Forums

But that's caps with teeth, just caps I think would be safe to place in the Archaic period, maybe even from before, down to the Iliad, which has no mention of such things (EDIT: obviously just a log would appear somewhere around here first, so it would be fine to start in 776 BC with a log and soon after either capping it, for more attack, or having a shed for it, for more resistance). Regarding the boulders mentioned in the Iliad, I can only guess, but apparently (can't remember myself since I've read it 25 years ago) they were used by the Trojans against the Greek fortifications (if such a thing even existed), and not the other way around. This could be both because the Greek fortifications (and gate) would have been much weaker, and because the terrain played against them (the plain coming mostly downwards from Troy to the shore, and the Greeks having not much of a choice than to build on low ground). And although there are no reliable sources regarding superhumans lifting impossibly heavy boulders, there are cases of boulders being rolled down for defensive purposes, from Xenophon's Anabasis ("when the rearguard, so advancing, had reached a ravine which they must cross in order to strike up the steep, at that instant the barbarians began rolling down great boulders, each a wagon load, some larger, some smaller; against the rocks they crashed and splintered flying like slingstones in every direction") to New Zealand, according to https://teara.govt.nz/en/rock-limestone-and-clay/print ("the defenders would hurl stones and roll boulders onto the enemy").

I've seen some sources describe it as 450 BC, which would be some 30 years after the end of archaic period. So might be close  enough to assume something similar already existed in late archaic period. But probably better to just have the log ram and other early methods.

https://www.oriental-studies.org.ua/en/smirnou-syncretism-in-the-religious-life-of-ancient-palmyra-in-the-3rd-century-сe/ I'm going to leave this here and let you know that I'm working together with other developers in Palmira.   I am working on the symbology of Palmyra and it is complicated to choose symbols for a very syncretic city. It's impressive, but there aren't many images or details online about this faction. Apart from sculptures and other objects, there aren't many clear images from the 3rd century. There is very little art from that period; the original gods of Palmyra are almost entirely unrepresented. It's interesting that they had an anonymous god just like the Athenians. They had Bel and Baalshamin, two gods from different triads. Baalshamin is similar to Canaanite Baalshamin but more advanced and does not share a monotheism like Yahweh, it is a syncretism between Baal and the god El. He has armor, which indicates that he is a warrior god.(similar to Semitic gods in armor fighting in the skies). I am developing a new eagle, I don't know if as an emblem or as another symbol. Baalshamin is probably a kind of Semitic Zeus; he appears alongside eagles as a symbol.  Being an economically Semitic civilization, the gateway to the Silk Road, it is a city of trade and many foreigners with their gods. This city and its civilization should be in the game. It's unique, a cultural mix of things. Visually, they can be unique. This god is represented in what some call the anti-classical style. All that we see represented in late art, the lack of realism and naturalness in favor of facial expressions. https://pressbooks.bccampus.ca/cavestocathedrals/chapter/late-empire/ This will also be useful later on.

Yes, that's also in Campbell's book: "the vertical blade, flanked on either side by five triangular teeth, was perhaps designed to cut into mud-brick". But none of this confirms it belonged to a log being carried by troops, as mentioned, it's dated from the late 5th c. BC, a time where there were already ramming "engines".   But we would need to additionally know: were they targeting stone walls? Mud-brick walls? Wooden palisades? A gate? For the last two probably it would work, for the first two, I would need to see more concrete evidence. Looking at the representation, it would seem that they are running towards the gate:

There is a theory the Olympia one was specifically designed for breaking mud bricks.  The Trajan column actually shows Dacians attacking a Roman fort by holding a metal capped wooden beam (too late for this discussion, but at least it's some evidence that this sort of weapon existed in antiquity).