О НОРМАНСКИМ ОПСАДНИМ КУЛАМА ПРЕД ДРАЧЕМ (1081. и 1108.)
A NOTE ON NORMAN SIEGE TOWERS IN THE SIEGES OF DYRRACHIUM (1081 AND 1108)

Summary/Abstract: After considering the contemporary data on predominat use of siege­towers­without­bridge in northern France and southern Italy, the paper suggests one of the reasons for the fact that both Robert „Guiscard” and Bohemond I used siege­tower­with­bridge during their sieges of Byzantine Dyrrachium. The reason here suggested, beside the indisputable ones (gradual return of siege­tower­with­bridge in use and Robert`s and Bohemond`s strategic and tactic reasons storm the city as soon as possible), is a presence of thick row of arrowslits in Anastatius` wall of the city. The arrowslits in Byzantium, like in the other medieval civilizations, were specialized to parry with siege­tower`s crews, by enabling shots at several floors and several vertical rows of siege tower, and by offering best avaible protection from siegetower`s archers. The stanadard northern­french siege tower, designed primerely for archers, whose only task was to „clear” walls of defenders and enable attacking infantry to scale them with ladders, could hardly be match for wall repleted with such dense row of arrowslits. Considering that, it seems that only match to dyrrachian arrowslits could be a siege tower equipped with bridge. Furthermore, the height of Bohemond`s siege tower (ca. 17 m), designed primarely to enable slant falling of bridge, also enabled the siege tower`s attacking force (infantry situated at top floor of it) to be out of range to wall`s arrowslits.

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