A NEW INTERPRETATION OF AN UNIDENTIFIED SCENE ON TRAJAN'S COLUMN - The Sequential Battering Ram Hypothesis
Fuente:
Zenodo
Enregistré dans:
| Auteur principal: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Recurso digital |
| Publié: |
Zenodo
2026
|
| Sujets: | |
| Accès en ligne: | |
| Tags: |
Ajouter un tag
Pas de tags, Soyez le premier à ajouter un tag!
|
| _version_ | 1866901888900792320 |
|---|---|
| author | Quester, Mag. Michael |
| author_facet | Quester, Mag. Michael |
| contents | <p class="MsoNormal"><em><span>This paper presents a new hypothesis for the identification of three enigmatic objects depicted in a specific scene on Trajan's Column in Rome (Cast 308 in the Cichorius catalogue system). These objects, previously interpreted as wine barrels, soil-compaction tools, or — in the most recent scholarly engagement, by Whitehead following Blyth (1992)</span></em><a title="" href="#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span><span>[1]</span></span></span></span></a><span> — as “triangular deflectors” against rolling projectiles, are here subjected to systematic iconographic and mechanical analysis. After a review of the full history of scholarly interpretation — encompassing the wine-barrel, soil-compaction, and deflector hypotheses — and an assessment of the specific compositional evidence that each must account for, this paper proposes a new interpretive possibility: that the objects may represent a “Sequential Battering Ram,” a multi-pendulum siege device engineered to exploit structural vulnerabilities specific to Dacian Murus Dacicus wall construction. This interpretation is presented not as a definitive resolution but as the hypothesis that most coherently accounts for all observed compositional features simultaneously. It is grounded in five convergent lines of evidence and generates a set of experimentally testable predictions. The paper argues that the sequential-impact interpretation is preferable to existing alternatives on iconographic, mechanical, and contextual grounds, while acknowledging that experimental reconstruction remains the necessary next step before any interpretation of this scene can be regarded as established.</span></p> <div><br> <div> <p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a title="" href="#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span>[1]</span></span></span></a> Blyth, P.H. (1992). “Apollodorus of Damascus and the Poliorcetica.” <em>Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies</em> 33, pp. 127–158. Whitehead’s edition: Apollodorus of Damascus. <em>Poliorcetica</em>. Ed. and trans. D. Whitehead. Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag, 2010.</p> </div> </div> |
| format | Recurso digital |
| id | zenodo_https___doi_org_10_5281_zenodo_19512980 |
| institution | Zenodo |
| language | |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| publisher | Zenodo |
| record_format | zenodo |
| spellingShingle | A NEW INTERPRETATION OF AN UNIDENTIFIED SCENE ON TRAJAN'S COLUMN - The Sequential Battering Ram Hypothesis Quester, Mag. Michael roman military roman siege machines roman warfare ancient rome roman battering ram <p class="MsoNormal"><em><span>This paper presents a new hypothesis for the identification of three enigmatic objects depicted in a specific scene on Trajan's Column in Rome (Cast 308 in the Cichorius catalogue system). These objects, previously interpreted as wine barrels, soil-compaction tools, or — in the most recent scholarly engagement, by Whitehead following Blyth (1992)</span></em><a title="" href="#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span><span>[1]</span></span></span></span></a><span> — as “triangular deflectors” against rolling projectiles, are here subjected to systematic iconographic and mechanical analysis. After a review of the full history of scholarly interpretation — encompassing the wine-barrel, soil-compaction, and deflector hypotheses — and an assessment of the specific compositional evidence that each must account for, this paper proposes a new interpretive possibility: that the objects may represent a “Sequential Battering Ram,” a multi-pendulum siege device engineered to exploit structural vulnerabilities specific to Dacian Murus Dacicus wall construction. This interpretation is presented not as a definitive resolution but as the hypothesis that most coherently accounts for all observed compositional features simultaneously. It is grounded in five convergent lines of evidence and generates a set of experimentally testable predictions. The paper argues that the sequential-impact interpretation is preferable to existing alternatives on iconographic, mechanical, and contextual grounds, while acknowledging that experimental reconstruction remains the necessary next step before any interpretation of this scene can be regarded as established.</span></p> <div><br> <div> <p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a title="" href="#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span>[1]</span></span></span></a> Blyth, P.H. (1992). “Apollodorus of Damascus and the Poliorcetica.” <em>Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies</em> 33, pp. 127–158. Whitehead’s edition: Apollodorus of Damascus. <em>Poliorcetica</em>. Ed. and trans. D. Whitehead. Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag, 2010.</p> </div> </div> |
| title | A NEW INTERPRETATION OF AN UNIDENTIFIED SCENE ON TRAJAN'S COLUMN - The Sequential Battering Ram Hypothesis |
| topic | roman military roman siege machines roman warfare ancient rome roman battering ram |
| url | https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19512980 |