The Art of Siege Warfare and Military Architecture from the Classical World to the Middle Ages Hardcover – January 13, 2021

The papers in this book present, for the first time, the world of warfare, both defensive and offensive, from the Classical periods to end of the Middle Ages in one collection. These scholarships have attracted ancient writers and generals and nowadays historians, archaeologists and researchers poliorcetics. Military historiography and ancient manuals are well familiar from the Classical period throughout the Hellenistic great battlefields until the end of the Middle Ages, the chronological scope of this codex. The current book is the first to encompass this long array of time while trying to enrich the reader with the continuity, development and regression in the different periods and spheres of the ancient poliorcetics and beyond; the papers presented here are focusing on the physical fortifications, besieging and defense techniques, development and efficiency of ancient projectiles and sieging machinery, battlefields and the historiographical evidence. The papers of the book are written by some of the best scholars in their field, presenting here for the first time the results of their research, in the west and in the east.Table of ContentsList of contributors Introduction Michael Eisenberg and Rabei Khamisy1. The Early 5th-Century BCE Fort of Larisa East (Aeolis) as Part of a Multi-Centred Defence System Ilgın Külekçi and Turgut Saner2. The Layout of a Late Classical Fortress in Eastern Sicily: The Military Outpost on Monte Turcisi (CT) Melanie Jonasch and Claudia Winterstein3. Strategy Versus Representation? The Late Classical City Wall of Messene Silke Müth4. Apertures and Shutters at the Towers of Ancient Messene Ioannis Nakas5. Interpreting the Greek Fortifications in Thrace in the 5th–2nd Century BCE: Conflicts or Collaborations? Aliénor Rufin Solas6. ‘Dig for Victory’! Competitive Fieldwork in Classical Siege Operations Gwyn Davies7. Fortifying a Buffer Region: The City Walls in Triphylia, Greece Elke Richter8. Excavating the Hellenistic Fortification of Vergina, Northern Greece Vassiliki G. Stamatopoulou9. The Hellenistic Fortification of Seleukeia Gadara (Umm Qays): Form, Function and Origin of the Military Architecture at the Southern Edge of the Seleucid Empire Brita Jansen10. The Siege Wall at Mudayna as-Saliya in Central Jordan Chang-Ho Ji and Chaim Ben-David11. The Development and Function of the East Gate in Side, Pamphylia Ute Lohner-Urban12. The Starting Point of the Imperial Roads in Aelia Capitolina Shlomit Weksler-Bdolah and Danit Levi13. Regional Fortifications in the Chora of Hippos (Sussita) Adam Pažout14. The Extraordinary Roman Military Presence in Judaea from AD 70 until the 3rd Century Werner Eck15. Securing the Hostile Hinterland: The Roman Fort at Gračine and the Defences of Narona Tomasz Dziurdzik and Anna Mech16. Fortifications of Nicaea: The Defensive Features of a 3rd-Century CE Rampart and their Transformation Throughout History Ayşe Dalyancı-Berns17. Caesarea Maritima: Fortifications and City Expansion from the Time of Herod the Great to Late Antiquity Peter Gendelman18. Habonim-Kafr Lām: A Ribāt of the Levantine Coastal Defensive System in the First Centuries of Islam Hervé Barbé and Itamar Taxel19. Countermeasures: The Destruction of Siege Equipment at Acre, 1189–1191 John D. Hosler20. Crusader Coastal Fortifications: Preventing Longshore Raids in the Shallows, While Keeping the Sea Approach Open and Safe Ehud Galili and Sarah Arenson21. Three Main Towers of Medieval Caesarea: Their Architecture and Function Vardit Shotten-Hallel, Jean Mesqui and Uzi ‘Ad22. Battlefield Archaeology at Tannenberg (Grunwald, Žalgiris): Physical Remains of the Defeat of the Teutonic Order in Prussia in 1410 Sven Ekdahl23. Contra Multitudinem Ruthenorum Armatorum: The Russian-Livonian Battle of Lake Smolino (1502) Reconsidered Alexander Baranov Read more