COBI Romans & Barbarians Siege Ladder Set 23114

COBI's Romans & Barbarians Siege Ladder is built from 115 blocks and includes a figure. Age 6+, and compatible with other brick brands.

Going up a ladder was the worst job in the Roman army

A Roman siege had a hierarchy of methods, and the ladder assault was the one commanders used when they had run out of better ideas or were in a hurry.

The good methods were slow. Build a ramp, undermine the wall, bring up a tower, or simply sit down and starve the place out — Caesar besieged Alesia by building two complete rings of fortification around it and waiting. All of those cost weeks and almost no lives.

An escalade cost minutes and a great many men. The soldiers climbing were one at a time, with one hand on the rungs and a shield in the other, into defenders who had every advantage: rocks, boiling liquid, poles to push the ladder away from the wall, and a man at the top of each ladder who only had to deal with one attacker at a time.

The Romans knew the arithmetic. They also offered the corona muralis — the mural crown, one of the highest decorations in the army — to the first man over the wall, which tells you what they thought the odds were.

The series

Romans & Barbarians is one of COBI's smaller historical lines, covering the Roman army and the peoples it fought. The sets are simple, built for play rather than display, and designed to combine into a siege scene.

In the COBI range

Set 23113 is the weapon cart and 23261 the wrecker — the other siege equipment in the series.

Specifications

Pieces: 115 · Figures: 1 · Series: Romans & Barbarians · Age: 6+