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A Poliorceticon (Greek πολιορκητικά, also transliterated poliorketikon, based on the Greek singular) is any member of the genre of Byzantine literature dealing with manuals on siege warfare. As with much Byzantine literature, the poliorcetica tend to be compendia of earlier guides illustrated with Biblical and Classical anecdotes. The extent to which they might be up-to-date or representative of actual experiences in the field is sometimes questionable and greatly depends upon the author.

Composed as they were during the era immediately antecedant to the arrival of heavy artillery, the poliorcetica tend to focus less upon large machines and more upon techniques for bringing men close to fortifications and the ways of undermining them once situated. As one might expect, these Byzantine manuals also tend to give a good amount of advice on psychological tricks to employ (whether to encourage betrayal or merely to create an air of dissention harmful to successful and prolonged defense) and means of avoiding betrayal one's self when invested by a siege.

Two examples of the genre are:

Parangelmata Poliorcetica (Παραγγέλματα πολιορκητικά) of Hero of Byzantium

De obsidione toleranda ("On Withstanding Sieges"), anonymous

Although not technically poliorcetica, other Byzantine military texts such as Kekaumenos's Strategikon and Nikephoros Ouranos's Taktika often include sections or chapters dealing with siege operations. Sources which were composed by soldiers or generals themselves are naturally the most invaluable of these for reconstructing actual procedures in the field.

Links

Original texts, commentary & ranslations of Hero of Byzantium's Parangelmata Poliorcetica & Geodesia from Dumbarton Oaks.

Sources

"Byzantine Siege Warfare in Theory and Practice" by Eric McGeer from The Medieval City under Siege

Ancient Greece

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