06.08.26: Level 3+; Comenius (1658) CXLIII; the besieging of a city [8] vocabulary and notes [vii]: from the authors

[i] turrēs contabulantur, pinnae lōrīcaeque ex crātibus attexuntur (Caesar)

• towers are constructed, the battlements and protective walls are constructed out of wicker

Note: attexuntur < attexō, -ere [3]: attach by weaving 

[ii] et lōrīcam vallumque per fīnīs suōs Trevīrī strūxēre (Tacitus)

• and the Treveri had constructed a breastwork and rampart across their territory

[iii] aggere et fossīs et mūrō circumdat urbem (Livy)

• He surrounds the City with a rampart, trenches, and a wall

[iv] Ēruptiōnibus [...] aggerī ignem īnferēbant (Caesar)

• By sorties they set fire to the ramparts

ēruptiō, -ōnis [3/f]: [i] eruption; [ii] (Military) sortie; sally, a sudden attack from troops who are besieged

[v] Ante haec tāleae pedem longae ferreīs hāmīs īnfīxīs tōtae in terram īnfodiēbantur mediocribusque intermissīs spatiīs omnibus locīs disserēbantur; quōs stimulōs nōminābant (Caesar)

• Stakes a foot long, with iron hooks attached to them, were entirely sunk in the ground before these (defences), and were planted in every place at small intervals; these they called spurs (some translations retain the Latin stimuli)

hāmus, -ī [2/m]: hook; fishhook

tālea, -ae [1/f] (wooden) stake

[vi] Post eās aggerem ac vāllum duodecim pedum exstrūxit. Huic lōrīcam pinnāsque adiēcit grandibus cervīs ēminentibus ad commissūrās pluteōrum atque aggeris, quī ascēnsum hostium tardārent, et turrēs tōtō opere circumdedit, quae pedēs LXXX inter sē distārent (Caesar)

• Behind these he raised a rampart and wall twelve feet high; to this he added a parapet and battlements, with large stakes cut like stags' horns, projecting outwards at the joints of the mantlets and the rampart, that would delay the enemy’s ascent, and he surrounded the entire work with turrets, which were eighty feet distant from one another.

opus, operis [3/n]: [i] (in general) work; labour, [ii] (here) a military work, either a defensive work, fortification, or a work of besiegers, a siege-engine, machine, etc

[vii] reliqua pars scrobis ad occultandās īnsidiās vīminibus ac virgultīs integēbātur. Huius generis octōnī ōrdinēs ductī ternōs inter sē pedēs distābant. Id ex similitūdine flōris līlium appellābant (Caesar)

• The rest of the pit was covered with wickerwork and brushwood to conceal the trap. Eight rows of this kind were laid out, each three feet apart from the next. They called this “the lily,” from its resemblance to the flower.

īnsidiae, īnsidiārum [1/f pl.]: ambush, trap

virgultum, -ī [2/n]: brushwood, thicket

scrobis, -is [3/f]: pit, trench

vīmen, vīminis [3/n]: wicker, pliant twig

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Image #1: the līlia at Rough Castle, near Falkirk, Scotland

“These pits formed part of the forward (northern) defences of the Roman fort at Rough Castle, on the Antonine Wall. They were originally about 3 feet deep and probably held upright sharpened stakes; these pits were then concealed with brushwood. The defences here consisted of about ten rows of twenty pits each. These pits were opened up by excavation in 1903, and have been kept open since then.”

Image #2: series of wooden defensive spikes strategically placed in ditches encircling the fort (1st century CE Roman fort in Bad Ems, Germany)