t the wall. And this beam by frequent
blows is able quite easily to batter down and tear open a wall wherever
it strikes, and it is for this reason that the engine has the name it
bears, because the striking end of the beam, projecting as it does, is
accustomed to butt against whatever it may encounter, precisely as do
the males among sheep. Such, then, are the rams used by the assailants
of a wall. And the Goths were holding in readiness an exceedingly great
number of bundles of faggots, which they had made of pieces of wood and
reeds, in order that by throwing them into the moat they might make the
ground level, and that their engines might not be prevented from
crossing it. Now after the Goths had made their preparations in this
manner, they were eager to make an assault upon the wall.

But Belisarius placed upon the towers engines which they call
"ballistae."[103] Now these engines have the form of a bow, but on the
under side of them a grooved wooden shaft projects; this shaft is so
fitted to the bow that it is free to move, and rests upon a straight
iron bed. So when men wish to shoot at the enemy with this, they make
the parts of the bow which form the ends bend toward one another by
means of a short rope fastened to them, and they place in the grooved
shaft the arrow, which is about one half the length of the ordinary
missiles which they shoot from bows, but about four times as wide.
However, it does not have feathers of the usual sort attached to it, but
by inserting thin pieces of wood in place of feathers, they give it in
all respects the form of an arrow, making the point which they put on
very large and in keeping with its thickness. And the men who stand on
either side wind it up tight by means of certain appliances, and then
the grooved shaft shoots forward and stops, but the missile is
discharged from the shaft,[104] and with such force that it attains
the distance of not less than two bow-shots, and that, when it hits a
tree or a rock, it pierces it easily. Such is the engine which bears
this name, being so called because it shoots with very great force.[105]
And they fixed other engines along the parapet of the wall adapted for
throwing stones. Now these resemble slings and are called "wild
asses."[106] And outside the gates they placed "wolves,"[107] which they
make in the following manner. They set up two timbers which reach from
the ground to the battlements; then they fit together beams which have