dividitur opera, et translatae leviores quinque ballistae, contra turrim locantur, quae ocius lignea tela fundentes, non numquam et binos forabant, e quibus pars graviter vulnerati ruebant, alii machinarum metu stridentium praecipites acti, laniatis corporibus interibant.
Translation :
so the work was divided among us and five of the lighter ballistae were moved and placed over against the tower, rapidly pouring forth wooden shafts, which sometimes pierced even two men at a time. Some of the enemy fell, severely wounded; others, through fear of the clanging engines, leaped off headlong and were dashed to pieces.
Edition :
Ammianus Marcellinus. With An English Translation. John C. Rolfe, Ph.D., Litt.D. Cambridge. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1935-1940.
