Editing Land mine (section)

===Before explosives===
[[File:Roman caltrop.jpg|thumb|Roman [[caltrop]]]]
Some fortifications in the [[Roman Empire]] were surrounded by a series of hazards buried in the ground. These included ''goads'', {{convert|1|ft|cm|0|adj=mid|-long|spell=in}} pieces of wood with iron hooks on their ends; ''[[lilia]]'' (lilies, so named after their appearance), which were pits in which sharpened logs were arranged in a five-point pattern; and ''[[abatis]]'', fallen trees with sharpened branches facing outwards. As with modern land mines, they were "victim-operated", often concealed, and complicated attempts by the enemy to remove the obstacles by making them vulnerable to projectiles such as spears. A notable use of these defenses was by [[Julius Caesar]] in the [[Battle of Alesia]]. His forces were besieging [[Vercingetorix]], the leader of the Gauls, but Vercingetorix managed to send for reinforcements. To maintain the siege and defend against the reinforcements, Caesar formed a line of fortifications on both sides, and they played an important role in his victory. Lilies were also used by Scots against the English at the [[Battle of Bannockburn]] in 1314, and by Germans at the [[Battle of Passchendaele]] in the [[First World War]].<ref name=CrollCh1>{{harvnb|Croll|2008|loc=Chapter 1}}</ref>

A more easily deployed defense used by the Romans was the [[caltrop]], a weapon 12–15&nbsp;cm across with four sharp spikes that are oriented so that when it is thrown on the ground, one spike always points up. As with modern antipersonnel mines, caltrops are designed to disable soldiers rather than kill them; they are also more effective in stopping mounted forces, who lack the advantage of being able to carefully scrutinize each step they take (though forcing foot-mounted forces to take the time to do so has benefits in and of itself). They were used by the [[Jin dynasty (1115–1234)|Jin dynasty]] in China at the [[Battle of Zhongdu]] to slow down the advance of [[Genghis Khan]]'s army; [[Joan of Arc]] was wounded by one in the [[Siege of Orléans]]; in Japan they are known as ''tetsu-bishu'' and were used by [[ninja]]s from the fourteenth century onward. Caltrops are still strung together and used as roadblocks in some modern conflicts.<ref name=CrollCh1/>