erat autem ante eius castelli portam turris ex hac materia alternis trabibus transversis uti pyra inter se composita alte, uti posset de summo sudibus et lapidibus accedentes repellere.
Now before the gate of the stronghold there stood a tower of this wood with alternate cross-beams bound together like a funeral pyre, so that it could drive back an approaching enemy by stakes and stones from the top.
final_alignments\Vitruvius_Architecture_Book_2.json