Excerpt from Transactions of the Literary and Historical Society of Quebec, Vol. 2: Sessions of 1873-74 and 1874-75<br><br>The primary object of fortification was to enable 'the few to hold their own against the many, - the weak against the strong to prevent surprise, and gain time for organized defence. Before the days of artillery, massive continuous walls protected unwarlike citizens from the sudden incursions of fiercer foes. The great wall of China against the Tartars, and that of Agricola to keep out the Picts and Scots, the walls of Babylon and others, were of this character. The besiegers raised a large mound of earth to command the walls, and surrounded the city with lines of circumvallation to confine the garrison.<br><br>The battering-ram was the chief agent in breaching ancient walls. A huge beam, sometimes 100 feet long, with a metal head, was horizontally suspended by ropes, generally under a shed, to protect the assailants, and made to oscillate by manual power, striking the wall until it crumbled to ruin. Josephus. Says that no walls were able to resist this weapon. The upper story of the shed or moveable tower (the beffroi of the. Middle ages) was' occupied by archers, who could command the walls of the besieged. In all battering or breaching, the weight Of missile or striking object and velocity of impact are the two factors producing the result.<br><br>About the Publisher<br><br>Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com<br><br>This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.