Besieged: Siege Warfare in the Ancient World

Duncan Campbell

Osprey Publishing, Sep 26, 2006 - History - 224 pages

The great warleaders and generals, including Darius, Alexander the Great, Hannibal and Julius Caesar successfully used siegecraft to gain their objectives. As siege tactics became integral to success in war, generals employed the minds of engineers and scientists to develop tactics, and offensive and defensive technology to give them the edge over their enemies. The mathematician Archimedes was famously and very practically involved in the defense of Syracuse in 213-12 BC. Soldiers became highly skilled combat engineers.

The book tracks the amazing developments in siege warfare through a period of nine centuries and includes details of the evolution of the artillery of the era - spear- and stone-firing catapults. Full-color artwork, many drawings and plans, photographs of archeological finds and reconstructions support expert but accessible text in this fascinating study of a less familiar facet of the ancient art of war.

What people are saying

Review: Besieged: Siege Warfare in the Ancient World (General Military)

User Review - Goodreads

Excellent study of Ancient siege warfare up to the late Roman era. The photos of actual sites and ancient art work and monuments goes a long way to help the reader understand what happened. While much ...

Review: Besieged: Siege Warfare in the Ancient World (General Military)

User Review  - Walt - Goodreads

Richly illustrated with recreations and archeological photos, this is an excellent resource for being, basically, a picture book. There is a lot of discussion accompanying the illustrations that is academic in nature.

Contents

• Introduction: 7
• Siege Warfare in Classical Greece: 30
• Siege Warfare in the Time of Dionysius I: 45
• Macedonian Siege Warfare: 59
• Hellenistic Siege Warfare: 80
• Siege Warfare During the Roman Republic: 97
• Siege Warfare in the Late 2nd Century BC: 113
• Siege Warfare in the Age of Marius and Sulla: 135
• Siege Warfare During the Principate: 164
• The Elements of Roman Siegecraft: 192
• Glossary: 209
• Index 2: 227

About the author

Dr Duncan B Campbell is a specialist in ancient Greek and Roman warfare. He published his first paper in 1984, as an undergraduate at Glasgow University, and produced a complete re-assessment of Roman siegecraft for his Ph.D. His work has appeared in several international journals. He lives near the Antonine Wall in Scotland. The author lives in Glasgow, Scotland.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Besieged: Siege Warfare in the Ancient World; General Military
• Author: Duncan Campbell
• Edition: illustrated
• Publisher: Osprey Publishing, 2006
• ISBN: 1846030196, 9781846030192
• Length: 224 pages
• Subjects: History / Ancient / General; History / Military / General