Hero of Byzantium (or Heron of Byzantium or sometimes Hero the Younger) ( el, Ἥρων) is a name used to refer to the anonymous

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

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 The Vatican Apostolic Library ( la, Bibliotheca Apostolica Vaticana, it, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana), more commonly known as the Vatican Library or informally as the Vat, is the library of the Holy See, located in Vatican City. Formally es ...

(Vaticanus graecus 1605). The first is a

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 poliorcet ...

, an illustrated manual of siegecraft; the second is a work in practical

geometry Geometry (; ) is, with arithmetic, one of the oldest branches of mathematics. It is concerned with properties of space such as the distance, shape, size, and relative position of figures. A mathematician who works in the field of geometry is c ...

and

ballistics Ballistics is the field of mechanics concerned with the launching, flight behaviour and impact effects of projectiles, especially ranged weapon munitions such as bullets, unguided bombs, rockets or the like; the science or art of designing and a ...

, which makes use of locations around

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...

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 practices from late antiquity." Hero's treatises were part of this process of recovery and adaptation.

Name

There is no mention of the author's name in the treatises, and the numerous Byzantine references throughout the work indicate that the author cannot be

Hero of Alexandria Hero of Alexandria (; grc-gre, Ἥρων ὁ Ἀλεξανδρεύς, ''Heron ho Alexandreus'', also known as Heron of Alexandria ; 60 AD) was a Greece, Greek mathematician and engineer who was active in his native city of Alexandria, Roman Egy ...

(). Perhaps the name "Hero" came to be applied to him because of his use of Hero of Alexandria's work, which like his own deals principally with technology.

''Parangelmata Poliorcetica''

The ''Parangelmata Poliorcetica'' was an adaptation of an earlier () poliorcetic manual of

Apollodorus of Damascus Apollodorus of Damascus ( grc, Ἀπολλόδωρος ὁ Δαμασκηνός) was a Nabataean architect and engineer from Damascus, Roman Syria, who flourished during the 2nd century AD. As an engineer he authored several technical treatises, ...

, but in place of the static, two-dimensional diagrams of that work, the Byzantine author used a three-dimensional perspective and scaled human figures to clarify the passages. As

artillery Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during siege ...

had not yet become a factor in siegecraft, the machines themselves tend to be those useful for advancing a force up to

fortification A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

s and

mining Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic via ...

them once situated. Hero includes tortoises ( grc-gre, χηλῶναι—mobile sheds used to protect troops from attack while approaching fortifications); a new Slavic style of tortoise called the ''laisa'' ( grc-gre, λαῖσα), created from interwoven branches and vines;

palisade A palisade, sometimes called a stakewall or a paling, is typically a fence or defensive wall made from iron or wooden stakes, or tree trunks, and used as a defensive structure or enclosure. Palisades can form a stockade. Etymology ''Palisade' ...

rams In engineering, RAMS (reliability, availability, maintainability and safety)ladder A ladder is a vertical or inclined set of rungs or steps used for climbing or descending. There are two types: rigid ladders that are self-supporting or that may be leaned against a vertical surface such as a wall, and rollable ladders, such a ...

s; nets; towers; bridges; and tools such as augers and bores. In addition to the work of Apollodorus, the author also draws on the work of

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 1s ...

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 f ...

, and

Biton Biton (Hebrew: ביטון) is a Maghrebi Jewish surname which is common in Israel. It may refer to: * Avraham Biton (1923-2005), Israeli politician * Charlie Biton (born 1947), former Israeli politician * Dan Biton (born 1961), general in the Israe ...

''Geodesia''

''Geodesia'' or ''

geodesy Geodesy ( ) is the Earth science of accurately measuring and understanding Earth's figure (geometric shape and size), orientation in space, and gravity. The field also incorporates studies of how these properties change over time and equivale ...

'' comes from the Greek word γεωδαισία (from γή, "earth", and δαΐζω, "divide"), literally meaning "division of the earth". When Hero of Byzantium wrote his ''Geodesia'', he drew on an earlier manual by Hero of Alexandria—specifically on the Alexandrian's knowledge of applied geometry and use of the surveying instrument called the

dioptra A dioptra (sometimes also named dioptre or diopter, from el, διόπτρα) is a classical astronomical and surveying instrument, dating from the 3rd century BC. The dioptra was a sighting tube or, alternatively, a rod with a sight at ...

. Hero of Alexandria's manuscripts suggest that the dioptra could be used as a level and for measuring elevations, distances, and angles. Heron of Byzantium spoke about its use in siege warfare, showing that it could estimate distances and the required sizes of siege engines.Sullivan (2000), p. 1.

Edition

*Sullivan, Dennis F., ed. (2000). ''Siegecraft: Two Tenth-Century Instructional Manuals by "Heron of Byzantium"''. Dumbarton Oaks Studies XXXVI. Washington, DC: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection. .

Sources

{{Authority control 10th-century Byzantine writers Medieval Greek military writers 10th-century Byzantine people Unidentified people