A dictionary of architecture and building : biographical, historical, and descriptive . ent among savage or barbarous jieople,even if the fortilications are slight and ratherformal tlKiii fur real defence. FORTIFICATION. ^1. The art and prac-tice of making a post defensible, as in jirotect- FORUM assailant approaching ^•ery near to the wall andtryuig to imderminc it, or to effect a breach init, or to ascend it by means of ladders, or elseto force the gate. Great height of wall andelaborate preparation at top of such wall forthe shelter of the defenders was therefore theprimary requisite. (See
A dictionary of architecture and building : biographical, historical, and descriptive . ent among savage or barbarous jieople,even if the fortilications are slight and ratherformal tlKiii fur real defence. FORTIFICATION. ^1. The art and prac-tice of making a post defensible, as in jirotect- FORUM assailant approaching ^•ery near to the wall andtryuig to imderminc it, or to effect a breach init, or to ascend it by means of ladders, or elseto force the gate. Great height of wall andelaborate preparation at top of such wall forthe shelter of the defenders was therefore theprimary requisite. (See Castle.) In moderntimes, however, no masonry is visible excc])t inthe case of the seacoast castles as they arecalled, that is to say, works intended to resistonly the attacks of ships and to jn-cvent thepassing of such ships into a harbour or rivermouth or the like. A modern fortress presentsto the eye of the beholder from outside nothingbut a series of grassy slopes ; and within, thewalls which rise around the enclosure of a forti-fied city and which belong to the fortifications,. Fortification of Akchiteitural Char.^cter; Part of the Work defending the Porto del Lido,ONE of the Entrances to the Lagoon of Venice; 15-t4. ing a city against attack or iu providing a placeof shelter whicli will enable a small number ofmen to hold out against the attack of a largerforce. B. A structure, or series of structures, forthe purpose described above. Jlodern fortification begins with the greatengineers of the seventeenth century, and ithas reached in oiu- time a development whichmakes its study a very serious and importantbranch of science. Ancient fortification is moreattractive to the architectm\al stuilent becausethe results of its most skilful ami scientificoperations are picturesque and effective, whetherin ruins or in complete repair. It is to be observed that before the invention and considerable development of attack by means of gunpowder, the defence of the walls of a castle or
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