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Headword: Skorpidia
Adler number: sigma,669
Translated headword: little scorpions, mini-scorpions
Vetting Status: high
Translation:

A mechanical protection. Archimedes had prepared another contrivance against the attackers from the ships. He pierced the wall with holes close together, at about the height of a man, and about a palm wide[1] on the outer side; by these he stationed archers and little scorpions inside the wall, and [shooting] through them he rendered the marines ineffective.

Greek Original:

Skorpidia: mêchanikon alexêma. ho de Archimêdês palin heteran hêtoimakei paraskeuên pros tous apomachomenous ek tôn ploiôn. hôs andromêkous hupsous katepuknôse trêmasi to teichos, hôs palaistiaiois to megethos kata tên ektos epiphaneian: hois toxotas kai skorpidia parastêsas entos tou teichous, dia toutôn achrêstous epoiei tous epibatas.

Notes:

From Polybius 8.5-7 on the celebrated Roman siege of Syracuse (Sicily) in 213-211 BCE: see web address 1. The "little scorpions", never elucidated here, are small arrow-firing catapults: see the note in Walbank p.75.
Archimedes has no entry of his own (alpha 4113 is a different homonym) but cf. alpha 2797, delta 1573, epsilon 945, epsilon 2907, theta 142.
[1] Approx. three inches.

Reference:

F.W. Walbank, A Historical Commentary on Polybius, ii (Oxford 1967)

Associated internet address:
Web address 1
Keywords: biography; definition; geography; historiography; history; military affairs; science and technology; trade and manufacture
Translated by: David Whitehead on 2 November 2001@04:03:18.
Vetted by:

Catharine Roth (cosmetics, link, status) on 20 December 2004@21:55:30.
David Whitehead (augmented headword and notes) on 21 December 2004@03:18:15.
David Whitehead on 21 December 2004@03:19:53.
David Whitehead (another keyword; cosmetics) on 10 May 2011@03:58:50.
Catharine Roth (fixed link) on 21 September 2011@01:02:41.
David Whitehead on 21 September 2011@03:08:53.
David Whitehead on 30 December 2013@03:43:52.
Catharine Roth (tweaked link) on 6 March 2022@19:09:47.

No. of records found: 1 Page 1

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