artillery Copy link Outline I. Cannon and all that pertains to themII. The troops who manage cannon, &c. • artillery: I. Cannon and all that pertains to them: tormenta, orum (of course not strictly referring to firearms; but the etymology of the word [from torqueo], as well as its wide application in classical authors, makes it very well adapted to represent the English word; which indeed itself is equally applicable to the ancient engines of war: cf. 1 Sam. xx. 40: the foll. examples are added to illustrate the use of the ancient word): Antony battered Mutina with a., Antonius Mutinam verberavit tormentis, Cic.: Caesar placed his a. in the forts, Caesar in castellis tormenta collocavit, Caes.: he arranges the a. on the walls, tormenta in muris disponit, Caes.: he drew up his army in a place from which the fire of his a. might be directed against the enemies' columns, aciem eo loco constituit, unde tela tormentis missa in hostium cuneos conjici possent, Caes.: a. of various calibres, variae magnitudinis tormenta, Liv.: the ships were too near (to the walls) to be under the fire of the a., naves interiores ictibus tormentorum erant, Liv.: heavy a., tormenta majora (or, majoris formae: see Livy 26, 47): a park or train of a., tormentorum multitudo, Caes. II. The troops who manage cannon, &c.: *milites a quibus tormenta administrantur: horse-artillery, *turmae equitum qui tormenta administrant ("tormenta quae ab equitibus administrantur," Kr.): an artillery-man, ballistārĭus: Veg. Mil. 2, 2. (The word tormentarius is without ancient authority, but may be used for the sake of convenience: Kr.).