Replica battering ram at Château des Baux, France

A battering ram is a weapon used from ancient times. It is essentially a very heavy weight on wheels, designed to break open fortification walls or doors. It was a step forward from a simple log ram, although it was also made out of a tree trunk. A log ram was simply carried by a group of men, a battering ram was slung from a wheeled support frame via ropes so that it could be much more massive and also more easily swung against its target, sometimes the ram would be reinforced with metal bands and the attacking point could also be metal-bound. Many battering rams had protective roofs and side-screens covered in leather and/or other materials to prevent the ram being set on fire.

In castles, defenders attempted to foil battering rams by dropping obstacles in front of the ram just before it hit a wall, using grappling hooks to immobilize the log, setting the ram on fire, or sallying to attack the ram.

Variations on the battering ram included the drill, the mouse, and the pick. These were smaller than a ram and could be used in more limited spaces.

Battering rams are still used in various roles in modern times, sometimes mounted on vehicles. SWAT teams often use small two_man metal rams for opening locked doors.

Legendary battering ram usage:

• Destruction of Jerusalem
• Used throughout the Crusades
• The fall of Rome

Interesting Fact:

The famous children's rhyme, Humpty Dumpty, was not an egg after all. In fact, Humpty Dumpty was a nickname for a huge battering ram, built by the armies of Charles I of England, to roll down a slope and across the river Severn, opening up a wall of Gloucester. During this time in the mid 1600's, Oliver Cromwell and his roundheads had control of the city. The roundheads had secretly widened the river, so Humpty Dumpty was wrecked, "had a great fall." Hundreds of soldiers drowned and there was nothing the king's men could do about it.