A horror story by Josephus

[D B Campbell]

But what about a stray shot? Happens all the time right? Could have been a lull in the siege, and civilians were moving about, or caught in a surprise roman artilliery barrage.

We seem to have strayed far from Josephus' account!

Remember, he's describing the siege of Jotapata (not Jerusalem), and the context is a barrage aimed at clearing the battlements so that the battering ram can do its work unhindered.

At BJ 3.240, Josephus writes about "the hail of missiles from the catapults and stone-projectors" (Loeb trans.). I think our pregnant woman was probably struck by a ballista stone which overshot the battlements and crashed into the town.

Anyway, for an indrect shooting arrow 'barrage' to be at all useful, they have to be shot fast and in large numbers. Ballistae are slow weapons. All I can see it doing is providing an enemy under seige with ammunition to shoot back...

Off-hand, I can't remember what ballista balls were excavated at Jotapata, but there were hundreds from Gamala and Masada. The Romans don't seem to have been overly economical with their barrages! And the Jotapatans didn't have catapults, so there was no danger of re-used shot.