Editing Roman siege engines (section)

== Breaking the walls ==

===Battering ram===
{{Main|Battering ram}}

[[File:Meyers b1 s0808 b1.png|thumb|300px|Roman battering ram.]]

[[File:Murbräcka med skjul, Nordisk familjebok.png|thumb|A battering ram (aries) with a shed ([[Siege engine|testudo]]). After a relief on [[Septimius Severus]]' triumphal arc in Rome.]]

Roman battering rams, or ''aries'', were an effective weapon for breaking down an enemy's walls, as well as their morale.  Under [[Roman law]], any defenders who failed to surrender before the first ram touched their wall were denied any rights.<ref>Goldsworthy 2000: p. 145</ref>  The moment they heard the ram hit the wall, those inside the city knew that the siege proper had begun and there was no turning back.<ref>Gilliver 1999: p. 140</ref>

[[Image:MasadaRamp.jpg|right|thumb|250px|The remains of the Roman siege-ramp at [[Masada]]]]

[[Josephus]] describes the battering ram used at [[Jotapata]] thus:<ref>Le Bohec 1994: p. 139</ref>

<blockquote>It is an immense beam, similar to a ship’s mast, with one end covered with iron shaped into a ram’s head; hence its name.  It is suspended from another beam like a balance arm by cables around its middle, and this in turn is supported at both ends by posts fixed in the ground.  It is drawn back by a huge number of men who then push it forward in unison with all their might so that it hits the wall with its iron head.  There is no tower strong enough nor any wall thick enough to withstand repeated blows of this kind, and many cannot resist the first shock.</blockquote>

[[Vitruvius]] in ''[[De Architectura]] ''Book X describes the construction and use of battering rams.

For protection, a battering ram was suspended in a mobile shelter called a tortoise, or ''testudo''.  According to [[Vegetius]], it was given this name because the ram would swing out of the shelter much like a tortoise's head comes out of its shell.  Such shelters would provide the men within protection against missiles and incendiary devices.  They were constructed from a framework of strong timbers with planks and wicker hurdles on the sides.  The entire shelter would then be covered with a fireproof material such as uncured hides.<ref>Gilliver 1999: pp. 134-135</ref> According to [[Apollodorus of Damascus]], the shelter should be fixed to the ground while the ram was being used to both prevent skidding and strain on the axles from the weight of the moving apparatus.  This would also increase the strength of the impact on the walls.<ref>Gilliver 1999: p. 138</ref>

===Siege tower===

[[File:Young Folks' History of Rome illus106.png|thumb|Siege tower]]

{{Main|Siege towers}}

According to [[Josephus]], the Roman siege towers at [[Jotapata]] were {{convert|50|ft|abbr=on}} high and iron-plated to protect them from fire; those at [[Masada]] were reported to be {{convert|75|ft|abbr=on}} high. It was possible to have many different devices on siege towers, such as artillery, [[draw bridges]] and rams. Those at the top of the tower were to keep defenders off the walls while those below them attempted to breach the wall using ramps. In the battle of Jerusalem in 70 AD the Romans began assault on the third defensive wall within Jerusalem, the tower stood {{convert|75|ft|abbr=on}} tall and was compromised when the Jewish resistance tunneled underneath the tower leading it to collapse.<ref>Gilliver 1999: pp. 136-137.</ref> Following a basic design, details of tower construction varied from siege to siege and there is no known treatise which specifies at which level siege equipment should be placed. [[Vegetius]] noted that, “besiegers sometimes built a tower with another turret inside it that could suddenly be raised by ropes and pulleys to over-top the wall”.<ref>Gilliver 1999: 138</ref>

===Mine===

[[Mining (military)|Mines]] could be dug under city walls as a means of entering a city secretly and capturing it but were more frequently constructed to weaken city walls.  Once dug, [[sappers]] would underpin the walls with wood and cause the walls to collapse by firing the supports with resin, sulfur and other incendiary materials.<ref>Gilliver 1999: 140</ref>

=== Corvus ===
{{Main|Corvus (boarding device)}}
In chapter 1.22 "The Victory of Mylae" of his ''History,'' [[Polybius]] writes:<blockquote>Now their ships were badly fitted out and not easy to manage, and so some one suggested to them as likely to serve their turn in a fight the construction of what were afterwards called "crows".<ref name=":0">Histories. Polybius. Evelyn S. Shuckburgh. translator. London, New York. Macmillan. 1889. Reprint Bloomington 1962.http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Plb.+1.22&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0234</ref> </blockquote>Corvus means "crow" or "raven" in [[Latin]] and was the name given to a [[Roman Empire|Roman]] [[Naval boarding|boarding device]] first documented during the [[First Punic War]] against [[Carthage]]. [[Polybius]] goes on to describe this siege engine as a bridge used to span the distance between two ships in battle. The device was a plank, 4&nbsp;ft wide and 36&nbsp;ft long, affixed to the [[Roman navy|Roman vessel]] around a pole. This construction allowed the bridge to be swung [[Port and starboard|port]] to [[Port and starboard|starboard]] and therefore used on either side of the ship. A [[pulley]] at the top of the pole allowed the planks to be raised and lowered on command. At the end of the bridge there was a heavy metal spike that when dropped on the deck of an enemy ship would, with the aid of gravity, become imbedded in the deck. By connecting the two ships in such a way, [[List of Roman army unit types|Roman soldiers]] could gain access to the deck of the enemy ship and engage in hand-to-hand combat instead of depending on ship-to-ship combat. [[Polybius]] also includes an insight on how these siege engines would have practically functioned in battle: <blockquote>And as soon as the "crows" were fixed in the planks of the decks and grappled the ships together, if the ships were alongside of each other, the men leaped on board anywhere along the side, but if they were prow to prow, they used the "crow" itself for boarding, and advanced over it two abreast. The first two protected their front by holding up before them their shields, while those who came after them secured their sides by placing the rims of their shields upon the top of the railing. Such were the preparations which they made; and having completed them they watched an opportunity of engaging at sea.<ref name=":0" /></blockquote>Based on this historical description the Corvus used some mechanisms seen in the more complex [[siege tower]]s or the sheds constructed around [[battering ram]]s. They protected, to an extent, the [[List of Roman army unit types|Roman soldiers]] as they gained entry to the enemy's space where they could engage in combat.