Battering-ram

Battering-ram, an engine of war used in ancient and medieval times. It consisted of a beam of wood, with a mass of bronze or iron on one end, resembling the head of a ram (Lat. aries). In its simplest form, it was borne and impelled by the hands of the soldiers; afterwards, it was suspended in a frame, and made to swing. Another form moved on rollers. The alternating motion was communicated by ropes. To protect those working it, a wooden roof (testudo) was constructed over it, and the whole was mounted on wheels. The beam of the ram varied from 60 to 120 feet in length, the head sometimes weighed above a ton, and as many as 100 men were employed in impelling the machine. When the blows were long enough continued, hardly any wall could resist. The Romans derived it from the Greeks. A battering-ram was used in Irish evictions in 1889-90.