‘But still Josephus and those with him, although they fell down dead one upon another by the darts and stones which the engines threw upon them, did not desert the wall.... The engines could not be seen at a great distance and so what was thrown by them was hard to be avoided; for the force with which these engines threw stones and darts made them wound several at a time, and the violence of the stones that were cast by the engines was so great that they carried away the pinnacles of the wall and broke off the corners of the towers; for no body of men could be so strong as not to be overthrown to the last rank by the largeness of the stones.... The noise of the instruments themselves was very terrible, the sound of the darts and stones that were thrown by them was so also; of the same sort was that noise that dead bodies made when they were dashed against the wall.’ (2) _Wars of the Jews_, Book V., Chapter VI.--The siege of Jerusalem, A.D. 70. ‘The engines that all the legions had ready prepared for them were admirably contrived; but still more extraordinary ones belonged to the tenth legion: those that threw darts and those that threw stones were more forcible and larger than the rest, by which they not only repelled the excursions of the Jews but drove those away who were upon the walls also. Now the stones that were cast were of the weight of a talent[29] and were carried two or more stades.[30] [29] 57¾ lbs. (avoirdupois). [30] Two stades would be 404 yards; the measure of a stade is 606¾ English feet. ‘The blow they gave was no way to be sustained, not only by those who stood first in the way but by those who were beyond them for a great space. ‘As for the Jews, they at first watched the coming of the stone, for it was of a white colour and could therefore not only be perceived by the great noise it made, but could be seen also before it came by its brightness; accordingly the watchmen that sat upon the towers gave notice when an engine was let go ... so those that were in its way stood off and threw themselves down upon the ground. But the Romans contrived how to prevent this by blacking the stone; they could then aim with success when the stone was not discerned beforehand, as it had been previously.’ The accounts given by Josephus are direct and trustworthy evidence, for the reason that this chronicler relates what he personally witnessed during the sieges he describes, in one of which (Jotapata) he acted the part of a brave and resourceful commander.