turris

pauperum tabernae regumque turres
the huts of poor men and the towers of kings

turris , is, f.: a tower, 2.445, et al.

turris, is (acc. turrim and turrem; abl. turri and turre; v. Neue, Formenl. I. 196 sqq.), f., = τύρρις.

• Lit.
• • A In gen., a tower: eā ballistā si pervortam turrim, Plaut. Bacch. 4, 4, 59 (698): apud vetustam turrem, Att. ap. Prisc. p. 761 P.: Dionysius contionari ex turri altā solebat, Cic. Tusc. 5, 20, 59: in omni turre, Val. Fl. 1, 14: celsae graviore casu Decidunt turres, Hor. C. 2, 10, 11; cf. altae, id. Epod. 17, 70: Dardanae, id. C. 4, 6, 7: aënea, Ov. Am. 2, 19, 27.—
  • B In partic., a military tower, for defence of a camp or the walls of a city: turrim in praecipiti stantem Adgressi ferro, Verg. A. 2, 460; Caes. B. G. 5, 40; 6, 29; id. B. C. 3, 9; Cic. Prov. Cons. 2, 4; for attack in a siege, Caes. B. G. 3, 21; Cic. Fam. 15, 4, 10; Liv. 32, 17, 17; on the backs of elephants, id. 37, 40, 4; on a ship, id. 37, 24, 6 et saep.—
• II Transf.
• • A For any high building, a castle, palace, citadel: pauperum tabernas Regumque turres, Hor. C. 1, 4, 14; so, regia, Ov. M. 8, 14: Maecenatiana, Suet. Ner. 38: maris vastum prospectet turribus aequor, Tib. 1, 7, 19.—
  • B A dove-cot built in the form of a tower, Varr. R. R. 3, 3, 6; Ov. P. 1, 6, 51.—
  • C A kind of battlearray when the troops were arranged in a square, Cato ap. Fest. s. v. serra, p. 344 Müll.; cf. Gell. 10, 9, 1.

turris, is, f. (τύῤῥις, τύρσις), jedes sehr hohe Gebäude, der Turm, das Schloß, der hohe Palast u. dgl., I) eig.: 1) im allg.: turris marmorea octogonos, Vitr.: Maecenatiana, Suet.: Hannibal ad suam turrim pervenit, Liv.: contionari ex turri alta solebat, Cic. – 2) insbes.: a) im Kriege, der Turm, womit man Mauern und Lager befestigte, Cic. u. Caes.: turris tectum, Caes.: turris latericia, Caes.: turres excitare (errichten), Caes. – der (hölzerne) Belagerungsturm, den man an die Mauer der Stadt schob, Cic. – mit Soldaten besetzte Türme, die von Elefanten getragen wurden, Liv. – b) das Taubenhaus, der Taubenschlag, der mitten im Hofe auf einem Pfahle steht, Varro u. Ov. – II) übtr., eine viereckige Art der Schlachtordnung, Cato b. Fest. p. 344 (b), 13; vgl. Gell. 10, 9, 1. – ➳ Akk. Sing. em u. im, Abl. e u. ī, s. Neue-Wagener Formenl.³ 1, 312 u. 313.

turris [CL] 1 tower; b (fig. or in fig. context); c (transf., on ship). ~es per intervalla ad prospectum maris collocant Gildas EB 18; fluctibus actos / arcibus ex celsis signans ad litora duco / flammiger imponens torres in turribus altis Aldh. Aen. 92 (Farus) 9; Brittania ‥ civitatibus ‥ insignita, praeter castella innumera quae et ipsa muris, ~ibus, portis, ac seris erant instructa firmissimis Bede HE 1 1 p. 10; caelestis luminis splendore domum repleri ~emque velut igneam a terra in celum erectam prospicit Felix Guthl. 50 p. 158; 9‥ ~is, wighuses WW; hodie obstructum est os loquentium iniqua, ~is Babel [cf. Gen. xi] concidit, labium constructorum ultrix dispersio confudit Gosc. Lib. Mild. 23; violentia fulminis apud Salesberiam tectum ~is ecclesie omnino disjecit W. Malm. GR IV 325; 1151 castri menia destruxi, ~em et universa edificia castri penitus eradicavi Act. Hen. II 24; piscatores ‥ ~es ecclesiasticas, que more patrie arcte sunt et alte necnon et rotunde, sub undis ‥ conspiciunt Gir. TH II 9; contigit aliquando ‥ apud Glouerniam in monasterio S. Petri ‥ ~em ecclesie amplam et altam, vitio fundamenti, subito ad terram ipsa confectionis hora corruisse Id. Rem. 64; 1307 est ‥ j turra debilis et ruinosa IPM 127 m. 132d..  b o qualis murus paupertas, quomodo nos defendit contra superbiam mundi ‥! qualis turris silentium, quod premit assaltus contentionis ‥ et detractionis! Ailr. Serm. 3. 7. 221B; tu ‥ civitas es regis omnium Cristi, ~ibus virtutum et propugnaculis operum bonorum constructa V. Fridesw. B 16; desertum arenosum quod est etiam ~is fortitudinis eorum [sc. colonorum Egypti] S. Sim. Itin. 47; ave, turris refugii, / cum nobis hostis impii / furens minatur gladius J. Howd. Cyth. 96. 1; s1414 hoc anno cecidit eminentissima ~is ecclesie Anglicane, pugil invictus ‥ Thomas de Arundelia Chr. S. Alb. (1406–20) 81.  c s1340 lapides a ~ibus malorum projecti multos excerebrarunt Baker f. 117b. 2 (~is Londoniensis) the Tower of London. 1257 mandatum est ‥ quod Henrico le Tyeys, attiliatori balistarum regis apud ~im London', unam robam ‥ faciant habere de dono regis Cl 24; 1316 ad capiendum cariagium pro tegul' etc. ‥ ad ‥ Turrym London' KR Ac 468/20 f. 7; s1283 caput supra ~im Londoniensem, in aliorum exemplum, fixum exaltaverunt Plusc. VII 31. 3 a (mil.) tall wooden structure, typically movable, used in attacking a fortified place. b wooden structure designed to be carried on elephant's back, howdah. a alterum [machinamentun] fuit pro lignorum penuria ~is non magna, in modum edifitiorum facta (berfreid appellant), quod fastigium murorum equaret W. Malm. GR IV 369; machinas utrimque facere incepimus ‥ suem, arietem, ~im ambulatoriam Osb. Bawdsey clxvii; s1139 rex Walingefordiam obsedit et nichil profecit. obsidionis ‥ labore pertesus, ~im ligneam ante castellum fieri precepit, quam militibus et armis ‥ munivit Gerv. Cant. Chr. 111.  b ~es ad bella cum interpositis jaculatoribus portant [elephanti] et hostes erectis promuscidibus caedunt Lib. Monstr. II 2. 4 object (in quot., sort of container) resembling a tower. c1218 ~is una cooperta argento nichil continens. item feretrum unum de esmali continens reliquias Process. Sal. 170; 1383 cilicium ‥ in una ~i eburnea Ac. Durh. 433. 5 (in gl.). zodiacus ‥ quem nos more Grecorum dicimus, Arabice felekelberug i. e. circulus ~ium nominatur. ‥ ideo dictus est quod ipse xij signa contineat, que ab eis ~es dicuntur D. Morley 164; hic turrus, a towre WW.

1 turris, (8) is, f. (τύρρις), ¶ 1 tour : Cic. Tusc. 5, 59 ; Hor. O. 2, 10, 11 || tour en bois [avec étages, ouvrage de siège ; souvent montée sur roues] : Cæs. G. 2, 30, 3 ; 3, 21, 2 ; 7, 18, 1, etc. || tour portée par un éléphant : Liv. 37, 40, 4 ; [placée sur un vaisseau] Liv. 37, 24, 6, etc. ¶ 2 maison élevée, château, palais : Hor. O. 1, 4, 14 ; Tib. 1, 7, 19 ; Ov. M. 8, 14 ; Suet. Nero 38 || colombier, pigeonnier : Varro R. 3, 3, 6 ; Ov. P. 1, 6, 51 || [formation de combat] carré : Cat. d. Fest. 344, 13 ; Gell. 10, 9, 1.

turris , is. f. acc. em vel im. abl. e vel i.
一座塔。門樓。堡。

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turris is (acc.im, rarely em; abl.ī, less freq. e), f

• a tower: contionari ex turri altā: celsae graviore casu Decidunt turres, H.: aënea, O.: ex materiā . . . turres CXX excitantur (for the defence of the camp), Cs.: vineas turrīsque egit (in attacking a town), Cs.: addebant speciem (elephantis) tergo impositae turres, L.—A high building, tower, castle, palace, citadel: pauperum tabernas Regumque turrīs, H.: Regia, O.—A dove-cot, dove-tower, O.

TURRIS

TURRIS(πύργος), a tower.

I. Stationary Towers.

The origin of the tower in fortification was doubtless, as Guhl and Koner and others have remarked, a projection of the wall on either side of the gate, to enable the garrison better to defend the entrance [see under PORTAp. 467 b ]. From this swelling, so to speak, of the town wall was developed (e. g. at Phigalia) the round or squareshaped or hexagonal tower, originally merely a half-moon or three sides of a square, but afterwards enclosed on all sides. The advantage of such an addition at angles of the wall was obvious, and it became also customary to have many such towers rising at intervals, so as to form rallying-points and shelters for the defenders, if an escalade was attempted. Such were the towers on the walls of circumvallation at Plataea [cf. MURUSp. 186 a ].

As a further development, they were erected within cities, partly to form a last retreat in case the city should be taken, and partly to overawe the inhabitants. In almost all Greek cities, which were usually built upon a hill, rock, or some natural elevation, there was a kind. of tower, a castle, or a citadel, built upon the highest part of the rock or hill, to which the. name of Acropolis was given, as at Corinth, Argos, Messene, and many other places. The Capitolium at Rome answered the same purpose as the Acropolis in the Greek cities; and of the, same kind were the tower of Agathocles at Utica (Appian, App. Pun. 14) and that of Antonia at Jerusalem (Joseph. Bell. Jud. 5.5.8; Act. Apostol. 21.31).

Lastly, we find towers standing alone as strongholds, such as the tower at Andros instanced by Guhl and Koner (p. 68). We have further examples of this in the tower of Hannibal, on his estate between Acholla and Thapsus (Liv. 33.48); the turris regia of Jugurtha (Sallust, Sal. Jug. 103); the tower of a private citizen without the walls of Carthage, by the help of which Scipio took the city (Appian, App. Pun. 117); and, in Spain, the tower in which Cn. Scipio was burnt (Appian, App. Hisp. 16). Such towers were common in the frontier provinces of the Roman empire (Ammian. Marcell. 28.2). See also Guhl and Koner, pp. 65 ff.; Droysen, Kriegsalterth. p. 254 f.

II. Movable Towers.

These were among the most important engines used in storming a fortified place. They were of two kinds. Some were made so that they could be taken to pieces and carried to the scene of operations: these were called folding towers (πύργοι πτυκτοὶ or ἐπτυγμένοι, turres plicatiles, or portable towers, φορητοὶ πυργοί). The other sort were constructed on wheels, so as to be driven up to the walls; and hence they were called turres ambulatoriae, subrotatae, or mobiles, πύργοι ὑπότροχοι (Veget. 4.17; Liv. 21.11; Onosand. Strat. 42). But the turres plicatiles were generally made with wheels, so that they were also ambulatoriae.

The first invention or improvement of such towers is ascribed by Athenaeus the mechanician (quoted by Lipsius, Oper. vol. 3. p. 297) to the Greeks of Sicily in the time of Dionysius I. (B.C. 405). Diodorus (Diod. 14.51) mentions towers on wheels as used by Dionysius at the siege of Motya. He had before (13.54) mentioned towers as used at the siege of Selinus (B.C. 409), but he does not say that they were on wheels. According to others, they were invented by the engineers in the service of Philip and Alexander, the most famous of whom were Polyidus, a Thessalian, who assisted Philip at the siege of Byzantium, and his pupils Chaereas and Diades (Vitr. 10.19, s. 13). Heron (100.13) ascribes their invention to Diades and Chaereas, Vitruvius (l. c.) to Diades alone, and Athenaeus (l. c.) says that they were improved in the time of Philip at the siege of Byzantium. Vitruvius states that the towers of Diades were carried about by the army in separate pieces. Respecting the towers used by Demetrius Poliorcetes at the siege of Rhodes, see HELEPOLIS

Appian mentions the turres plicatiles (B.C. 5.36, 37), and states that at the siege of Rhodes Cassius took such towers with him in his ships, and had them set up on the spot (ib. 5.72).

Besides the frequent allusions in ancient writers to the movable towers (turres mobiles, Liv. 21.11), we have particular descriptions of them by Vitruvius (Vitr. 10.19, s. 13) and Vegetius (4.17).

They were generally made of beams and planks, and covered, at least on the three sides which were exposed to the besieged, with iron, not only for protection, but also, according to Josephus, to increase their weight and thus make them steadier. They were also covered with raw hides and quilts, moistened, and sometimes with alum, to protect them from fire. The use of alum for this purpose appears to have originated with Sulla at the siege of Athens (Amm. Marc. and Claud. Quadrig. ap. Lips. p. 300). Their height was such as to overtop the walls, towers, and all other fortifications of the besieged place (Liv. 21.11). Vitruvius (l. c.), following Diades, mentions two sizes of towers. The smallest ought not, he says, to be less than 60 cubits high, 17 wide, and one-fifth smaller at the top; and the greater 120 cubits high and 23 1/2 wide. Heron (100.13), who also follows Diades, agrees with Vitruvius so far, but adds an intermediate size, half-way between the two, 90 cubits high. Vegetius mentions towers of 30, 40, and 50 feet square. They were divided into stories (tabulata or tecta), and hence they are called turres contabulatae (Liv. 21.34). Towers of the three sizes just mentioned consisted respectively of 10, 15, and 20 stories. The stories decreased in height from the bottom to the top. Diades and Chaereas, according to Heron, made the lowest story 7 cubits and 12 digits, those about the middle 5 cubits, and the upper 4 cubits and one-third of a cubit.

The sides of the towers were pierced with windows, of which there were several to each story.

These rules were not strictly adhered to in practice. Towers were made of 6 stories, and even fewer (Diod. 14.51). Those of 10 stories were very common (Hirt. Bell. Gall. 8.41; Sil. Ital.), but towers of 20 stories are hardly, if ever, mentioned. Plutarch (Plut. Luc. 10) speaks of one of 100 cubits high used by Mithridates at the siege of Cyzicus.

The use of the stories was to receive the engines of war [TORMENTA ], and slingers and archers were stationed in them and on the tops of the towers (Liv. 21.11). In the lowest story was a battering-ram [ARIES]; and in the middle one or more bridges (pontes) made of beams and planks, and protected at the sides by hurdles; or drawbridges [SAMBUCAE ]. Scalingladders (scalae) were also carried in the towers, and, when the missiles had cleared the walls, these bridges and ladders enabled the besiegers to rush upon them.

The towers were placed upon wheels (generally 6 or 8), that they might be brought up to the walls. These wheels were placed for security inside of the tower.

The tower was built so far from the besieged place as to be out of the enemy's reach, and then pushed up to the walls by men stationed inside of and behind it (Caesar, B. G. 2.30, 31; Q. Curt. 8.10). The attempt to draw them forward by beasts of burthen was sometimes made, but was easily defeated by shooting the beasts (Procop. Bell. Goth. 1.21). They were generally dragged up the AGGER (Hirtius, l. c.), and it not unfrequently happened that a tower stuck fast or fell over on account of the softness of the agger (Liv. 32.17; Q. Curt. 4.6.9). They were placed on the agger before it was completed, to protect the soldiers in working at it (Sall. Jugurth. 73; Caesar, B. G. 7.22). When the tower was brought up to the walls without an agger, the ground was levelled before it by means of the MUSCULUS

These towers were accounted most formidable engines of attack. They were opposed in the following ways. 1. They were set on fire, either by sallies of the besieged, or by missiles carrying burning matter, or by letting men down from the walls by ropes, close to the towers, while the besiegers slept (Veget. 4.18; Sil. Ital.).2. By undermining the ground over which the tower had to pass, so as to overset it (Veget. 4.20).3. By pushing it off by main force by ironshod beams, asseres or trabes (Veget. l. c.).4. By breaking or overturning it with stones thrown from catapults, when it was at a distance, or, when it came close to the wall, by striking it with an iron-shod beam hung from a mast on the wall, and thus resembling an Aries.5. By increasing the height of the wall; first with masonry, and afterwards with beams and planks, and also by the erection of temporary wooden towers on the walls (Caesar, B. G. 7.22; Veget. 4.19). This mode of defence was answered by the besiegers in two ways. Either the agger on which the tower stood was raised, as by Caesar at the siege of Avaricum (B. G. l. c.), or a smaller tower was constructed within the upper part of the tower, and when completed was raised by screws and ropes (Veget. l. c.). On these towers in general see Lipsius, Poliorcet. in Oper. vol. iii. pp. 296-356.

III. Caesar

Caesar (B.C. 2.8-9) describes a peculiar sort of tower, which was invented at the siege of Massilia, and called turris latericia, or laterculum. It partook somewhat of the character both of a fixed and of a besieging tower. It was built of masonry near the walls of the town to afford the besiegers a retreat from the sudden sallies of the enemy; the builders were protected by a movable cover; and the tower was pierced with windows for shooting out missiles.

IV. Towers on ships.

Towers in every respect similar to the turres ambulatoriae (excepting, of course, the wheels) were constructed on ships, for the attack of fortified places by sea (Caes. Bell. Civ. 3.40; Liv. 24.34; Appian, App. Mith. 73, Bell. Civ. 5.106; Ammian. 21.12).

V. Towers on elephants.

Small towers carrying a few armed men were placed on the backs of elephants used in battle (Liv. 37.40).

(Marquardt, Staatsverw. 2.532 f.; Droysen, Gr. Kriegsalterth. 313 ff.)

[P.S] [G.E.M]

Turris

(τύρσις, πύργος). Any lofty building; a tower; a fort or fortified place. The regular tower of fortification was either round or square, several stories in height, with turrets (pinnae) surmounting them, loop-holes (fenestrae) in the walls, and an arched entrance (fornix) in the middle. A movable tower (turris mobilis) was used in sieges to protect the approach of the battering-ram to the walls. (See aries.) Such a tower was sometimes several stories in height, and could be raised or lowered in order to allow the troops in it to scale the walls (Livy, xxi. 11; Vitruv. x. 13). When elephants were used in battle, they carried a sort of tower on the back filled with soldiers (Livy, xxxvii. 40). For the towers on the decks of ships, see navis.