Module 7
Justin Gardynik
HST 134
According to dictionary.com, a siege is "the act or process of surrounding and
attacking a fortified place in such a way as to isolate it from help and supplies, for the
purpose of lessening the resistance of the defenders and thereby making capture
possible.” To help militaries succeed in sieges, they came up with weaponry to help to try
to get the enemy to surrender. These are known as siege engines.
The most ancient siege engines date back to around the early 400s BC. It is
believed that the Assyrians were the first to use this tactic. They used what is known as
the battering ram. The most simple way to use a battering ram was for people to carry a
log together and keep ramming it into the walls until they broke. The more advance
version was a wheeled vehicle that suspended the log and allowed it to swing back and
forth, smashing the wall. This was a much easier way to use it. The Spartans were also
believed to have used this tactic in the siege of Plataea.
In ancient Greece, they developed the catapult. The catapult was a siege engine
that used spring tension to launch projectiles to their target, while keeping a safe distance
from the enemy. This was histories first version of artillery. The first two rulers to use
siege engines are believed to be Phillip II and his son Alexander the Great.
The next siege engine invented was called the trebuchet. This device used a lever
and a counter weight to launch projectiles at their target. The trebuchet had much greater
range and consistent accuracy than the catapult.
Siege engines were at first used to launch boulders and heavy objects at their
enemy walls to try to knock them down. Then later their tactics evolved into launching
unpleasant things over the walls to make life miserable for the enemy. It was a very wise
tactic, after all it is a siege and you want them to suffer and use up as many resources as
possible. Militaries became known to send over such things as a basket full of poisonous
snakes, a hornet's nest, or even dead animal carcasses to help promote the spread of
diseases. Then they started to use fire. They would send things that were lit on fire over
enemy walls so that they would constantly have to fight the fires and use up valuable
water supplies to put them out.
The use of fiery objects in siege engines led to the development of what is now
known as "Greek fire." This is an invention of Kallinikos, a Syrian architect in the 7th
century AD. He developed a substance that was gel and tar like. This concoction of oils
and resins made it nearly impossible to extinguish. It made the enemy use up much more
of their water supply which was exactly their intension.
The next invention of siege engines was known as the siege tower. This was a
tower on wheels that allowed the enemy to come right up to the wall of a city and climb
up and attack. It also provided protection for the attacking forces because they could
easily retreat and go back down in the tower.
All of these inventions have led up to today's artillery. Though much more
technologically advanced, it essentially serves the same purpose as back then. We now
have tanks and jets with missiles on them, all to not have to put ground troops across
enemy lines. We can make them surrender without ever having to fight, much like what
they were trying to do with siege engines. Siege engines were a huge part of military
history back then, as well as an important tool on getting an enemy to surrender.
Sources
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/siege
http://medievallifestyle.com/siege-engines/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_engine
http://www.medieval-life-and-times.info/medieval-weapons/siege-weapons.htm
http://medieval.stormthecastle.com/essays/siege-engines.htm