Fala
or
Phala.
1.
A wooden structure, of considerable height, used in sieges, from which missiles were thrown
(
Fest. p. 88,
Fest. 12; Ennius
ap. Non. p. 114, 7).
2.
Phalae are mentioned by Juvenal (vi. 590) with the
columnae
delphinorum in the circus. Hence they are supposed by some writers to be columns on the
spina of the circus, supporting the
ova, as
similar columns supported the dolphins. (See
Circus.) But Servius (
ad
Verg. Aen. ix. 705) says they were towers on
which fights took place, erected between the
euripus and the
metae; and they were probably movable towers used in the sham fights of the
circus.