Besieged: Siege Warfare in the Ancient World

by Duncan B. Campbell

The great warleaders and generals, including Darius, Alexander the Great, Hannibal and Julius Caesar successfully used siegecraft to gain their objectives. As siege tactics became integral to success in war, generals employed the minds of engineers and scientists to develop tactics, and offensive and defensive technology to give them the edge over their enemies. The mathematician Archimedes was famously and very practically involved in the defense of Syracuse in 213-12 BC. Soldiers became highly skilled combat engineers.

The book tracks the amazing developments in siege warfare through a period of nine centuries and includes details of the evolution of the artillery of the era - spear- and stone-firing catapults. Full-color artwork, many drawings and plans, photographs of archeological finds and reconstructions support expert but accessible text in this fascinating study of a less familiar facet of the ancient art of war.

Genres: History, Military History, Ancient History, Military Fiction

224 pages, Hardcover

First published September 26, 2006

About the author

Dr Duncan B Campbell is a specialist in Greek and Roman military history. He first became fascinated by Roman archaeology after a childhood visit to Hadrian's Wall. He published his first academic paper in 1984, as an undergraduate at Glasgow University (Scotland), and produced a complete re-assessment of Roman siegecraft for his PhD.
He has made some of his research accessible to a wider readership through Osprey's New Vanguard, Elite, and Fortress series, and he is a regular contributor to *Ancient Warfare* magazine. Besides writing occasional academic articles, he is a frequent reviewer for *Bryn Mawr Classical Review*.
In his latest book, *The Fate of the Ninth*, he discusses the curious disappearance of Rome's Ninth Legion.

Reviews

[Dimitri]

The Classical Greeks couldn't afford it, until Athens got an empire. Alexander got it from his daddy. The Persians could afford it but seldom needed it. The Hellenic Greeks were circumvalling long before Caesar went for the max in Gaul.

With the roots of siege warfare in Assyria covered for an intro, this is Exhaustive, with even more detailed inserts of different types of specialized machines and what the flaws in modern reconstructions taught us, this is advanced company for studies on Greco-Roman warfare.

Quality beyond me...

[Al]

As a subset of my late life interest in ancient Roman and Greek history, I keep coming across mentions of "siege warfare " during the expansions of their Mediterranean empires. I was fascinated by the engineering and mechanications of making these contraptions and having them actually work. I wanted to learn more, and voilà! I came across this book about the history of Siege Engines. I must admit, I didn't read every word of text, but it literally has hundreds of detailed captioned photos and diagrams. I was totally engrossed. Granted, it's not for everyone, but when you find a source that covers that little niche interest you have...well, as they say....if you know, you know.

[Ben Adams]

This was a good overview with as much as you’d want to know about ancient siege warfare. I was especially interested to know the timeline on when different types of siege equipment existed, and Campbell did a great job of making that clear for the reader. While it ends up being a bit repetitive (just as a siege would), it is relatively exhaustive in that it describes every siege we have a historical narrative for. Worth picking up if you’re into the subject for the illustrations of siege machines alone.

[Ivan Savić]

The book mainly focuses on siege machines and their construction, and some siege tactics. Describes quite a few sieges from ancient grece to roman era, which are all more or less the same, and it does not include any other part of the world like asia. There are a lot of good graphic and ilustrations.

[Tyler]

3.5

[Richard]

Excellent study of Ancient siege warfare up to the late Roman era. The photos of actual sites and ancient art work and monuments goes a long way to help the reader understand what happened. While much is speculation, basing this speculation on solid archeology and existing texts and monumental art produces a very credible explanation. Use of the esplanade to walk up to the walls was a common tactic and the remains of these dirt structures are visible today.

[Walt]

Richly illustrated with recreations and archeological photos, this is an excellent resource for being, basically, a picture book. There is a lot of discussion accompanying the illustrations that is academic in nature.