduersarius a laboris intentione discedat, quibus reddatur incautior, interdum medio die, interdum ad uesperum, saepe nocte, aliquando eo tempore, quo sumitur cibus, cum utriusque partis milites ad requiem aut ad curanda corpora disperguntur.

27. Not only in sieges but in the whole kind of wars, above all it is considered to reconnoiter and to know the enemy’s custom carefully. For the opportunity of ambush cannot otherwise be found, unless you know at what hours the adversary withdraws from the intention of toil, at what times he is rendered more incautious—sometimes at mid-day, sometimes toward evening, often at night, at times at that time when food is taken, when the soldiers of both sides are dispersed to rest or to care for their bodies.

Quod in ciuitate cum coeperit fieri, obsidentes astu se a proelio subtrahunt, ut aduersariorum neglegentiae licentiam tribuant. Quae ipsa inpunitate cum creuerit, repente admotis machinis uel adpositis scalis occupant ciuitatem. Et ideo in muris saxa ceteraque tormenta ponuntur in promptu, ut cognitis insidiis adcurrentes ad manum habeant quod supra caput hostium euoluant atque iaculentur.

When this in a city has begun to happen, the besiegers by craft withdraw themselves from battle, so that they may grant license to the negligence of their adversaries. When that negligence itself, by impunity, has grown, suddenly, with machines brought up or ladders set in place, they seize the city. And therefore on the walls stones and the other artillery are placed in readiness, so that, with the ambushes recognized, those who run up may have at hand what they may roll down upon the enemies’ head and hurl.

XXVIII. Cum neglegentia interuenerit, paribus insidiis subiacent obsidentes. Nam siue cibo siue somno fuerint occupati siue otio aut aliqua necessitate dispersi, tunc oppidani repente prorumpunt, ignorantes perimunt, arietes machinas ipsosque aggeres ignibus concremant omniaque in perniciem suam fabricata opera subuertunt.

28. When negligence has intervened, the besiegers are subject to equal ambushes. For whether they have been occupied with food or with sleep, or dispersed by idleness or some necessity, then the townsmen suddenly break out, they slay the unaware, they burn with fire the battering-rams, the machines, and the ramparts themselves, and they subvert all the works fabricated for their destruction.

Propter quod obsidentes ultra ictum teli fossam faciunt eamque non solum uallo et sudibus sed etiam turriculis instruunt, ut erumpentibus ex ciuitate possint obsistere, quod opus loriculam uocant. (Saepe, cum obsidio describitur, inuenitur in historiis loricula urbem esse circumdatam.)

On account of which the besiegers make a ditch beyond the cast of a missile, and they equip it not only with a rampart and stakes but also with little towers, so that they can oppose those bursting out from the city, which work they call the loricula. (Often, when a siege is being described, it is found in the histories that a city is surrounded by a loricula.)

(XXVIIII. Sed ex alto destinata missibilia siue plumbatae uel lanceae ueruta uel spicula in subiectos uehementius cadunt. Sagittae quoque arcubus missae et saxa manibus fundis siue fustibalis directa, quanto de excelsiore loco exeunt, tanto longius penetrant.

(29. But missiles aimed from on high—whether plumbatae or lanceae, veruta, or spicula—fall more vehemently upon those below. Arrows too, sent from bows, and stones directed by hand with slings or with staff-slings, the higher the place from which they go forth, the farther they penetrate.

Ballistae uero et onagri, si a peritis diligentissime temperentur, uniuersa praecedunt, a quibus nec uirtus ulla nec munimina possunt defendere bellatores. Nam more fulminis quicquid percusserint aut dissoluere aut inrumpere consuerunt.)

Ballistae and onagers, if they be most diligently tempered by experts, outstrip all; against them neither any valor nor muniments can defend warriors. For, in the manner of lightning, whatever they strike they are wont either to dissolve or to break through.)

XXX. Ad capiendos muros scalae uel machinae plurimum ualent, si ea magnitudine conpactae fuerint, ut altitudinem exuperent ciuitatis. Mensura autem colligitur duplici modo; aut enim linum tenue et expeditum uno capite nectitur in sagitta, quae cum ad muri fastigia directa peruenerit, ex mensura lini murorum altitudo deprehenditur, aut certe, cum sol obliquus umbram turrium murorumque iaculatur in terram, tunc ignorantibus aduersariis umbrae illius spatium mensuratur itemque decempeda figitur et umbra ipsius similiter mensuratur.

30. For taking walls, ladders or machines are very powerful, if they have been constructed of such a magnitude that they surpass the city’s height. The measurement, moreover, is gathered in a twofold way; for either a thin and supple line is tied by one end to an arrow which, when directed and it has reached the battlements of the wall, allows the height of the walls to be ascertained from the measure of the line; or else, when the oblique sun casts the shadow of the towers and walls upon the ground, then, the adversaries being unaware, the span of that shadow is measured, and likewise a ten‑foot rod (decempeda) is planted and its shadow is measured in the same way.

Quo collecto nemo dubitat ex umbra decempedae inueniri altitudinem ciuitatis, cum sciatur, quanta altitudo quantum umbrae mittat in longum.

With this collected, no one doubts that from the shadow of the ten‑foot measuring rod the altitude of the city is discovered, since it is known how great a height casts how much shadow in length.

Quae ad obpugnandas uel defendas urbes auctores bellicarum artium prodiderunt uel quae recentium necessitatum usus inuenit, pro publica, ut arbitror, utilitate digessi, illud iterum iterumque commonens, ut sollertissime caueatur, ne quando aut potus inopia emergat aut cibi, quibus malis nulla arte succurritur; ideoque intra muros tanto plura condenda sunt, quantum scitur clausurae tempus in obsidentum potestate consistere.

Those things for assailing or defending cities which the authors of the arts of war have handed down, or which the practice of recent necessities has discovered, I have digested, as I judge, for the public utility, warning this again and again: that it be guarded against with the utmost skill, lest ever a lack of drink or of food arise—evils for which no art brings succor; and therefore within the walls so much the more must be stored, in proportion as the time of confinement is known to lie in the power of the besiegers.

XXXI. Praecepto maiestatis tuae, imperator inuicte, terrestris proelii rationibus absolutis, naualis belli residua, ut opinor, est portio; de cuius artibus ideo pauciora dicenda sunt, quia iam dudum pacato mari cum barbaris nationibus agitur terrestre certamen. Romanus autem populus pro decore et utilitate magnitudinis suae non propter necessitatem tutmultus alicuius classem parabat ex tempore, sed, ne quando necessitatem sustineret, semper habuit praeparatam.

31. By the precept of your majesty, unconquered emperor, with the methods of the terrestrial battle
having been completed, the residual portion, as I suppose, is of naval war; about whose
arts therefore fewer things are to be said, because for a long time now, with the sea pacified, with barbarian
nations the terrestrial contest is conducted. But the Roman people, for the decorum and
utility of its greatness, did not, on account of the necessity of some tumult, prepare a fleet
extempore, but, lest it should ever sustain a necessity, it always had it
prepared.

Nemo enim bello lacessere aut facere audet iniuriam ei regno uel populo, quem expeditum et promptum ad resistendum uindicandumque cognoscit. Apud Misenum igitur et Rauennam singulae legiones cum classibus stabant, ne longius a tutela urbis abscederent et, cum ratio postulasset, sine mora, sine circuitu ad omnes mundi partes nauigio peruenirent. Nam Misenatium classis Galliam Hispanias Mauretaniam Afrcam Aegyptum Sardiniam atque Siciliam habebat in proximo.

For no one dares in war to provoke or to do injury to that kingdom or people whom he knows to be equipped and prompt to resist and to vindicate. Accordingly, at Misenum and at Ravenna single legions were stationed with their fleets, so that they might not withdraw farther from the guardianship of the city and, when reason had demanded, without delay, without circuit, they might by sailing reach all parts of the world. For the fleet of the Misenates had Gaul, the Spains, Mauretania, Africa, Egypt, Sardinia, and Sicily at hand.

Classis autem Rauennatium Epiros Macedoniam Achaiam Propontidem Pontum Orientem Cretam Cyprum petere directa nauigatione consueuerat, quia in rebus bellicis celeritas amplius solet prodesse quam uirtus.

But the Ravennate fleet was accustomed, by a direct navigation, to make for Epirus, Macedonia, Achaea, the Propontis, Pontus, the Orient, Crete, and Cyprus, because in matters of war celerity is wont to profit more than valor.

XXXII. Liburnis autem, quae in Campania stabant, praefectus classis Misenatium praeerat, eas uero, quae Ionio mari locatae fuerant, praefectus classis Rauennatium retinebant; sub quibus erant deni tribuni per cohortes singulas constituti. Singulae autem liburnae singulos nauarchos, id est quasi nauicularios, habebant, qui exceptis ceteris nautarum officiis gubernatoribus atque remigibus et militibus exercendis cotidianam curam et iugem exhibebant industriam.

32. As for the Liburnian ships, which were stationed in Campania, the prefect of the Misenum fleet was in command, but those which had been positioned on the Ionian Sea the prefect of the Ravenna fleet kept; under whom there were ten tribunes, appointed one for each cohort. However, each Liburnian had its own navarch, that is, as it were a ship‑master, who, leaving aside the other duties of the sailors, showed daily care and continual industry in drilling the helmsmen, the oarsmen, and the soldiers.

XXXIII. Diuersae autem prouinciae quibusdam temporibus mari plurimum potuerunt, et ideo diuersa genera nauium fuerunt. Sed Augusto dimicante Actiaco proelio, cum Liburnorum auxiliis praecipue uictus fuisset Antonius, experimento tanti certaminis patuit Liburnorum naues ceteris aptiores.

33. Moreover, different provinces at certain times were most powerful at sea,
and therefore there were diverse kinds of ships. But with Augustus fighting in the Actian battle,
since Antony had been defeated chiefly by the support of the Liburnians, by the proof of so great
a contest it became clear that Liburnian ships were more apt than the others.

Ergo similtudine et nomine usurpato ad earundem instar classem Romani principes texuerunt. Liburnia namque Dalmatiae pars est Iadertinae subiacens ciuitati, cuius exemplo nunc naues bellicae fabricantur et appellantur liburnae.

Therefore, with the likeness and the name usurped, the Roman princes constructed a fleet in imitation of those same [ships]. For Liburnia is a part of Dalmatia subjacent to the Iadertine city, by whose example warships are now fabricated and are called liburnae.

XXXIIII. Sed cum in domibus substruendis harenae uel lapidum qualitas requiratur, tanto magis in fabricandis nauibus diligenter cuncta quaerenda sunt, quia maius periculum est nauem uitiosam esse quam domum. Ex cupresso igitur et pinu domestica siue siluestri et abiete praecipue liburna contexitur, utilius aereis clauis quam ferreis configenda; quamlibet enim grauior aliquanto uideatur expensa, tamen, quia amplius durat, lucrum probatur afferre; nam ferreos clauos tepore et umore celeriter robigo consumit, aerei autem etiam in fluctibus propriam substantiam seruant.

34. But since, in laying the substructures of houses, the quality of sand or of stones
is required, all the more in fabricating ships must everything be diligently investigated,
because it is a greater danger for a ship to be faulty than a house. From cypress,
then, and from pine, domestic or wild, and from fir, a liburna is chiefly constructed,
more advantageously to be fastened with bronze nails than with iron; although the expense
may seem somewhat heavier, nevertheless, because it lasts longer, it is proved to bring profit; for
rust quickly consumes iron nails through warmth and moisture, but bronze ones even in
the waves preserve their own substance.

XXXV. Obseruandum praecipue, ut a quintadecima luna usque ad uicesimam secundam arbores praecidantur, ex quibus liburnae contexendae sunt. His enim tantum octo diebus caesa materies immunis seruatur a carie, reliquis autem diebus praecisa etiam eodem anno interna uermium labe exesa in puluerem uertitur, quod ars ipsa et omnium architectorum cotidianus usus edocuit et contemplatione ipsius religionis agnoscimus, quam pro aeternitate his tantum diebus placuit celebrari.

35. It must especially be observed that from the fifteenth moon up to the twenty-second the trees be felled, from which the liburnae are to be constructed. For only in these eight days is the cut timber kept immune from rot, but if cut on the remaining days, even in the same year, being eaten away within by the taint of worms it is turned into dust; a fact which the art itself and the quotidian practice of all architects has taught, and we recognize it by contemplation of the religion itself, which, for eternity, it has pleased to be celebrated on these days alone.

XXXVI. Caeduntur autem trabes utiliter post solstitium aestiuum, id est per mensem Iulium et Augustum et per autumnale aequinoctium (id est) usque in k. Ianuarias. His namque mensibus arescente umore sicciora et ideo fortiora sunt ligna.

36. Beams are usefully cut after the summer solstice, that is, through the month of July and August and through the autumnal equinox (that is) up to the Kalends of January. For in these months, as the moisture dries, the wood is drier and therefore stronger.

Illud etiam cauendum, ne continuo, ut deiectae fuerint trabes, secentur uel statim, ut sectae fuerint, mittantur in nauem, siquidem et adhuc solidae arbores et iam diuisae per tabulas duplices ad maiorem siccitatem mereantur indutias. Nam quae uirides conpinguntur, cum natiuum umorem exudauerint, contrahuntur et rimas faciunt latiores, quo nihil est periculosius nauigantibus (quam hiare tabulata).

One must also beware lest, immediately when the beams have been felled, they be sawn, or straightway, when they have been sawn, they be sent aboard ship, since both trees still solid and those already divided into double planks deserve a respite for greater dryness. For those which are fastened together green, when they have exuded their native moisture, contract and make wider cracks, than which nothing is more dangerous for seafarers (than that the planking gape).

XXXVII. Quod ad magnitudinem pertinet, minimae liburnae remorum habent singulos ordines, paulo maiores binos, idoneae mensurae ternos uel quaternos interdum quinos sortiuntur remigio gradus. Nec hoc cuiquam enorme uideatur, cum in Actiaco proelio longe maiora referantur concurrisse nauigia, ut senorum etiam uel ultra ordinum fuerint.

37. As regards magnitude, the smallest Liburnians have single rows of oars, the slightly larger double, and those of a suitable measure obtain triple or quadruple, sometimes even fivefold, grades in the rowing. Nor let this seem enormous to anyone, since in the Actian battle much larger vessels are reported to have come together, so that they had even six or more banks.

Scafae tamen maioribus liburnis exploratoriae sociantur, quae uicenos prope remiges in singulis partibus habeant, quas Britanni picatos uocant. Per has et superuentus fieri et commeatus aduersariorum nauium aliquando intercipi adsolet et speculandi studio aduentus earum uel consilium deprehendi. Ne tamen exploratiae naues candore prodantur, colore Veneto, qui marinis est fluctibus similis, uela tinguntur et funes, cera etiam, qua ungere solent naues, inficitur.

Nevertheless scouting skiffs are associated with the larger liburnae, which have nearly twenty oarsmen on each side, which the Britons call “Picati.” Through these both surprise-arrivals are effected and the adversaries’ ships’ commissariat and convoys are sometimes intercepted, and, for the zeal of reconnoitering, their arrival or their plan is detected. Yet, lest the scouting ships be betrayed by their whiteness, the Venetian (Venetus) color, which is similar to the sea-waves, is used to dye the sails and the ropes, and even the wax with which they are wont to anoint ships is stained.

Nautaeque uel milites Venetam uestem induunt, ut non solum per noctem sed etiam per diem facilius lateant explorantes.

And both sailors and soldiers put on sea-blue clothing, so that not only by night but also by day they may more easily lie hidden while exploring.

XXXVIII. Qui cum exercitu armatis classibus uehitur, turbinum signa debet ante praenoscere. Procellis namque et fluctibus liburnae grauius quam ui hostium saepe perierunt, in qua parte naturalis philosophiae tota est adhibenda sollertia, quia uentorum tempestatumque caelesti ratione natura colligitur.

38. He who is carried with an army by armed fleets ought to foreknow the signs of whirlwinds. For Liburnian galleys have often perished more grievously by storms and waves than by the force of enemies, in which matter the whole ingenuity of natural philosophy must be applied, since the nature of winds and tempests is inferred by celestial reckoning.

Et pro acerbitate pelagi, sicut prouidos cautela tutatur, ita neglegentes extinguit incuria. Igitur uentorum numerum atque uocabula ars nauigandi primum debet inspicere. Veteres autem iuxta positionem cardinum tantum quattuor uentos principales a singulis caeli partibus flare credebant, sed experimentum posterioris aetatis XII conprehendit; horum uocabula ad summouendam dubitationem non solum Graeca sed etiam Latina protulimus, ita ut uentis principalibus declaratis eos, qui ipsis dextra laeuaque coniuncti sunt, indicemus.

And in proportion to the harshness of the sea, just as caution protects the provident, so carelessness extinguishes the negligent. Therefore the art of navigation must first inspect the number and the names of the winds. The ancients, however, in accordance with the position of the cardinal points, believed that only four principal winds blow from the several parts of the sky; but the experience of a later age has comprehended 12; the names of these, to remove doubt, we have set forth not only in Greek but also in Latin, so that, with the principal winds declared, we may indicate those which are conjoined to them on the right and on the left.

A uerno itaque solstitio, id est ab orientali cardine, sumemus exordium, ex quo uentus oritur apheliotes, id est subsolanus; huic a dextera iungitur caecias siue euroborus, a sinistra eurus siue uulturnus. Meridianum autem cardinem possidet notus, id est auster; huic a dextera iungitur leuconotus, hoc est albus notus, a sinistra libonotus, id est corus. Occidentalem uero cardinem tenet zephyrus id est subuespertinus; huic a dextera iungitur lips siue africus, a sinistra iapyx siue fauonius.

from the vernal solstice, that is, from the eastern cardinal point, we shall take our beginning, from which the wind arises apheliotes, that is, subsolanus; to this on the right is joined caecias or euroborus, on the left eurus or vulturnus. the southern cardinal point, however, is held by notus, that is, auster; to this on the right is joined leuconotus, that is, the white notus, on the left libonotus, that is, corus. the western cardinal point, in truth, is held by zephyrus, that is, the subvespertine; to this on the right is joined lips or africus, on the left iapyx or fauonius.

Septentrionalem uero cardinem sortitus est aparctias siue septentrio; cui adhaeret a dextra thrascias siue circius, a sinistra boreas, id est aquilo. Hi saepe singuli, interdum duo, magnis autem tempestatibus et tres pariter flare consuerunt; horum impetu maria, quae sua sponte tranquilla sunt et quieta, undis exaestuantibus saeuiunt; horum flatu pro natura temporum uel locorum ex procellis serenitas redditur et rursum in procellas serena mutantur. Nam secundo spiramine optatos classis inuenit portus, aduerso stare uel regredi aut discrimen sustinere conpellitur.

The northern quarter, moreover, has been allotted to Aparctias or Septentrio; to it adheres on the right Thrascias or Circius, on the left Boreas, that is Aquilo. These often blow singly, sometimes two, and in great tempests even three at once are accustomed to blow; by their onrush the seas, which of their own accord are tranquil and quiet, rage with the waves boiling up; by their breath, according to the nature of the seasons or of the places, from storms serenity is restored, and in turn serene conditions are changed into storms. For with a favorable breathing the fleet finds the desired harbors; with an adverse one it is compelled to stand still or to go back or to endure peril.

Et ideo difficile naufragium pertulit qui uentorum rationem diligenter inspexit.

And therefore, he scarcely suffers shipwreck who has diligently inspected the reckoning of the winds.

XXXVIIII. Sequitur mensum dierumque tractatus. Neque enim integro anno uis atque acerbitas maris patitur nauigantes, sed quidam menses aptissimi, quidam dubii, reliqui classibus intractabiles sunt lege naturae.

39. There follows a treatise of months and days. For indeed, throughout the whole year the force
and acerbity of the sea do not suffer those sailing; but certain months are most apt, certain dubious, the rest for fleets intractable by the law of nature.

Pachone decurso, id est post ortum Pliadum, a die VI. kal. Iunias usque in Arcturi ortum, id est in diem VIII. decimum kal.

With Pachon completed, that is after the rising of the Pleiades,
from the 6th day before the Kalends of June up to the rising of Arcturus,
that is on the 18th day before the Kalends.

Octobres, secura nauigatio creditur, quia aestatis beneficio uentorum acerbitas mitigatur; post hoc tempus usque in tertium idus Nouembres incerta nauigatio est et discrimini propior propterea, quia post idus Septembres oritur Arcturus, uehementissimum sidues, et VIII. kal. Octobres aequinoctialis euenit acerba tempestas, circa nonas uero Octobres aeduli pluuiales, V. idus easdem Taurus.

In October, navigation is believed secure, because by the benefice of summer the acerbity of the winds is mitigated; after this time up to the 3rd day before the Ides of November navigation is uncertain and nearer to peril, for this reason: because after the Ides of September Arcturus, a most vehement star, rises, and on the 8th day before the Kalends of October the equinoctial bitter storm occurs; around the Nones of October, indeed, the rainy aeduli [winds], and on the 5th day before the same Ides, Taurus [rises].

A Nouembri autem mense crebris tempestatibus nauigia conturbat Vergiliarum hiemalis occasus. Ex die igitur tertio idus Nouembres usque in diem sextum idus Martias maria clauduntur. Nam lux minima noxque prolixa, nubium densitas, aeris obscuritas, uentorum imbri uel niuibus geminata saeuitia non solum classes a pelago sed etiam commeantes a terrestri itinere deturbat.

Moreover, in the month of November the hibernal setting of the Pleiades throws ships into confusion with frequent tempests. Accordingly, from the third day before the Ides of November up to the sixth day before the Ides of March the seas are closed. For the light is at its least and the night prolonged; the density of clouds, the obscurity of the air, the savagery of the winds doubled with rain or with snows drives off not only fleets from the deep but also wayfarers from their land-journey.

Post natalem uero, ut ita dicam, nauigationis, qui sollemni certamine publicoque spectaculo multarum urbium celebratur, plurimorum siderum ipsiusque temporis ratione usque in idus Maias periculose maria temptantur, non quo negotiatorum cesset industria, sed quia maior adhibenda cautela est, quando exercitus nauigat cum liburnis, quam cum priuatarum mercium festinat audacia.

After the natal day, so to speak, of navigation—which is celebrated with a solemn contest and a public spectacle by many cities—by the reckoning of many stars and of the time itself, the seas are ventured perilously up to the Ides of May, not because the industry of merchants ceases, but because greater caution must be applied when an army sails with Liburnian ships than when the audacity of private merchandise makes haste.

XL. Praeterea aliorum ortus occasusque siderum tempestates uehementissimas commouent; in quibus licet certi dies auctorum adtestatione signentur, tamen, quia diuersis casibus aliquanta mutantur et, quod confitendum est, caelestes causas humana condicio ad plenum nosse prohibetur, ideo nauticae obseruationis curam trifariam diuidunt. Aut enim circa diem statutum aut ante uel postea tempestates fieri conpertum est. Vnde praecedentes ************, nascentes die sollemni *********, subsequentes ************* Graeco uocabulo nuncuparunt.

40. Moreover, the risings and settings of other stars stir up most vehement tempests; in which, although certain days are marked by the attestation of authorities, yet, because by diverse contingencies some things are somewhat altered and, which must be confessed, the human condition is prohibited from knowing the celestial causes to the full, therefore they divide the care of nautical observation threefold. For it has been found that storms occur either about the appointed day, or before, or afterwards. Whence they have named by a Greek vocable the preceding ************, those arising on the solemn day *********, and the subsequent *************.

Sed omnia enumerare nominatim aut ineptim uideatur aut longum, cum auctores plurimi non solum mensum sed etiam dierum rationem diligenter expresserint. Transitus quoque siderum, quos planetas uocant, cum praescripto cursu Dei arbitrio creatoris suscipiunt signa uel deserunt, frequenter assolent serena turbare. Interluniorum autem dies tempestatibus plenos et nauigantibus quam maxime metuendos non solum peritiae ratio sed etiam uulgi usus intellegit.

But to enumerate everything by name would seem either inept or too long, since very many authors have diligently expressed the reckoning not only of months but also of days. The transits too of the stars, which they call planets, when, in their prescribed course, by the decision of God the Creator they take up signs or abandon them, are frequently wont to disturb serene weather. The interlunary days, moreover, full of storms and most of all to be feared by those sailing, are understood not only by the reasoning of expertise but also by the practice of the common people.

XLI. Multis quoque signis et de tranquillo procellae et de tempestatibus tranquilla produntur, quae uelut in speculo lunae orbis ostendit. Rubicundus color uentus, caeruleus indicat pluuias, ex utroque commixtus nimbos et furentes procellas.

41. By many signs as well both storms out of calm and calms out of tempests are portended, which the orb of the moon displays as if in a mirror. A rubicund color portends wind, a cerulean indicates rains, and a commixture of both portends nimbus-clouds and furious procellas.

Laetus orbis ac lucidus serenitatem nauigiis repromittit, quam gestat in uultu, praecipue si quarto ortu neque obtusis cornibus rutila neque infuso fuerit umore fuscata. Sol quoque exoriens uel diem condens interest utrum aequalibus gaudeat radiis an obiecta nube uarietur, utrum solito splendore fulgidus an uentis urguentibus igneus neue pallidus uel pluuia sit inpendente maculosus. Aer uero et mare ipsum nubiumque magnitudo uel species sollicitos instruit nautas.

A cheerful and lucid orb promises serenity for voyaging, which it bears in its face, especially if at the fourth rising it is neither ruddy with blunted horns nor darkened by infused moisture. The Sun too, whether rising or closing the day, it matters whether he rejoices in equal rays or is variegated by an interposed cloud, whether brilliant with his accustomed splendor or fiery with the winds pressing, or else pallid or maculate with rain impending. The air, moreover, and the sea itself, and the magnitude or appearance of the clouds instruct anxious sailors.

Aliquanta ab auibus, aliquanta significantur a piscibus, quae Vergilius in Georgicis diuino paene conprehendit ingenio et Varro in libris naualibus diligenter excoluit. Haec gubernatores so se scire profitentur, sciunt eatenus, quatenus eos imperitiae usus instituit, non altior doctrina formauit.

Some things are signified by birds, some by fishes, which Vergil in the Georgics has comprehended with almost divine genius, and Varro in his naval books has diligently cultivated. These things the helmsmen profess that they know; they know to that extent, inasmuch as the practice of inexperience has instructed them, not as deeper doctrine has formed them.

XLII. Elementum pelagi tertia pars mundi est, quae praeter uentorum flatus suo quoque spiramine motuque uegetatur. Nam certis horis, diebus pariter ac noctibus aestu quodam, quod rheuma uocant, ultro citroque percurrit et more torrentium fluminum nunc exundat in terras nunc refluit in altitudinem suam.

42. The element of the sea is the third part of the world, which, besides the blasts of the winds, is also invigorated by its own breathing and motion. For at fixed hours, by days as well as by nights, with a certain tide, which they call rheuma, it runs to and fro, and after the manner of torrential rivers now overflows upon the lands, now flows back into its own depth.

Haec reciprocantis meatus ambiguitas cursum nauium secunda adiuuat, retardat aduersa. Quae dimicaturo magna sunt cautione uitanda. Neque enim auxilio remorum rheumatis impetus uincitur, cui interdum cedit et uentus; et quoniam in diuersis regionibus, diuerso lunae crescentis minuentisque statu certis horis ista uariantur, ideo proelium nauale gesturus consuetudinem pelagi uel loci ante congressum debet agnoscere.

This ambiguity of the reversing current aids the course of ships when it is favorable, delays it when adverse. These are to be avoided with great caution by one about to fight. For the onrush of the rheuma (tide) is not conquered with the help of oars, to which even the wind sometimes yields; and since in different regions, with the waxing and waning moon in different state, at fixed hours these things vary, therefore one intending to wage a naval battle ought to recognize the habit of the sea or of the place before the encounter.

XLIII. Nauticorum gubernatorumque sollertia est loca, in quibus nauigaturi sunt, portusque cognoscere, ut infesta prominentibus uel latentibus scopulis, uadosa ac sicca uitentur; tanto enim securitas maior est, quanto mare altius fuerit. In nauarchis diligentia, in gubernatoribus peritia, in remigibus uirtus eligitur propterea, quia naualis pugna tranquillo committitur mari liburnarumque moles non uentorum flatibus sed remorum pulsu aduersarios percutit rostris eorumque rursum impetus uitat, in quo opere lacerti remigum et ars clauum regentis magistri uictoriam praestat.

43. The skill of sailors and helmsmen is to know the places in which they are going to sail, and the harbors, so that places dangerous with projecting or hidden reefs, the shallows and the dry flats, may be avoided; for safety is the greater, the deeper the sea has been. In the navarchs diligence, in the helmsmen expertise, in the oarsmen valor is selected, for this reason: because a naval fight is joined on a calm sea, and the mass of the Liburnians strikes adversaries with their beaks by the beat of the oars, not by the blasts of the winds, and in turn avoids their onrush, in which work the sinews of the rowers and the art of the master guiding the helm procure victory.

XLIIII. Multa quidem armorum genera proelium terrestre desiderat; sed nauale certamen non solum plures armorum species uerum etiam machinas et tormenta flagitat, tamquam in muris dimicetur et turribus. Quid enim crudelius congressione nauali, ubi aquis homines perimuntur et flammis?

44. Many kinds of weapons are indeed required for a land battle; but a naval
contest demands not only more kinds of weapons but even machines and engines,
as though the fight were on walls and in towers. For what is more cruel than a
naval engagement, where men are destroyed by waters and by flames?

Praecipua ergo esse debet tegminum cura, ut catafracti uel loricati galeati etiam et ocreis muniti sint milites. De onere namque armorum nemo potest conqueri, qui stans pugnat in nauibus; scuta quoque ualidiora propter ictus lapidum et ampliora sumuntur. Praeter falces et harpagones aliaque naualia genera telorum sagittis missibilibus fundis fustibalis plumbatis onagris ballistis scorpionibus iacula inuicem diriguntur et saxa et, quod est grauius, qui de uirtute praesumunt, admotis liburnis iniectis pontibus in aduersariorum transeunt naues ibique gladiis manu ad manum, ut dicitur, comminus dimicant.

Therefore the principal care must be for coverings (armor), that the soldiers be cataphracted or loricated, helmeted and even equipped with greaves. For no one who fights standing on ships can complain of the burden of arms; shields also, stronger on account of the blows of stones and larger, are taken up. Besides sickles and grappling-hooks and other naval kinds of weapons, with arrows, missiles, slings, staff-slings, lead-weighted projectiles, onagers, ballistae, scorpions, javelins and stones are directed in turn; and, what is more serious, those who presume upon their valor, the Liburnians having been brought alongside and bridges thrown on, cross over into the adversaries’ ships, and there with swords hand to hand, as it is said, they fight at close quarters.

In maioribus etiam liburnis propugnacula turresque constituunt, ut tamquam de muro ita de excelsioribus tabulatis facilius uulnerent uel perimant inimicos. Oleo incendiario stuppa sulphure et bitumine obuolutae et ardentes sagittae per ballistas in hosticarum nauium alueos infiguntur unctasque cera et pice et resina tabulas tot fomentis ignium repente succendunt. Alii ferro interimuntur et saxo, alii ardere coguntur in fluctibus; inter tanta tamen mortium genera qui acerrimus casus est, absumenda piscibus insepulta sunt corpora.

In the larger liburnian ships they also set up battlements and towers, so that, as if from a wall, thus from loftier platforms they may more easily wound or kill enemies. Arrows wrapped with tow in sulphur and bitumen and set ablaze are shot by ballistae into the hulls of the enemy ships, and boards smeared with wax and pitch and resin they suddenly ignite with so many kindlings of fire. Some meanwhile are slain by iron and by stone, others are compelled to burn upon the waves; yet among so many kinds of deaths, the most bitter occurrence is that the bodies, unsepulchred, are left to be consumed by fishes.

XLV. Ad instar autem terrestris proelii superuentus fiunt ignorantibus nauticis uel circa oportunas insularum angustias conlocantur insidiae. Idque agitur, ut imparati facilius deleantur; si longo remigio fatigati sunt hostium nautae, si uento urguentur aduerso, so pro rostris est rheuma, si nihil suspicantes dormiunt inimici, si statio, quam tenent, exitum non habet, si dimicandi optata euenit occasio, fortunae beneficiis iungendae sunt manus et ex oportunitate proelium conserendum.

45. But after the manner of a terrestrial battle, surprise-attacks are made upon sailors who are unaware, or ambushes are stationed around the favorable narrows of islands. And this is done, that the unprepared may more easily be destroyed; if the sailors of the enemy have been wearied by long rowing, if they are pressed by an adverse wind, if there is a current before the prows, if the enemies, suspecting nothing, are sleeping, if the station which they hold has no outlet, if a desired opportunity of fighting occurs, hands must be joined to Fortune’s benefactions, and from the opportunity the battle must be joined.

Quod si cautela hostium euitatis insidiis publico Marte confligat, tunc liburnarum instruendae sunt acies, non directae ut in campis, sed incuruae ad similitudinem lunae, ita ut productis cornibus acies media sinuetur, ut, si aduersarii perrumpere temptauerint, ipsa ordinatione circumdati deprimantur. In cornibus autem praecipuum robur et liburnarum conlocatur et militum.

If, however, the enemy’s caution has avoided the ambushes and it clashes in open battle, then the battle-lines of the liburnae are to be drawn up—not straight as on the plains, but curved in the likeness of the moon—so that, with the horns extended, the middle line is bent in, in order that, if the adversaries attempt to break through, they may be hemmed in by that very disposition and pressed down. And in the wings the chief strength is placed, both of the liburnae and of the soldiers.

XLVI. Praeterea utile est, ut alto et libero mari tua semper classis utatur, inimicorum uero pellatur ad litus, quia pugnandi impetum perdunt qui detruduntur in terras. In eiusmodi certamine tria armamentorum genera plurimum ad uictoriam prodesse compertum est, asseres falces bipinnes.

46. Furthermore, it is useful that your fleet always make use of the deep and free (open) sea, but that the enemies be driven to the shore; for they who are thrust down onto land lose the impetus of fighting. In a contest of this sort, three kinds of armament have been ascertained to be of the greatest profit toward victory: beams, scythes, double-axes.

Asser dicitur, cum trabes subtilis ac longa ad similitudinem antemnae pendet in malo utroque capite ferrato. Hunc, siue a dextra siue a sinistra parte aduersariorum se iunxerint naues, pro uice arietis ui inpellunt; qui bellatores hostium siue nautas sine dubio prosternit ac perimit ipsamque nauem saepius perforat. Falx autem dicitur acutissimum ferrum curuatum ad similitudinem falcis, quod contis longioribus inditum chalatorios (sub.

It is called an asser, when a slender and long beam, in the likeness of a yard, hangs from the mast, with both ends shod in iron. This they drive with force in place of a ram, if the ships have joined themselves to the adversaries’ side either from the right or from the left; it without doubt casts down and kills the enemy’s fighting-men or sailors, and more often pierces the ship itself. A falx, moreover, is called a most sharp iron curved in the likeness of a sickle, which, fitted onto longer poles, [for] chalatorios (sub.

funes), quibus antemnae suspenditur, repente praecidit conlapsisque uelis liburnam pigriorem et inutilem reddit. Bipinnis est securis habens ex utraque parte latissimum et acutissimum ferrum. Per has in medio ardore pugnandi peritissimi nautae uel milites cum minoribus scafulis secreto incidunt funes, quibus aduersariorum ligata sunt gubernacula.

the ropes), by which the antennae (yards) are suspended, it suddenly cuts, and with the sails collapsed it renders the Liburnian slower and useless. The bipennis is an axe having on each side a very broad and very sharp blade. By means of these, in the very heat of fighting, the most skilled sailors or soldiers, with smaller skiffs, secretly cut the ropes by which the adversaries’ rudders are fastened.

Quo facto statim capitur tamquam inermis et debilis nauis; quid enim salutis superest ei, qui amiserit clauum? De lusoriis, quae in Danubio agrarias cotidianis tutantur excubiis, reticendum puto, quia artis amplius in his frequentior usus inuenit, quam uetus doctrina monstrauerat.

With this done, the ship is immediately captured as if unarmed and feeble; for what salvation remains to him who has lost the helm?
As for the lusoriae, which on the Danube safeguard the agrarian districts with daily outposts, I think I should be silent,
because in these a more frequent use has discovered more of the art than ancient doctrine had demonstrated.