. The first six books of Cæsar's commentaries on the Gallic war. ngines to a great distance, by which battle-ments were thrown down and whole files of men swept from thedeepest phalanx. Their effect is said to have been little inferiorin sieges to that of artillery. The balista used for throwing dartsor javelins, represented in the following wood cut, taken fromFolards commentary on Polybius, resembled in its operation animmense crossbow, the two ends of which consisted of two leversso twisted in coils of ropes as to acquire a powerful spring. Theextreme ends were united by a strong rope which
. The first six books of Cæsar's commentaries on the Gallic war. ngines to a great distance, by which battle-ments were thrown down and whole files of men swept from thedeepest phalanx. Their effect is said to have been little inferiorin sieges to that of artillery. The balista used for throwing dartsor javelins, represented in the following wood cut, taken fromFolards commentary on Polybius, resembled in its operation animmense crossbow, the two ends of which consisted of two leversso twisted in coils of ropes as to acquire a powerful spring. Theextreme ends were united by a strong rope which was drawnback by means of a windlass after the manner of a bowstring,bringing the ends of the lever back and closer together, therebytwisting the coils of ropes to their greatest tension. When thusdrawn back, the javelin or dart was placed in the shaft, directedto the object aimed at, and, at the pleasure of the operator, let-ting go the rope, was hurled with prodigious force from the engineby the recoil of the levers. BALISTA FOR THROWING DARTS AND The balista for throwing stones, (represented in the followingwood cut,) consisted of a strong lever, one end of which wasmade fast in a twist of ropes, and the other scooped out in theform of a spoon, for containing the stone &c. to be thrown. Whenunbent the lever stood perpendicular. In working it, the end ofthe lever was brought down, by means of a windlass, to a hori-zontal position, by which the ropes were twisted to their greatesttension; the stone or missile was laid on in its proper place andthrown by the recoil of the lever to a great distance, often withtremendous effect. Engines of both kinds, of a larger size, were RALVENTIUS BELfi,E. 261 more commonly called Balistce, those of a smaller size. Catapul-tce, which see. BALISTA FOR THROWING STONES OR OTHER IIAW BODIES.
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Keywords: ., bookauthorcaesarjulius, bookcentury180, booksubjectlatinlanguage
