Onager (weapon) Onager (weapon) The onager (British /ˈɒnədʒə/, /ˈɒnəɡə/, U.S. /ˈɑnədʒər/) was an imperial-era Roman torsion powered siege engine; in other words, a small catapult. The onager was first mentioned in 353 AD by Ammianus Marcellinus, who described onagers as the same as a scorpion. According to two authors of the later Roman Empire who wrote on military affairs, the onager derived its name from the kicking action of the machine that threw stones into the air, as did the hooves of the wild ass, the onager, which was native to the eastern part of the empire. The onager consisted of a
Rational animal in the Arbor Porphyriana, man is a substance, corporeal, living, sentient, and rational". In Meditation II of "Meditations on First Philosophy", Descartes arrives at his famous "I think, I exist" claim. He then goes on to wonder "What am I?" He considers and rejects the scholastic concept of the "rational animal": Shall I say 'a rational animal'? No; for then I should have to inquire what an animal is, what rationality is, and in this one question would lead me down the slope to other harder ones. Freud was as aware as any of the irrational forces at work in