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Athenaeus Mechanicus
Athenaeus Mechanicus is the author of a book on siegecraft, ''On Machines'' ( grc, Περὶ μηχανημάτων '). He is identified by modern scholars with Athenaeus of Seleucia, a member of the Peripatetic school active in the mid-to-late 1st century BC, at Rome and elsewhere.Serafina Cuomo, review of Gatto 2010Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2010.11.35/ref>Duncan B. Campbell, review of Whitehead and Blyth 2004/ref> Life Strabo mentions a contemporary of his, Athenaeus of Seleucia, a Peripatetic philosopher. He was for some time the leading demagogue in his native city, but afterwards came to Rome and became acquainted with Lucius Licinius Varro Murena. On the discovery of the plot which the latter, with Fannius Caepio, had entered into against Augustus, Athenaeus accompanied him in his flight. He was retaken, but pardoned by Augustus, as there was no evidence of his having taken a more active part in the plot. William Smith, ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythol ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Siegecraft
A siege is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition, or a well-prepared assault. This derives from la, sedere, lit=to sit. Siege warfare is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict characterized by one party holding a strong, static, defensive position. Consequently, an opportunity for negotiation between combatants is common, as proximity and fluctuating advantage can encourage diplomacy. The art of conducting and resisting sieges is called siege warfare, siegecraft, or poliorcetics. A siege occurs when an attacker encounters a city or fortress that cannot be easily taken by a quick assault, and which refuses to surrender. Sieges involve surrounding the target to block the provision of supplies and the reinforcement or escape of troops (a tactic known as "investment"). This is typically coupled with attempts to reduce the fortifications by means of siege engines, artillery bombardment, mining (also known as sapping), or the use ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Siege Engine
A siege engine is a device that is designed to break or circumvent heavy castle doors, thick city walls and other fortifications in siege warfare. Some are immobile, constructed in place to attack enemy fortifications from a distance, while others have wheels to enable advancing up to the enemy fortification. There are many distinct types, such as siege towers that allow foot soldiers to scale walls and attack the defenders, battering rams that damage walls or gates, and large ranged weapons (such as ballistae, catapults/trebuchets and other similar constructions) that attack from a distance by launching projectiles. Some complex siege engines were combinations of these types. Siege engines are fairly large constructions – from the size of a small house to a large building. From antiquity up to the development of gunpowder, they were made largely of wood, using rope or leather to help bind them, possibly with a few pieces of metal at key stress points. They could launch simple ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roman-era Peripatetic Philosophers
The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Roman Republic, Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterranean Sea in Europe, North Africa, and Western Asia, and was ruled by Roman emperor, emperors. From the Constitutional reforms of Augustus, accession of Caesar Augustus as the first Roman emperor to the Crisis of the Third Century, military anarchy of the 3rd century, it was a Principate with Roman Italy, Italia as the metropole of Roman province, its provinces and the Rome, city of Rome as its sole capital. The Empire was later ruled by dominate, multiple emperors who shared control over the Western Roman Empire and the Byzantine Empire#Early history, Eastern Roman Empire. The city of Rome remained the nominal capital of both parts until AD 476 when the imperial insignia were sent to Constantinople following the capture of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ancient Greek Military Writers
Ancient history is a time period from the beginning of writing and recorded human history to as far as late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the Sumerian cuneiform script. Ancient history covers all continents inhabited by humans in the period 3000 BCAD 500. The three-age system periodizes ancient history into the Stone Age, the Bronze Age, and the Iron Age, with recorded history generally considered to begin with the Bronze Age. The start and end of the three ages varies between world regions. In many regions the Bronze Age is generally considered to begin a few centuries prior to 3000 BC, while the end of the Iron Age varies from the early first millennium BC in some regions to the late first millennium AD in others. During the time period of ancient history, the world population was already exponentially increasing due to the Neolithic Revolution, which was in full progress. While in 10,000 BC, the world population stood at ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ancient Greek Military Engineers
Ancient history is a time period from the History of writing, beginning of writing and recorded human history to as far as late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the Sumerian language, Sumerian cuneiform script. Ancient history covers all continents inhabited by humans in the period 3000 BCAD 500. The three-age system periodizes ancient history into the Stone Age, the Bronze Age, and the Iron Age, with recorded history generally considered to begin with the Bronze Age. The start and end of the three ages varies between world regions. In many regions the Bronze Age is generally considered to begin a few centuries prior to 3000 BC, while the end of the Iron Age varies from the early first millennium BC in some regions to the late first millennium AD in others. During the time period of ancient history, the world population was already Exponential growth, exponentially increasing due to the Neolithic Revolution, which was in full pro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hero Of Byzantium
Hero of Byzantium (or Heron of Byzantium or sometimes Hero the Younger) ( el, Ἥρων) is a name used to refer to the anonymous Byzantine Empire, Byzantine author of two treatises, commonly known as ''Parangelmata Poliorcetica'' and ''Geodesia'', composed in the mid-10th century and found in an 11th-century manuscript in the Vatican Library (Vaticanus graecus 1605). The first is a poliorketikon, an illustrated manual of siegecraft; the second is a work in practical geometry and ballistics, which makes use of locations around Constantinople to illustrate its points. The manuscript consists of 58 folios and 38 colored illustrations. Following a seventh-century defeat by the Arabs in the east and the barbarian powers in the west, the Byzantine Empire found itself gutted of much of its territory and needed to re-establish its military excellence. "Recent research has suggested that the empire first survived, and later expanded, by retaining and adapting military theories and practice ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Poliorketikon
A poliorceticon ( el, πολιορκητικόν, also transliterated ''poliorketikon'', ''poliorketika'' in the plural) is any member of the genre of Byzantine literature dealing with manuals on siege warfare, which is formally known as poliorcetics. As with much Byzantine literature, the ''poliorcetica'' tend to be compendia of earlier guides illustrated with Biblical and Classical anecdotes. The extent to which they might be up-to-date or representative of actual experiences in the field is sometimes questionable and greatly depends upon the author. Composed as they were during the era immediately antecedent to the arrival of heavy artillery, the ''poliorcetica'' tend to focus less upon large machines and more upon techniques for bringing men close to fortifications, as well as on ways of undermining these once attacking forces are positioned. These Byzantine manuals also tend to give a good amount of insight on morale and advice on psychological defense employable by those bein ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
De Architectura
(''On architecture'', published as ''Ten Books on Architecture'') is a treatise on architecture written by the Roman architect and military engineer Marcus Vitruvius Pollio and dedicated to his patron, the emperor Caesar Augustus, as a guide for building projects. As the only treatise on architecture to survive from antiquity, it has been regarded since the Renaissance as the first book on architectural theory, as well as a major source on the canon of classical architecture. It contains a variety of information on Greek and Roman buildings, as well as prescriptions for the planning and design of military camps, cities, and structures both large (aqueducts, buildings, baths, harbours) and small (machines, measuring devices, instruments). Since Vitruvius published before the development of cross vaulting, domes, concrete, and other innovations associated with Imperial Roman architecture, his ten books give no information on these hallmarks of Roman building design and technology ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vitruvius
Vitruvius (; c. 80–70 BC – after c. 15 BC) was a Roman architect and engineer during the 1st century BC, known for his multi-volume work entitled ''De architectura''. He originated the idea that all buildings should have three attributes: , , and ("strength", "utility", and "beauty"). These principles were later widely adopted in Roman architecture. His discussion of perfect proportion in architecture and the human body led to the famous Renaissance drawing of the ''Vitruvian Man'' by Leonardo da Vinci. Little is known about Vitruvius' life, but by his own descriptionDe Arch. Book 1, preface. section 2. he served as an artilleryman, the third class of arms in the Roman military offices. He probably served as a senior officer of artillery in charge of ''doctores ballistarum'' (artillery experts) and ''libratores'' who actually operated the machines. As an army engineer he specialized in the construction of ''ballista'' and '' scorpio'' artillery war machines for sieges. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Philo Of Byzantium
Philo of Byzantium ( el, , ''Phílōn ho Byzántios'', ca. 280 BC – ca. 220 BC), also known as Philo Mechanicus, was a Greek engineer, physicist and writer on mechanics, who lived during the latter half of the 3rd century BC. Although he was from Byzantium he lived most of his life in Alexandria, Egypt. He was probably younger than Ctesibius, though some place him a century earlier. Life and works Philo was the author of a large work, ''Mechanike syntaxis'' (Compendium of Mechanics), which contained the following sections: * ''Isagoge'' (εἰσαγωγή) – an introduction to mathematics * ''Mochlica'' (μοχλικά) – on general mechanics * ''Limenopoeica'' (λιμενοποιικά) – on harbour building * ''Belopoeica'' (βελοποιικά) – on artillery * ''Pneumatica'' (πνευματικά) – on devices operated by air or water pressure * ''Automatopoeica'' (αὐτοματοποιητικά) – on mechanical toys and diversions * ''Parasceuastica'' ( ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Diades Of Pella
Diades of Pella ( grc, Διάδης Πελλαίος ''Diadis Pelleos''), surnamed the "Besieger" ( ''Poliorkitis''), was a Thessalian inventor of many siege engines, student of Philip II's military engineer Polyidus of Thessaly. He lived in the 4th century BC. Diades accompanied Alexander the Great in his campaigns to the East. He constructed (or improved) movable towers, battering rams, scaling engines used to scale walls and battering cranes used for the destruction of city walls. Diades was known as "the man who took Tyre with Alexander". He also wrote a treatise on machinery. (Vitruvius Vitruvius (; c. 80–70 BC – after c. 15 BC) was a Roman architect and engineer during the 1st century BC, known for his multi-volume work entitled ''De architectura''. He originated the idea that all buildings should have three attribute ... vii, introduction) Notes External linksTechnology museum of Thessalonica Ancient Greek military engineers Engineers of Alexander the G ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marcus Claudius Marcellus (Julio-Claudian Dynasty)
Marcus Claudius Marcellus (42–23 BC) was the eldest son of Gaius Claudius Marcellus and Octavia Minor, sister of Augustus (then known as Octavian). He was Augustus' nephew and closest male relative, and began to enjoy an accelerated political career as a result. He was educated with his cousin Tiberius and traveled with him to Hispania where they served under Augustus in the Cantabrian Wars. In 25 BC he returned to Rome where he married his cousin Julia, who was the emperor's daughter. Marcellus and Augustus' general Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa were the two popular choices as heir to the empire. According to Suetonius, this put Agrippa at odds with Marcellus, and is the reason why Agrippa traveled away from Rome to Mytilene in 23 BC. That year, an illness was spreading in Rome which afflicted both Augustus and Marcellus. Augustus caught it earlier in the year, while Marcellus caught it later, after the emperor had already recovered. The illness proved fatal and killed Marcellus a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
