12-26-2010, 11:31 PM
I was checking back on this post today and I decided to look up the Josephus reference.
Wars 3.7.19 214
This battering ram is a vast beam of wood like the mast of a ship, its forepart is armed with a thick piece of iron at the head of it, which is so carved as to be like the head of a ram, whence its name is taken. This ram is slung in the air by ropes passing over its middle, and is hung like the balance in a pair of scales from another beam, and braced by strong beams that pass on both sides of it, in the nature of a cross.
Here's an image I found that seems to depict what he described.
![[Image: accurate4_4.gif]](http://www.theevidence.org.uk/library/accurate4_4.gif)
Wars 3.7.19 214
This battering ram is a vast beam of wood like the mast of a ship, its forepart is armed with a thick piece of iron at the head of it, which is so carved as to be like the head of a ram, whence its name is taken. This ram is slung in the air by ropes passing over its middle, and is hung like the balance in a pair of scales from another beam, and braced by strong beams that pass on both sides of it, in the nature of a cross.
Here's an image I found that seems to depict what he described.