GRIM “HELEPOLIS”

Evening Star, Issue 19712, 12 November 1927, Page 21

GRIM “HELEPOLIS”

ARTILLERY, AHCIEHT AND MOOERU TERRORS OF OLD TIME WAR Artillery, by its own decisive action, cannot ensure victory, which must result from the final combat —the man-to-man fight. This precept, au axiom to every trained soldier, is ono of those laws of military _ science which have prevailed ever since man first systematically made war on man (says a writer m the Sydney ‘Sun’). Any modifications of this law, which have been brought about by the use of explosives, apply to the projectile itself rather than to the moans of its propulsion. In a word, the moral and physical effect of shellfire is at once minimised in the absence of shrapnel and “high explosives.” Eliminating, then, these two adjuncts of modern artillery equipment, it is found that both as regards tactical use and practical effect the artillery of to-day bears a striking resemblance to that of, say, 2,000 years ago. Of what did the artillery equipment of the ancients—e.g., during the three centuries prior to th Cehristian era—consist? Grouped under the name “ Torraeatum,” tho historians of tho classical age freely relate the use and efficacy of contemporary engines of ivar. The word “ tormentum is derived from the Latin torqueo—i.e., I twist—and it is from this fact that wo are able definitely to conclude that the artillery of the ancients depended for propulsive energy upon tho twisting of cords, fibre, or hair. Like our modern artillery, tho tormenta were graded and divided into two main classes—heavy (balistae) and light (catapultae); the former, which discharged stones varying in weight from throe to three hundred pounds, were known to the Greeks as petroboloi; the latter, much more numerously employed, were used exclusively for tho discharge of various kinds of pointed missiles—darts, arrows ; and especially _ the “falarica,” a kind of javelin with a heavy metal head about eighteen inches long, having a heavy leaden ball at the base (presumably to impart stability in flight), capable of carrying flaming pitch in its recesses, and measuring over all about sft. That tbe armies of old were well supplied with these implements may be deduced from the figures presented by tbe Roman historian, Livy, in recording the capture of New Cartilage by his countrymen during the Punic War. In the arsenal of that town were found 120 largo and 281 small catapults, 23 large and 52 small balistae. In battle, the war engines, like our artillery, operated from the rear of the army, hurling arrows, stones, and flaming javelins over the heads of their own infantry into the serried ranks of the opposing phalanxes. The gunners, called by the Romans balistarii, by tbe Greeks aphetae, were commanded by specially trained officers, and each legion or_ fighting unit had its regulated equipment and personnel. ENTER THE RAM. But to breach the walls and gain quick ingress into a city was of paramount importance to the commander of _ a besieging army. Here enters in primitive form Aries—tbe ram. For centuries Aries consisted of a long baulk of timber bearing at the “ aggressive” end a large metal cap designed in the form of a ram’s bead. Carried on the shoulders of a body of soldiers chosen for their strength, protected by_ tbe arrows of a supporting force against the attacks of those of tho defenders manning the walls, Aries was launched persistently and violently against a chosen spot in the wall until a breach was made. During the wars of Philip of Macedon and his son, Alexander the Great, a much improved

Aries was introduced. While the ram’e head of hardened metal was retained, the tedium of holding aloft the heavy baulk was doue away with, the beam being suspended from an overhead framework. The Aries was then drawn back and released, the momentum imparted by the great weight of the baulk rendering the impact of the head upon the wall terrific. Polybius, the Greek historian, informs us that one of these Aries measured 150 ft in length. The effect of a well-directed plunge from such a weight is not difficult to imagine. Protection was afforded to those manning the Aries by moans of an overhead covering sheathed with iron plates as defence against the missiles, boiling oil, aud pitch discharged from he walls above.

This protection of the Aries by a roof no doubt supplied the inceptive idea that produced the most amazing contrivance in the whole category of war material—the Helepolis. If you saw the large new Commercial Bank building in George street, with an ironplated front, advancing up Martin place, borne on eight massive wheels that could turn in any direction independently (Gk. antistrepta), the windows of each story like huge protected port-holes, you would see something resembling the Helepolis used by Demetrius, one of the successors of Alexander the Groat, at the siege of Rhodes (300 n. 0.), and by the Romans at Jerusalem (70 A.n.j. A more minute description of this mighty war engine is given us by Diodorus the historian, taken probably from the exact description written by Dioccides of Abdera, who actually watched the construction of the Helepolis used by the Demetrius mentioned above. This particular engine Was built by Epimaclius, an Athenian. Its base was square, being 80ft on each side. Its sides rose to a height of 150 ft and sloped inwards so as to give the whole structure the form of a truncated pyramid. NINE GARRISONED FLOORS. Its sides were armored with heavy iron plates, the apertures through which the ballistae and catapults discharged their missiles were fitted with doors of iron framework and leather stuffed with fibre. There were nine floors, in each of which wore two stairways for the crew to pass up and down. In the centre there was probably a hoist for munitions. The whole was mounted upon eight wheels as described above. The uppermost decks were us d by the catapultae, the middle by the balistao, and the lowest accommodated Aries. In action the functions of the Helepolis were to hurl missiles against the battlements and to keep the defenders from the walls, and at the same time to 4 permit the battering ram to breach the walls unmolested. The crow of the engine thus described numbered several thousands. The Rhodian engineers, however, lost no time in forming a plan to make the “ citytaker” neutral. /They undermined the position upon which the massive structure stood, and one night there was a fearful crash, followed by frantic cries of rage and delight when the torches on the walls revealed the helpless mammoth. That the terrifying aspect of modern warfare may not bo over-exaggerated by comparison with the wars of bygone centuries, it may be interesting to those not conversant with the works of Flavius Josephus to quote an extract from his description of the fighting before Jotapata during the siege of the town by the Roman General Vaspasian: “ But though numbers were beaten down by the catapults and balistne, yet many remained upon the walls, and with flame and spear assailed those who worked the ram below. But the glare of their fire made

them a mark for the engines below, which they in turn could not see in the darkness. By the force of the catapults channels were cut in the dense files of the defenders, while the stones from the machines, whizzing through the air, broke through the battlements or sent the towers crashing below. The violence and magnitude of the machines was more than the firmest troops could ( withstand. Terrific indeed was the din of the engines, the whizzing of the stones, the crashing of masonry, and the heavy thudding of the dead as they fell from the ramparts. The glare that surrounded the flame throwers alone broke the darkness. The hills re-echoed and multiplied the awful din of war.”