Replica battering ram at Château des Baux, France. A battering ram is a Siege engine originating in ancient times to break open Fortification walls or doors The Château des Baux is a fortified Castle built during the 10th century located in Les Baux-de-Provence, Bouches-du-Rhône, southern France This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics.

A siege engine is a device that is designed to break or circumvent city walls and other fortifications in siege warfare. A machine is any device that uses Energy to perform some activity See also List of cities with defensive walls A defensive wall is a Fortification used to defend a city or settlement from potential aggressors Fortifications are Military Constructions and Buildings designed for defense in Warfare Humans have constructed defensive works for

Ancient siege engines

The earliest engine was the battering ram, followed by the catapult in ancient Greece. A battering ram is a Siege engine originating in ancient times to break open Fortification walls or doors A catapult is any one of a number of non-handheld mechanical devices used to throw a Projectile a great distance without the aid of an explosive substance—particularly various The term ancient Greece refers to the period of Greek history lasting from the Greek Dark Ages ca The Spartans used battering rams in the siege of Plataea in 429 BCE, but it seems that the Greeks limited their use of siege engines to assault ladders, though Peloponnesian forces used something resembling flamethrowers. The city of Sparta ( Doric Σπάρτα Attic Σπάρτη Events By place Greece The Athenians under Xenophon march into Thrace to attack Chalcis. A ladder is a vertical or inclined set of rungs or steps. There are two types rigid ladders that can be leaned against a vertical surface such as a Wall, and A flamethrower is a mechanical device designed to project a long controllable stream of Fire.

The first Mediterranean people to use advanced siege machinery were the Carthaginians, who used siege towers and battering rams against the Greek colonies of Sicily. Carthage (Καρχηδών Karkhēdōn, Carthago from the Phoenician קרת חדשת phn-Latn Qart-ḥadašt meaning new town) refers A siege tower (or in the Middle Ages a Belfry) is a specialized Siege engine, constructed to protect assailants and ladders while approaching Sicily ( Italian and Sicilian: Sicilia) is an autonomous region of Italy. These engines influenced the ruler of Syracuse, Dionysius I. Syracuse (Siracusa Sicilian: Sarausa, Classical Greek: / transliterated Syrakousai) is a historic City in Dionysius I or Dionysius the Elder (ca 432&ndash367 BC Greek: Διονύσιος) Tyrant of Syracuse, conquered several cities

Roman siege engines.

Two rulers to make use of siege engines to a large extent were Philip II of Macedonia and Alexander the Great. Philip II of Macedon, ( Greek: Φίλιππος Β' ο Μακεδών &mdash φίλος = friend + ίππος = Horse Alexander the Great ( or, Mégas Aléxandros; July 20 356 BC June 10 or June 11 323 BC also known as Alexander III of Macedon (el Ἀλέξανδρος Γ' Their large engines spurred an evolution that led to impressive machines, like the Demetrius Poliorcetes' Helepolis (or "Taker of Cities") of 304 BCE: nine stories high and plated with iron, it stood 40 m (125 ft) tall and 21 m (60 ft) wide, weighing 180 t (360,000 lb). Demetrius I (337-283 BC Greek: Δημήτριος) called Poliorcetes (Greek Πολιορκητής) ("The Besieger" son of Helepolis (ἑλέπολις English: "Taker of Cities" was an ancient Siege engine invented by Polyidus of Thessaly and improved by Events By place Greece The siege of Rhodes ends after a year as Demetrius Poliorcetes meets with obstinate resistance from the The most utilized engines were simple battering rams, or tortoises, propelled in several ingenious ways that allowed the attackers to reach the walls or ditches with a certain degree of safety. For sea sieges or battles seesaw-like machines (sambykē or sambuca) were used. These were giant ladders, hinged and mounted on a base mechanism and used for transferring marines onto the sea walls of coastal towns. They were normally mounted on two or more ships tied together and some sambykē included shield at the top to protect the climbers from arrows. Other hinging engines were used to catch enemy equipment or even opposite soldiers through apposite appendices which are probably ancestors to the Roman corvus, or to drop against them heavy weights. A corvus (meaning "crow" or "raven" in Latin) or harpago (probably the correct ancient name) was a Roman military

The Romans preferred to assault enemy walls building earthen ramps (agger) or simply scaling the walls, as in the early siege of the Samnite city of Silvium (306 BC). Events By place Cyprus Menelaus brother of Egypt's ruler Ptolemy I Soter, is defeated and captured by Demetrius Poliorcetes Soldiers working at the ramps were protected by shelters called vineae, that were arranged to form a long corridor. Wicker shields (plutei) were used to protect the front of the corridor during its construction. Another Roman siege engine sometimes used, resembled the Greek ditch-filling tortoise, called a musculus ("Little mouse"). Roman Siege engines were for the most part adapted from Hellenistic Siege Technology. Battering rams were also widespread. Siege towers were first used by the Roman legions around 200 BC.

The first documented occurrence of ancient siege artillery pieces in Europe was the gastraphetes ("belly-bow"), a kind of non-torsion bolt-thrower. The gastraphetes (from Ancient Greek γαστραφέτης, English translation: "belly-bow" was a hand-held Crossbow used by the These were mounted on wooden frames. Greater machines forced the introduction of pulley system for loading the projectiles, which had extended to include stones also. Later torsion systems appeared, based on sinew springs. The onager was the main Roman invention in the field. The onager was a post-classical Roman Siege engine, which derived its name from the kicking action of the machine similar to that of an Onager (wild ass

A stone-throwing machine set to defend a gate, in the fresco of Guidoriccio da Fogliano by Simone Martini (14th century). Simone Martini (c 1284 – c 1344 was an Italian painter born in Siena.

The earliest documented occurrence of ancient siege artillery pieces in China was the levered principled traction catapult and an 8-foot high siege crossbow from the Mozi (Mo Jing), a Mohist text written at about the 4th - 3rd century BCE by followers of Mozi who founded the Mohist school of thought during the late Spring and Autumn Period and the early Warring States period. Much of what we now know of the siege technology of the time came to us from Books 14 and 15 (Chapters 52 to 71) on Siege Warfare from the Mo Jing. Recorded and preserved on bamboo strips, much of the text is now unfortunately extremely corrupted. However, despite the heavy fragmentation, Mohist diligence and attention to details which set Mo Jing apart from other works, ensured that highly descriptive details of the workings of mechanical devices like Cloud Ladders, Rotating Arcuballistas and Levered Catapults, records of siege techniques and usage of siege weaponry can still be found. ^[1]

Medieval siege engines

Medieval designs include the catapult (including the Mangonel and Onager), the ballista and the trebuchet (the trebuchet was first designed in China in the 3rd century BC and was brought over to Europe in the 4th century AD). A catapult is any one of a number of non-handheld mechanical devices used to throw a Projectile a great distance without the aid of an explosive substance—particularly various A mangonel was a type of Catapult or Siege machine used in the medieval period to throw projectiles at a castle 's walls The onager was a post-classical Roman Siege engine, which derived its name from the kicking action of the machine similar to that of an Onager (wild ass The ballista ( Latin, from Greek βαλλίστρα - ballistra, from - βάλλω ballō, "to throw" plural ballistae A trebuchet or trebucket is a Siege engine that was employed in the Middle Ages either to smash Masonry Walls or to throw These machines used mechanical energy to fling large projectiles to batter down stone walls. In Europe, the catapult was invented in Greece by Dionysius in 399 BC. Dionysius I or Dionysius the Elder (ca 432&ndash367 BC Greek: Διονύσιος) Tyrant of Syracuse, conquered several cities Events By Place Western Roman Empire Flavius Mallius Theodorus becomes Roman Consul. Also used were the battering ram and the siege tower, a wooden tower on wheels that allowed attackers to climb up and over castle walls, while protected somewhat from enemy arrow fire. A siege tower (or in the Middle Ages a Belfry) is a specialized Siege engine, constructed to protect assailants and ladders while approaching Another weapon was the petard, an explosive device designed specifically for breaching gates and walls. A petard was a small Bomb used to blow up gates and walls when breaching fortifications The petard had to be placed directly against the surface of the fortress.

A typical military confrontation in medieval times was for one side to lay siege to their opponent's castle. A military is an Organization authorized by its Nation to use force usually including use of Weapons in defending its Country (or by attacking A castle is a defensive structure seen as one of the main symbols of the Middle Ages. When properly defended, they had the choice whether to assault the castle directly or to starve the people out by blocking food deliveries, or more proactively to employ war machines specifically designed to destroy or circumvent castle defenses.

Other tactics included setting fires against castle walls in an effort to decompose the cement that held together the individual stones so they could be readily knocked over. Early thermal weapons were devices or substances used in Warfare during the classical and medieval periods (approx 8th century BC until the mid-16th Another indirect means was the practice of mining, whereby tunnels were dug under the walls to weaken the foundations and destroy them. Mining, undermining, or sapping was a Siege method used since antiquity against a Walled city, Fortress or Castle A third tactic was the catapulting of diseased animals or human corpses over the walls in order to promote disease which would force the defenders to surrender, a primitive form of biological warfare. Biological warfare (BW — known as a germ warfare, biological weapons and bioweaponry — is the use of any Pathogen ( Bacterium

Modern siege engines

With the advent of gunpowder, firearms such as the arquebus and cannon— eventually the mortar and artillery—were developed. Gunpowder is a an explosive mixture of Sulfur, Charcoal and Potassium nitrate (also known as saltpetre/saltpeter that burns rapidly producing volumes A firearm is a Tool that projects either single or multiple Projectiles at high velocity through a controlled explosion The Arquebus (sometimes spelled harquebus, harkbus or hackbut; from Dutch haakbus, meaning "hook gun" is | NOTE Throughout this article "cannon" is used as BOTH the || singular and plural A mortar is a muzzle-loading Indirect fire weapon that fires shells at low velocities short ranges and high-arcing ballistic trajectories Artillery (from French artillerie) is a military Combat Arm which employs any apparātus machine These weapons proved so effective that fortifications, such as city walls, had to be low and thick, as exemplified by the designs of Vauban. Fortifications are Military Constructions and Buildings designed for defense in Warfare Humans have constructed defensive works for See also List of cities with defensive walls A defensive wall is a Fortification used to defend a city or settlement from potential aggressors Sébastien Le Prestre Seigneur de Vauban and later Marquis de Vauban ( May 15, 1633 – March 30, 1707) commonly referred to

The development of specialized siege artillery culminated during World War I and II. World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including During the First World War, huge siege guns such as Big Bertha were designed to see use against the modern fortresses of the day. Big Bertha (Dicke Bertha literal translation "Fat Bertha" is the name of a type of super-heavy Howitzer developed by the famous armaments manufacturer The apex of siege artillery was reached with the German Schwerer Gustav gun, a huge 800 mm caliber railway gun, built during early World War II. Schwerer Gustav (English Heavy Gustav) and Dora were the names of the German 80 cm K (E Railway guns They were developed in A railway gun, also called railroad gun is a large Artillery piece designed to be placed on Rail tracks. Schwerer Gustav was initially intended to be used for breaching the French Maginot Line of fortifications but was not finished in time and (as a sign of the times) the Maginot Line was circumvented by rapid mechanized forces instead of breached in a head-on assault. The Maginot Line (IPA, Ligne Maginot named after French Minister of Defense André Maginot, was a line of concrete Fortifications tank obstacles artillery The long time it took to deploy and move the modern siege guns made them vulnerable to air attack and it also made them unsuited to the rapid troop movements of modern warfare.

Siege weapons are now considered obsolete owing to the effectiveness of aircraft-delivered munitions and cruise missiles, which have made defensive area fortifications obsolete. A cruise missile is a guided Missile that carries an explosive payload and uses a lifting wing and a propulsion system usually a Jet engine, to allow The only cost effective static defensive structures are now deep bunkers used for military command and control. A military bunker is a hardened shelter often buried partly or fully underground designed to protect the inhabitants from falling bombs or other attacks Command and control can be defined as the exercise of Authority and Direction by a properly designated Commander over assigned and attached Forces Even these fixed assets are of questionable value as it appears that the most survivable command and control of mobile defensive forces (such as modern tactical and strategic aircraft, mechanized cavalry and mechanized infantry) is through decentralized command and the use of mobile command centers. The Cavalry (from French cavalerie) is the second oldest of the Combat Arms, and as Soldiers or Warriors who fought mounted on Mechanized infantry (or "mech infantry" are Infantry equipped with Armored personnel carriers (APCs or Infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs

Notes

Sources

• Campbell, Duncan B. (2003). Greek and Roman Siege Machinery 399 BC - AD 363. Osprey Publishing.  
• Liang, Jieming (2006). Chinese Siege Warfare: Mechanical Artillery & Siege Weapons of Antiquity. ISBN 981-05-5380-3.  

See also

• Fortification
• Military history
• Military engineer
• Medieval warfare
• Early thermal weapons
• Category:Siege equipment

External links

• Sunward Aerospace, working Siege Engine Kits
• Book: Catapult Design, Construction and Competition with The Projectile Throwing Engines of the Ancients
• Medieval castle siege weapons
• Chinese Siege Warfare
• Paolo Santini De Machinis or De machinis bellicis de Mariano Taccola, Paris, BnF, Département des manuscrits, Latin 7239