THE FORT. 129 



" Sometimes the shields were disposed in such a way as to 

 make the Testudo slope The soldiers in the first line stood 

 upright, those in the centre stooped a little, and each line 

 successively was a little lower than the preceding, down to the 

 last, where the soldiers rested on one knee. Such a disposition 

 of the shields was called Fastigata Testudo, on account of their 

 sloping like the roof of a building. 



" The advantages of this plan were obvious. The stones and 

 missiles thrown upon the shields rolled off them like water 

 from a roof ; besides which, other soldiers frequently advanced 

 upon them to attack the enemy upon the walls. The Romans 

 were accustomed to form this kind of Testudo as an exercise 

 in the games of the Circus." 



On the right hand of the illustration is shown a portion of 

 a Testudo of three ranks, taken from the Antonine column. 

 On the left is an ordinary Tortoise. Sometimes the Testudo 

 was a covered machine on wheels, and guarded above with a 

 supplementary roof of wet hides arranged in scale fashion, so 

 as to prevent it from being set on fire by the besieged, and 

 to throw off the heavy missiles which were dropped upon it. 

 Under cover of this Testudo, the soldiers could either under- 

 mine the walls, or bring a battering-ram to bear upon them, 

 while the men who worked it were safely under cover. As to 

 the battering-ram itself, we shall presently treat of it. 



THE FORT. 



As we have treated of one of the modes by which Forts were 

 assaulted, we will now come to the Fort itself. 



The transitions in Fort-making are too curious to be omitted 

 from the present book. As soon as war became organized, 

 a Fort of some kind was necessary. The simplest mode of 

 making a Fort was evidently to dig a deep trench, and throw 

 up the earth on the inside, so as to form a wall. Let such a 

 trench be square or circular, and there is a simple but powerful 

 Fort, by means of which a comparatively small garrison could 

 defend themselves against a superior force. 



The Romans were great masters of this art, fighting as much 

 with the spade as the sword. So strong and thorough was the 

 old Roman work that many of their camps still remain, and will 



K 



