Discourses on Fortifications

likewise because flat forms original: "piatte forme", being made smaller than the bastions, are ruined more quickly. Furthermore, because they will become useless, their ruin will impede the flanks of the bastions in such a way that they will not be able to do what is appropriate. It would be necessary for these to be so distant from one another that they could provide little defense between them, nor could they be placed as close together as is appropriate without causing prejudice to themselves and a multiplication of expense to build more members to defend the fortress. However, if I were forced to build three structures in a straight line, I would build bastions in place of a flat form, even if the site compelled me to place them quite close together. It seems better to me to have one large structure and the flanks quite close together than to build the bastions further away, leaving an imperfect structure in the middle, which would be more subject to being ruined, both in its face and in its flank. Alternatively, I would make projections in the large curtains to make their flanks less subject to batteries. Without my discoursing further on the imperfection of flat forms, anyone who has judgment will be able to easily understand them by considering the following plans.

A geometric diagram depicts the plan of a fortification wall with bastions and a central recessed section, illustrating the placement and vulnerabilities of the flat form.

Concerning the Cavaliers. Chap. X.

A decorative drop cap 'I' begins the section.Cavaliers original: "Caualieri" have been made, and are being made, to dominate the countryside and to be able to harass the enemy from further away, both by face and by flank. They also serve to add defenses and to clear the faces of the bastions and other structures that occur in fortifications. These effects are particularly achieved by cavaliers on horseback original: "Caualieri à cauallo" in the middle of the curtains between the bastions. But because many types of cavaliers can be made, before I say which of them seems best to me and where I would place them, it must be known that defenses coming from above can cause more trouble and harm to those outside than those that originate from a low position, even though many believe the contrary. Since enemies proceed with cover, as one reasonably must in order to approach a site so that they are not seen and killed by the fortress, they will not be able to cover themselves with any small height of embankment. And the little that they move away from it, even if they were to make it high, requires more time, and they would be discovered and would have less width of space in which to approach. If low defenses are made, the opposite occurs, because every low barrier can secure all or a large part of the countryside where the attackers could more conveniently do what is necessary for them. Thus, one should not take account of the words of those who say that fire coming low and parallel to the countryside kills more. Returning to my purpose, I say that in the following plan one can truly see and judge that the cavalier on horseback between the bastions achieves all the good effects mentioned above, but on the other hand, it does not lack those imperfections, or the greater part of them, to which flat forms are also subject. And although the defense that comes from the cavalier is capable of harassing the enemies significantly because of its height, nevertheless, because such height is very exposed, when they draw near, they will not allow it to perform its duty, for by battering, trenching, and similar methods, the defenders are prevented from being able to show themselves.