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[16] But when the besiegers, carrying before them hurdles of wicker work, were already threatening the walls, the enemy's slingers and archers, others even rolling down huge stones, with torches and fiery shafts 1 tried to keep them at a distance; then ballistae adapted for wooden arrows were bent and plied with screaming sound, sending forth showers of missiles; and scorpions, hauled to various places by skilled hands, hurled round stones. 2

1 See xxiii. 4, 14.

2 See xxiii. 4, 4-5.

Ammianus Marcellinus. With An English Translation. John C. Rolfe, Ph.D., Litt.D. Cambridge. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1935-1940.

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