74

HISTORY OF ENGINEERING.

Book I.

The internal diameter of the circular tower is 17 feet 4 inches; it projects from thewall about 16 feet, the thickness of the masonry being a little less than 2 feet. Theinternal dimensions of thesquare tower are 17 feet 8inches by 16 feet, and the open-ings on each side 3 feet 4inches. The thickness of thewalls 20 inches. The platformor walk along the battlementswas in width 8 feet.

These towers were each twostories in height, probablyentered by wooden ladders,

{is there are no remains ofstone staircases. Square open-ings for the purpose of assailingthose employed in the attack,were secured by internal metalbars. The lower tier of win-dows was splayed, that thearchers might have a greaterrange for their aim. Suchremains of military architec-ture among the Greeks, atonce show us that the practiceat this period was the samethroughout all the countries

which bordered the Mediter- Fig . 79 . MESS ene.

ranean Sea. Tausamas de-scribes similar fortifications ; those by Homer differ but little from the examples here given.

Fig. 80. messenk. Fig. 81. messene .

The battlements have been added from specimens met with in other parts of Greece , andthe section of the wall shows the filling in between the two faces, also the methodadopted to tie the whole together. Some of the apertures, or small windows, are finished