ОПСАДНЕ СПРАВЕ И РАЗВОЈ ПОЛИОРКЕТИКЕ У ГРЧКОМ СВЕТУ ДО ВРЕМЕНА ФИЛИПА II И АЛЕКСАНДРА ВЕЛИКОГ
SIEGE ENGINES AND THE ORIGINS OF SIEGECRAFT IN THE GREEK WORLD BEFORE THE AGE OF PHILIP II AND ALEXANDER THE GREAT

Summary/Abstract: The paper discusses the origins of the use of siege engines in ancient Greece before the age of Philip II and Alexander the Great. Research focuses on testimonies of sieges and siege engines left by the most important historians of the Greek classical age, including Herodotus, Thucydides, and Xenophon, as well as the evidence provided by later historians and other expert writers. Even though the Greeks of the Archaic period (c. 750-480 BC) were not skilled at laying sieges of fortified cities and places with the principal strategy beingto surround the city walls and starve the defenders into submission, during the 5th century BC the advances in siege techniques and the gradual introduction of siege engines were employed in military opoerations. Near Eastern influences and experiences from the Persian War (480-479 BC) brought certain changes in the Greek warfare, but the technical skills and innovations of Greek craftsmen, engineers, and inventors also contributed to an increase in the capability of Greek warriors and citizen-armies during long, more complex sieges. These changes were apparent during the Peloponnesian War (431-404 BC) when, besides the blockade of cities, constructing siege mounds and encircling defenders with walls, siege equipment came into use – battering rams, scaling ladders, the so­called tortoises, even primitive ”flamethrowers.” Since the beginning of the 4th century BC, and especially under the influence of the war tactics of Dionysius I of Syracuse, sieges became more sophisticated. The advances are particularly reflected in the use of the earliest artillery, arrow-firing catapults, and siege towers. As a result, fortification systems of cities had to be strengthened. The 4th century BC is the period of huge fortifications, many of which are well preserved. Even though these innovations concerning besiegers and besieged, siegecraft and siege engines flourished from the age of Philip II, they certainly had their origins in the Greek classical period.

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