er of machines, some for the attack and some
for the defence of a city, of which he himself did not make use, as he
spent most of his life in unwarlike and literary leisure, but now
these engines were ready for use in Syracuse, and also, the inventor
was present to direct their working.

XV. So when the Romans attacked by sea and land at once, the
Syracusans were at first terrified and silent, dreading that nothing
could resist such an armament. But Archimedes opened fire from his
machines, throwing upon the land forces all manner of darts and great
stones, with an incredible noise and violence, which no man could
withstand; but those upon whom they fell were struck down in heaps,
and their ranks thrown into confusion, while some of the ships were
suddenly seized by iron hooks, and by a counter-balancing weight were
drawn up and then plunged to the bottom. Others they caught by irons
like hands or claws suspended from cranes, and first pulled them up by
their bows till they stood upright upon their sterns, and then cast
down into the water, or by means of windlasses and tackles worked
inside the city, dashed them against the cliffs and rocks at the base
of the walls, with terrible destruction to their crews. Often was seen
the fearful sight of a ship lifted out of the sea into the air,
swaying and balancing about, until the men were all thrown out or
overwhelmed with stones from slings, when the empty vessel would
either be dashed against the fortifications, or dropped into the sea
by the claws being let go. The great engine which Marcellus was
bringing up on the raft, called the Harp, from some resemblance to
that instrument, was, while still at a distance, struck by a stone of
ten talents weight, and then another and another, which fell with a
terrible crash, breaking the platform on which the machine stood,
loosening its bolts, and tearing asunder the hulks which supported it.
Marcellus, despairing of success, drew off his ships as fast as
possible, and sent orders to the land forces to retreat. In a council
of war, it was determined to make another assault by night; for they
argued that the straining cords which Archimedes used to propel his
missiles required a long distance to work in, and would make the shot
fly over them at close quarters, and be practically useless, as they
required a long stroke. But he, it appears, had long before prepared
engines suited for short as well as long distances, and short darts to