[Linenotes: 5-6. +prope ... inclusos+, a special feature of Syracuse, because many ancient cities were built at some distance from the sea, with a harbour detached from them (e.g. Ostia, the port of Rome), though sometimes joined by long walls, as at Athens. 7. +in exitu+ = _at their outlet_, i.e. the narrow channel between Ortygia (= Insula) and the mainland which connected the two harbours. 9. +disiuncta+ = _separated from the rest_ (+dis+--). 12. +Insula+, i.e. Ortygia, the only part now inhabited. 14. +Hieronis regis+, King of Syracuse, 270-216 B.C., distinguished by his military ability and the wise policy of his reign. From 263 B.C. till his death, the faithful friend and ally of Rome. 16. +Achradina+, the mainland N. of Ortygia. At the time of the famous siege of Syracuse by the Athenians, 415-413 B.C., the city consisted only of Ortygia and Achradina. 18. +prytaneum+ = _town-hall_ (πρυτανεῖον = _the presidents’ hall_). 25. +theatrum est maximum+, capable of holding 25,000 people. Of all the buildings described by Cicero as existing in Neapolis, the Theatre alone remains.]
+Reference.+ Freeman’s _History of Sicily_.
Adversus hunc navalem apparatum Archimedes variae magnitudinis tormenta in muria disposuit. In eas, quae procul erant, naves saxa ingenti pondere emittebat, propiores levioribus eoque magis crebris petebat telis; postremo, ut sui vulnere intacti tela { 5} in hostem ingererent, murum ab imo ad summum crebris cubitalibus fere cavis aperuit, per quae cava pars sagittis pars scorpionibus modicis ex occulto petebant hostem. Quae propius quaedam subibant naves, quo interiores ictibus tormentorum essent, in { 10} eas tollenone super murum eminente ferrea manus, firmae catenae illigata, cum iniecta prorae esset gravique libramento plumbi recelleret ad solum, suspensa prora navem in puppim statuebat; dein remissa subito velut ex muro cadentem navem cum { 15} ingenti trepidatione nautarum ita undae affligebat, ut, etiam si recta reciderat, aliquantum aquae acciperet, Ita maritima oppugnatio est elusa omnisque spes eo versa, ut totis viribus terra aggrederentur. Sed ea quoque pars eodem omni apparatu tormehtorum instructa { 20} erat Hieronis impensis curaque per multos annos, Archimedis unica arte.