The first intimation of trees being cut down “to build bulwarks against the city till it be subdued,” occurs in Deut. xx., 19, 20, but the earliest precise mention of Artillery is in 2nd Chron., xxvi, 15, where we are told that Uzziah “made in Jerusalem engines invented by cunning men, to be upon the towers and upon the bulwarks, to shoot arrows and great stones withal;” and Josephus relates that Uzziah “made many engines of war for besieging cities, such as hurl stones and darts with grapplers, and other instruments of that sort.” He must therefore be considered the inventor of them, and from that time they began to be employed in attacking and defending towns. ~Balistæ at Regium, B. C. 388.~ ~At Motya B. C. 370.~ The earliest instances of projectile machines in profane history appear to be at the siege of Regium and Motya by Dionysius, where, having battered the walls with his rams, he advanced towards them towers rolled on wheels, from whence he galled the besieged with continual volleys of stones and arrows, thrown from his Balistæ and Catapultæ. ~At Rhodes B. C. 303.~ The next memorable instance is the siege of Rhodes by Demetrius Polyorcetes, who brought forward a newly invented machine, called Helepolis, (taker of Cities), with a variety of other engines, and employed 30,000 men in the management of them. ~Balistæ at Cremona.~ Tacitus mentions an extraordinary engine, used by the 15th Legion at the battle of Cremona, against the troops of Vespasian. It was a Balista of enormous size, which discharged stones of weight sufficient to crush whole ranks at once. Inevitable ruin would have been the consequence, had not two soldiers, undiscovered, cut the ropes and springs. At length, after a vigorous assault from Antonius, the Vittelians, unable to resist the shock, rolled down the engine, and crushed numbers of their assailants, but the machine, in falling, drew after it a neighbouring tower, the parapet, and part of the wall, which afforded the besiegers easier access to the city. ~Balistæ at siege of Jotapata.~ ~Dead men and horses projected.~ Josephus relates that at the siege of Jotapata, “a stone from one of the Roman engines carried the head of a soldier, who was standing by him, three furlongs off;” that “lances were thrown with great noise, and stones, weighing 114lbs. troy, “together with fire and a multitude of arrows.” The dead bodies of men and horses were also thrown at this siege, and at that of Jerusalem, A. D. 70, to inspire terror. ~Form of Balistæ.~ The earliest form of Balistæ appears to have been a very long beam, suspended in a frame on a centre of motion, one end being considerably longer than the other. To the short end was attached a great weight, such as a chest filled with earth or stones. To the longer end a sling was affixed, in which, after being drawn down, a stone was placed, and on being suddenly let go, the long end flew up, and discharged the stone with great violence.