‘Marcellus in distress drew off his galleys as fast as possible and sent orders to his land forces to retire likewise. He then called a council of war, in which it was resolved to come close up to the walls of the city the next morning before daybreak, for they argued that the engines of Archimedes, being very powerful and designed to act at a long distance, would discharge their projectiles high over their heads. But for this Archimedes had been prepared, for he had engines at his disposal which were constructed to shoot at all ranges. When, therefore, the Romans came close to the walls, undiscovered as they thought, they were assailed with showers of darts, besides huge pieces of rock which fell as it were perpendicularly upon their heads, for the engines played upon them from every quarter. ‘This obliged the Romans to retire, and when they were some way from the town Archimedes used his larger machines upon them as they retreated, which made terrible havoc among them as well as greatly damaged their shipping. Marcellus, however, derided his engineers and said, “Why do we not leave off contending with this geometrical Briareus, who sitting at ease and acting as if in jest has shamefully baffled our assaults, and in striking us with such a multitude of bolts at once exceeds even the hundred-handed giant of fable?” ‘At length the Romans were so terrified that, if they saw but a rope or a beam projecting over the walls of Syracuse, they cried out that Archimedes was levelling some machine at them and turned their backs and fled.’ As Marcellus was unable to contend with the machines directed by Archimedes and as his ships and army had suffered severely from the effects of these stone- and javelin-casting weapons, he changed his tactics and instead of besieging the town he blockaded it and finally took it by surprise. Though, at the time of the siege of Syracuse, Archimedes gained a reputation for divine rather than human knowledge in regard to the methods he employed in the defence of the city, he left no description of his wonderful engines, for he regarded them as mere mechanical appliances which were beneath his serious attention, his life being devoted to solving abstruse questions of mathematics and geometry. Archimedes was slain at the capture of Syracuse, B.C. 212, to the great regret of Marcellus. The following extracts from Josephus, as translated by Whiston, enable us to form an excellent idea of the effects of great catapults in warfare: (1) _Wars of the Jews_, Book III., Chapter VII.--The siege of Jotapata, A.D. 67. ‘Vespasian then set the engines for throwing stones and darts round about the city; the number of the engines was in all a hundred and sixty.... At the same time such engines as were intended for that purpose threw their spears buzzing forth, and stones of the weight of a talent were thrown by the engines that were prepared for doing so.... [Page 37]