Greek and Roman Siege Machinery 399 BC-AD 363

This volume covers such great events as the Siege of Syracuse and the Roman siege of Masada. It traces the development of siege-towers and battering-rams from the Carthaginian invasion of Sicily in the late 5th century to the fall of the Roman Empire.

Siege machinery first appeared in the West during the Carthaginian invasion of Sicily in the late 5th century BC, in the form of siege-towers and battering rams. After a 50-year hiatus they re-appeared in the Macedonian armies of Philip II and Alexander the Great, a period that saw the height of the machinery's development in the Ancient World. Experience of Carthaginian practice during the later 3rd century, and familiarity with the operations of Philip V of Macedon during the early-2nd century, prompted the introduction of the siege-tower and the battering-ram to Roman siegecraft. This title traces the development and use of these weapons across the whole of this period.

Introduction - Wheeled Towers (the siege-tower, the Helepolis of Epimachus, the Helepolis of Posidonius) - Tortoises (the 'ditch-filling' tortoise, the 'digging' tortoise, the ram-tortoise, the 'borer', Hegetor's ram-tortoise) - Ancillary machines (the 'sambuca', the 'tolleno') - Roman Siege Machinery (the siege-tower, the ram-tortoise, miscellaneous shelters) - Colour plate commentary