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A siege (Latin: sedere, lit. 'to sit') [1] is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition, or by well-prepared assault. Siege warfare (also called siegecrafts or poliorcetics) is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict characterized by one party holding a strong, static, defensive position.
The Romans used three main siege techniques to seize enemy cities: by starvation (it took more time, but less loss of life on the part of the attackers), by creating all around the besieged city a series of fortifications (an inner [4] and sometimes an outer contravallation, [5] as in the case of Alesia) [6] that would prevent the enemy from obtaining supplies (of food and even water, by ...
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Lists of battles Before 301 301–1300 1301–1600 1601–1800 1801–1900 1901–2000 2001–current Naval Sieges See also Part of a series on War (outline) History Prehistoric Ancient Post-classical Castles Early modern Military revolution Pike and shot Napoleonic warfare Late modern Industrial warfare Fourth-gen warfare Military Organization Command and control Defense ministry Army Navy ...
Siege warfare of the ancient Near East took place behind walls built of mud bricks, stone, wood or a combination of these materials depending on local availability. The earliest representations of siege warfare date to the Protodynastic Period of Egypt , c. 3000 BC, while the first siege equipment is known from Egyptian tomb reliefs of the 24th ...
Greek siege tower first used in Rhodes. [5] Polybolos: 289 BC Greece: A siege engine with torsion mechanism, drawing its power from twisted sinew-bundles. Sambuca: 213 BC Sicily: Roman seaborne siege engine build on two ships. Siege hook: 189 BC Rome: A siege hook is a weapon used to pull stones from a wall during a siege.
Roman siege engines were, for the most part, adapted from Hellenistic siege technology. Relatively small efforts were made to develop the technology; however, the Romans brought an unrelentingly aggressive style to siege warfare [ 1 ] that brought them repeated success.
Siege of Jerusalem (63 BC) 63 BC Mithridatic Wars (First Mithridatic War) 12,000+ 5,000 Siege of Alesia: 52 BC Gallic Wars: 200,000 100,000 Siege of Constantinople: 626 Sasanian–Byzantine wars: 95,000 70,000 Siege of Constantinople: 717–718 Arab–Byzantine wars: 170,000 130,000 [2] Siege of Yongqiu: 756 An Lushan Rebellion: 100,000 65,000 ...