Figurative uses of animal names in Latin and their ... - mura di tutti

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had only two, and they were manipulated like the mandibles
of a crow; hence the figure.
The Tyrian corvus was fashioned as a defensive engine,
corvique et alia tuendis urbibus excogitata praeparaban-
^jjj.139 fQj. grasping and seizing.
The corvus of Duilius, unlike that of the Tyrians, was
distinctly offensive. Its end was tipped with iron sharp-
ened to a point, and shaped like a baker's pestle, as Poly-
bius states : iirl he rov ireparo^ avrov (aruXov) •jrpoaijp/jLoa-To
tnSrjpovv ohv virepov airw^a-fievov}*^
The comparison with the pestle shows that the instrument
is likened to a crow with closed mandibles, to facilitate
piercing. It was intended, as Polybius goes on to say, to
hold the ships together by forcing its way through the deck,
not by grappling : ore Se raw aavlari t&v KaTaarpcofiaTcov
ip.ira'yevTei oi KopaKes ofiov avvSi^a-aiev to? vaik.^*^
As the corvus of Duilius resembled that of the Tyrians
in name only and not in purpose or construction, Polybius
is correct in his statement with regard to Duilius's invention
of a crow.
Vitruvius speaks of a corvus demolitor,^*^ which evidently
is identical with an engine that Vegetius describes, although
the latter does not use the term corvus. The two descrip-
tions are quite similar. Vegetius comments as follows
trabem, quae adunco praefigitur ferro et falx vocatur ab eo,
quod incurva est, ut de muro extrahat lapides.-'**
Polybius's words are somewhat analogous : eirl he rov
irepaTo^ avrov (trrtiXov) irpoaripfioaTo