Page:The Pharsalia of Lucan; (IA cu31924026485809).pdf/102

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PHARSALIA
Book III
But the eager chiefImpatient of the combat by the wallsCarries the warfare to the furthest west. 510Meanwhile a giant mound, on star-shaped wheelsConcealed, they fashion, crowned with double towersHigh as the battlements, by cause unseenSlow creeping onwards; while amazed the foe,Beheld, and thought some subterranean gustHad burst the caverns of the earth and forcedThe nodding pile aloft, and wondered soreTheir walls should stand unshaken. From its heightHissed clown the weapons; but the Grecian boltsWith greater force were on the Romans hurled; 520Nor by the arm unaided, for the lanceUrged by the catapult resistless rushedThrough arms and shield and flesh, and left a deathBehind, nor stayed its course: and massive stonesCast by the beams of mighty engines fell;As from the mountain top some time-worn rockAt length by winds dislodged, in all its trackSpreads ruin vast: nor crushed the life aloneForth from the body, but dispersed the limbsIn fragments undistinguished and in blood. 530But as protected by the armour shieldThe might of Rome drew nigh beneath the wall(The front rank with their bucklers interlacedAnd held above their helms), the missiles fellBehind their backs, nor could the toiling GreeksDeflect their engines, throwing still the boltsFar into space; but from the rampart topFlung ponderous masses down. Long as the shieldsHeld firm together, like to hail that fallsHarmless upon a roof, so long the stones 540Crushed down innocuous; but as the blows
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