făla (phal-), ae, f. [falae dictae ab altitudine, a falando, quod apud Etruscos significat caelum, Paul. ex Fest. p. 88, 12 Müll.], a scaffolding of boards or planks, a scaffold.
- I. A structure used in sieges, from which missiles were thrown into a city: malos diffindunt, fiunt tabulata falaeque, Enn. ap. Non. 114, 7 (Ann. v. 389 ed. Vahl.).
Prov.: subire sub falas, i. e. to run a great risk for a slight gain, Plaut. Most. 2, 1, 10.
- II. One of the seven wooden pillars in the spina of the Circus, Juv. 6, 590; cf. Anthon’s Dict. of Antiq. p. 254, a.