Roman siege engines

2 Artillery

Roman siege engines were, for the most part, adapted

from Hellenistic siege technology. Relatively small efforts were made to develop the technology; however, the
Romans brought an unrelentingly aggressive style to siege
warfare[1] that brought them repeated success. Up to the
1st century BC the Romans utilized siege weapons only
as required and relied for the most part on ladders, towers and rams to assault a fortied town. Ballistae were
also employed, but held no permanent place within a legions roster, until later in the Republic, and were used
sparingly. Julius Caesar took great interest in the integration of advanced siege engines, organizing their use for
optimal battleeld eciency.[2]

Army engineering corps

Roman siege engines

Roman artillery was very ecient at that time, and during a siege the Romans would attack the weakest area of
their enemys defenses and attempt to breach the walls at
that point. To support this eort, artillery re would commence, with three main objectives:[3] to cause damage to
defenses, casualties among the opposing army, and loss of
enemy morale. It would also provide cover re for troops
building siege ramps or those in siege towers. There
were machines called tormenta , which would launch
(sometimes incendiary) projectiles such as javelins, arrows, rocks, or beams. These devices were on wheeled
platforms to follow the lines advance. All were predicated on a principle of physics: a lever was inserted into
a skein of twisted horsehair to increase torsion, and when
the arm was released, a considerable amount of energy
was thus freed.[3] It was later stated that sinew, instead
of twisted hair, provided a better spring. These weapons
were high-maintenance devices and vulnerable to having
their leather, sinew, or hemp skeins aected by wet or
even damp, which would cause them to slacken and lose
tension, rendering the engine useless.[4]

Roman springald.

Main article: Roman military engineering

To facilitate this organization and the armys selfsuciency, an engineering corps was developed. An ofcer of engineers, or praefectus fabrum, is referenced in
armies of the Late Republic, but this post is not veriable in all accounts and may have simply been a military
advisor on the personal sta of a commanding ocer.[2]
There were legion architects (whose rank is yet unknown)
who were responsible for the construction of war machines who would also assure that all artillery constructions in the eld were level. Ensuring that constructions were level was the job of the libratores, who would
also launch missiles and other projectiles (on occasion)
during battle (Le Bohec 1994: 52). The engineering
corps was in charge of massive production, frequently
prefabricating artillery and siege equipment to facilitate
its transportation.[1]

It is somewhat dicult to clearly dene and describe Roman artillery, as names are easily confused and historians
still do not agree on all denitions. Perhaps best known
are the ballista, the onager, and the scorpio.

2.1 Ballista
Main article: Ballista
After the absorption of the Ancient Greek City states
into the Roman Republic in 146 BC, some advanced
Greek technology began to spread across many areas of
1

ARTILLERY

Dionysus of Syracuse), as well as all the scientic, mathematical, political and artistic developments.
The Romans 'inherited' the torsion powered Ballistae
which had by now spread to several cities around the
Mediterranean, all of which became Roman spoils of war
in time, including one from Pergamum, which was depicted among a pile of 'trophy' weapons in relief on a
balustrade.
The torsion ballista, developed by Alexander, was a far
more complicated weapon than its predecessor, and the
Romans developed it even further.
Roman arrow machine.

Vitruvius, in his De Architectura Book X, describes the

construction and tuning of Ballistae.
Every century (group of 60-100 men) in the Roman army
had a ballista by the 1st century AD.[6] It was the command of the chief of the ballista, under whom were the
artillery experts, or doctores ballistarum and nally, the
artillerymen, or ballistarii.[7] Ballistae were heavy missile
weapons, hurling large rocks great distances to damage
rampart walls. They resembled large crossbows, rather
than catapults. They were powered by two horizontal like
arms, which were inserted into two vertical and tightly
wound skein springs contained in a rectangular frame
structure making up the head or principal part of the
weapon. The arms were drawn rearward with a winch
lever to further twist the skeins and thus gain the torsion power to cast a projectile.[4] It has been said that the
whirring sound of a ballista-red stone struck fear and
dread into the hearts of those inside the walls of besieged
cities. The stones chosen to be used in the ballista had to
be a particular sort. According to Vegetius river stones
were best, since they are round, smooth, and dense. Ballista stones found at the site of Masada were chiseled to
make them as round as possible.[8]

One talent ballista (26 kg weight projectile). The heaviest versions

could shoot up to three talents (78 kg), possibly much more.[5]

2.1.1 Early Roman ballista

A ballista.
Roman 'catapult-nest' on Trajans Column

Roman inuence. This included the hugely advantageous

military advances the Greeks had made (most notably by The early Roman ballistae were made of wood, and held

2.2

The Onager

3
Britons to ght the Romans in Gaul.
A total of eighty transports, carrying two legions attempted to land on the British shore, only to be driven
back by the many British warriors assembled along the
shoreline. The ships had to unload their troops on the
beach, as it was the only one suitable for many kilometers,
yet the massed ranks of British charioteers and javeliners
were making it impossible.

Ballista, military equipment of ancient Rome.

Seeing this, Caesar ordered the warships

which were swifter and easier to handle than
the transports, and likely to impress the natives more by their unfamiliar appearance to
be removed a short distance from the others,
and then be rowed hard and run ashore on the
enemys right ank, from which position the
slings, bows and artillery could be used by men
on deck to drive them back. This manoeuvre
was highly successful.
Scared by the strange shape of the warships,
the motion of the oars, and the unfamiliar machines, the natives halted and then retreated a
little. (Caesar, The Conquest of Gaul, p. 99)

together with iron plates around the frames and iron nails
in the stand. The main stand had a slider on the top, into
which were loaded the bolts or stone 'shot'. Attached to
this, at the back, was a pair of winches and a claw, used
to ratchet the bowstring back to the armed ring position.
A slider passed through the eld frames of the weapon,
2.1.3 Siege of Alesia
in which were located the torsion springs (rope made of
animal sinew), which were twisted around the bow arms,
In Gaul, the stronghold of Alesia was under a Roman
which in turn were attached to the bowstring.
siege in 52 BC, and surrounded by Roman fortications.
Drawing the bowstring back with the winches twisted the As was standard siege technique at the time, ballistae
already taut springs, storing the energy to re the projec- were placed up in the towers with other soldiers armed
tiles.
with either bows or slings.
The ballista was a highly accurate weapon (there are many
accounts right from its early history of single soldiers being picked o by the operators), but some design aspects 2.2 The Onager
meant it could compromise its accuracy for range. The
Main article: Onager (siege weapon)
lightweight bolts could not gain the high momentum of
The onager was a post-classical Roman siege engine,
the stones over the same distance as those thrown by the
later onagers, trebuchets, or mangonels; these could be as
heavy as 90-135 kg (200-300 pounds).
The Romans continued the development of the Ballista,
and it became a highly prized and valued weapon in the
army of the Roman Empire.
It was used, just before the start of the Empire, by
Julius Caesar during his conquest of Gaul and on both
of his expeditions to Britain. Both attempted invasions
of Britain and the siege of Alesia are recorded in his own
Commentarii (journal), The Gallic Wars (De Bello Gallico). It was also used in the Roman siege of Masada.

2.1.2

First invasion of Britain

The rst invasion of Britain took place in 55 BC, after

a rapid and successful initial conquest of Gaul, in part
as an exploratory expedition, and more practically to try
and put an end to the re-enforcements sent by the native

Sketch of an Onager, from Antique technology by Diels

which derived its name from the kicking action of the

machine, similar to that of an onager (wild ass). It is
a type of catapult that uses torsional pressure, generally
from twisted rope, to store energy for the shot.

BREAKING THE WALLS

The onager consisted of a frame placed on the ground mechanisms to load and re the catapult. All that was
to whose front end a vertical frame of solid timber was needed was for another soldier to keep feeding in more
rigidly xed; through the vertical frame ran an axle, which arrows.[10]
had a single stout spoke. On the extremity of the spoke
was a sling used to launch a projectile.
In action the spoke was forced down, against the tension 3 Breaking the walls
of twisted ropes or other springs, by a windlass, and then
suddenly released. The spoke thus kicked the crosspiece
3.1 Battering rams
of the vertical frame, and the projectile at its extreme end
was shot forward.
Main article: Battering ram
The onagers of the Roman Empire were mainly used
Roman battering rams, or aries, were an eective
for besieging forts or settlements. They would often be
loaded with large stones or rocks that could be covered
with a ammable substance and set alight.
In the Middle Ages (recorded from around 1200 C.E.)
a less powerful version of the onager was used that employed a xed bowl rather than a sling, so that many small
projectiles could be thrown, as opposed to a single large
one. This engine was sometimes called the mangonel, although the same name may have been used for a variety
of siege engines.

2.3

Scorpios

Roman battering ram.

Main article: Scorpio (dart-thrower)

The scorpio was a crossbow-like device that red smaller

A battering ram (aries) with a shed (testudo). After a relief on

Septimius Severus' triumphal arc in Rome.

Modern reconstruction of a Scorpio

weapon for breaking down an enemys walls, as well as

their morale. Under Roman law, any defenders who
failed to surrender before the rst ram touched their wall
were denied any rights.[11] 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.[12]

Josephus describes the battering ram used at Jotapata

arrows with deadly accuracy[2] used both in the eld thus:[13]
and in sieges. They were so-named for their deadly,
armor-piercing sting and could be operated by just one
It is an immense beam, similar to a ships
or two men. Scorpios were meant to kill and injure enmast, with one end covered with iron shaped
emy troops, rather than break down enemy fortications.
into a rams head; hence its name. It is susThanks to their smaller size, they could be mounted on or
pended from another beam like a balance arm
in siege towers. During the Siege of Amida, a scorpionby cables around its middle, and this in turn
red arrow killed the son of Grumbate, king of the Chionis supported at both ends by posts xed in the
itae, when he was approaching the city to surrender.[9]
ground. It is drawn back by a huge number of
There has been some research done into the exismen who then push it forward in unison with all
tence of the self-loading, serial-re scorpio or polybolos.
their might so that it hits the wall with its iron
Legionaries either side would continuously keep turning
head. There is no tower strong enough nor any
cranks which turned a chain, which operated the various
wall thick enough to withstand repeated blows

3.3

Mines

The remains of the Roman siege-ramp at Masada

of this kind, and many cannot resist the rst

shock.
Vitruvius in De Architectura Book X describes the con- Siege Machine.
struction 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 tortoises 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 reproof material such as uncured hides.[14] According to Apollodorus
of Damascus, the shelter should be xed 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.[15]

3.2

Siege towers

Main article: Siege towers

siegers sometimes built a tower with another turret inside

it that could suddenly be raised by ropes and pulleys to
over-top the wall.[17]

3.3 Mines
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 ring the supports with resin, sulfur and other incendiary materials.[18]

4 See also
Roman engineering
Vitruvius

According to Josephus, the Roman siege towers at

Jotapata were 50 feet high and iron-plated to protect them
from re; those at Masada were reported to be 75 feet
high. It was possible to have many dierent devices on
siege towers, such as artillery, draw bridges and rams.
Those at the top of the tower were to keep defenders o
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 75ft tall and was compromised
when the Jewish resistance tunneled underneath the tower
leading it to collapse. [16] Following a basic design, details
of tower construction varied from siege to siege and there
is no known treatise which species at which level siege
equipment should be placed. Vegetius noted that, be-

5 Notes
[1] Goldsworthy 2000: 144
[2] Keppie 1984: 99
[3] Le Bohec 1994: 138
[4] Catapulta at LegionXXIV
[5] Werner Soedel, Vernard Foley: Ancient Catapults,
Scientic American, Vol. 240, No. 3 (March 1979),
p.120-128 (121.)
[6] Le Bohec 1994: p. 138

[7] Le Bohec 1994: p. 49

[8] Garrison 1997.
[9] Goldsworthy 2000: 191
[10] Siege weapons at roman-empire.net
[11] Goldsworthy 2000: p. 145
[12] Gilliver 1999: p. 140
[13] Le Bohec 1994: p. 139
[14] Gilliver 1999: pp. 134-135
[15] Gilliver 1999: p. 138
[16] Gilliver 1999: pp. 136-137.
[17] Gilliver 1999: 138
[18] Gilliver 1999: 140

References
James V. Garrison (1997). Casting stones: ballista,
stones as weapons, and death by stoning. Brigham
Young University Studies 36 (3): 351352.
Gilliver, C.M. (1999). The Roman Art of War.
Charleston, SC: Tempus. ISBN 0-7524-1939-0.
Goldsworthy, Adrian (2000). Roman Warfare.
London: Cassell. ISBN 0-304-35265-9.
Keppie, Lawrence (1984). The Making of the Roman Army from Empire to Republic. Totowa, NJ:
Barnes & Noble Books. ISBN 0-389-20447-1.
Le Bohec, Yann (1994). The Imperial Roman Army.
London: B.T. Batsford Ltd. ISBN 0-7134-7166-2.

REFERENCES

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

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Roman siege engines Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_siege_engines?oldid=648113132 Contributors: Ixfd64, Stephan

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Michaelas10, Gogo Dodo, Epbr123, Marek69, Folantin, Gioto, VoABot II, Fabrictramp, Edward321, Gun Powder Ma, SquidSK, R'n'B,
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