Roman Siege And Fortifications Information

[Guest furiousmumbojumbo]

I need information on Roman siege and fortifications. Any information would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.[

[Primus Pilus]

I need information on Roman siege and fortifications. Any information would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.[

 

My own very brief summary

[caldrail]

Siegecraft is a matter of resources and patience. Modern films and computer games have distorted our vision about sieges by confusing them with assaults. These happen rarely in siegecraft as a rule, although Julius Caesar proudly tells us he got rid of eight hundred gaulish forts.

 

Massada was a different matter. The Jews were thumbing their nose at Rome whilst holed -up in an impregnable castle. It was a matter of national pride and prestige that Massada should fall. The romans built a huge earth ramp under fire to enable siege engines to break through the walls. They had the manpower, engineering ability, and the need to complete this large scale assault on a difficult target.

 

Although Rome built stone walls & castles, a large percentage of their fortifications were wooden, or even earth & turf in some cases. It was a matter of local materials. If there weren't any quarries nearby, it was cheaper, easier, and quicker to build from wood. It would have been the same for Romes enemies. Roman castles are almost medieval in sophistication - crenallated walls, gatehouses, tower positions - Its even possible that castle towers were at least another storey higher than modern reconstructions in Britain and Germany.

 

Siege mining was an area that Rome didn't seem to bother with. Their siegecraft was above ground level.

 

Quite clearly Rome was able to build quickly. Crassus built a wall across the toe of Italy to keep Spartacus hemmed in. Caesar not only built an extensive stockade to keep Vercingetorix trapped in, he then had to build another around it to keep gaulish allies out. A siege within a siege.

 

There were aspects too. Using an 'abatis' of cut-down trees as a barrier or hidden pits with wooden stakes as a primitive minefield were methods used by the legions occaisionally. Fire is an important siege weapon, but difficult to employ successfully I think. All ancient armies could have managed this yet getting a wooden stockade to burn isn't as easy as you might think.

 

Regarding roman war engines, its possible that smaller ballistae were broken down into transportable parts, but more likely they were built on-site. The larger rams, onagers, and towers would have been constructed at the scene without a doubt. They were simply too large to cart around. In any case, you'd need a large force to make good use of these machines.

 

The ability of the Romans to conduct siege assaults results from their organised approach and the policy of having artisans amongst their ranks. Barbarians were much less organised and often wouldn't have anyone who knew what a siege engine was. Also, the more spectacular engines come into play when the target justifies the effort of using them, and having enough men to employ them effectively.

[Germanicus]

Siege mining was an area that Rome didn't seem to bother with. Their siegecraft was above ground level.

 

They did use undermining of some sort at Jerusalem with Titus didn't they ?

[FLavius Valerius Constantinus]

Siege mining was an area that Rome didn't seem to bother with. Their siegecraft was above ground level.

 

They did use undermining of some sort at Jerusalem with Titus didn't they ?

 

Uhm weren't the Jewish rebels cooped on a hill though, so how would mining work? Didn't the Romans also built a huge ramp to reach the top too?

[Primus Pilus]

Siege mining was an area that Rome didn't seem to bother with. Their siegecraft was above ground level.

 

They did use undermining of some sort at Jerusalem with Titus didn't they ?

 

Uhm weren't the Jewish rebels cooped on a hill though, so how would mining work? Didn't the Romans also built a huge ramp to reach the top too?

 

They are talking about the siege of Jersusalem. You're thinking of Masada, Flavius.

 

Josephus and Tacitus give decent accounts of Roman siege efforts against Jerusalem. The Romans did use ramps built against the city walls in order to smash them down with battering rams. Cassius Dio reported that the Jews countermined the Roman ramps, but I believe this idea is in dispute.

 

From Tacitus:

and Titus Caesar, seeing that the position forbad an assault or any of the more rapid operations of war, determined to proceed by earthworks and covered approaches. The legions had their respective duties assigned to them, and there was a cessation from fighting, till all the inventions, used in ancient warfare, or devised by modern ingenuity for the reduction of cities, were constructed.

[Ovidius]

I recommend Adrian Goldsworthy's book: "Roman Warfare". I think it would really help.

[Aphrodite]

Constantinople had the ability to survive under seige against the ottomans for years. There were vast water holders that collected water beneath the city, and people were not allowed to live within its walls unless they had means to feed themselves for two, or four (i forget) years. They kept their morla high while under seige by rally around religious images of saints that were paraded around on the walls.

 

The idea of a seige is to outsit the attacking enemy until it can no longer feed or support its attack. Constantinople was a long way from the Ottoman capital which meant getting supplies found it difficult to get through.

 

The ottomans finaly beat the byzantines after they managed to build a fortress on the other side of the water.

[mquish]

I need information on Roman siege and fortifications. Any information would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.[

 

The Roman fortification was easily built in about six hours. The first step in building the city is contructing the walls. The camp would be surrounded in fossa (ditch) and an agger (wall). This ditch and wall system made it difficult to attack, and often would slow down the enemy.

The Roman Camp was shaped like a square, with entrances at the midpoint of each of its sides. The entire camp perimeter was made of a strong wall, built up by a vallum. This vallum had walkways that were constantly guarded by centurions, and each portae is guarded by an additional watchtower. The guarded gates in the vallum were called portae. The camp was connected by roads which were built as straight as possible. The way the road system worked was that the Via Principia connected the eastern and western portae, and the Via Praetoria connected the north and south portae.

All the soldiers were quartered inside cantebernium, which were tents that could hold eight men at a time. The general's tent, called the Praetorium, was located in the center of the camp, where the main roads intersected. Outside the general's tent was a flagpole. When certain flags were raised, battle could be signaled. Also in the center were the Taburnaculae, known as the merchant tents.

[mquish]

I need information on Roman siege and fortifications. Any information would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.[

 

De oppido expugnando was a tactic used when besieging cities. It was divided into three phases:

 

In the first phase, engineers (the cohors fabrorum) built a fortified camp near the city with walls of Contravallation and at the command 'turres extruere' (watch towers) in order to prevent enemies from bringing in reinforcements. Siege towers were built, trenches were dug and traps set all around the city. Also sometimes walls of Circumvallation were built around the city's perimeter, as Caesar did at the Battle of Alesia. Sometimes the Romans would dig tunnels or mines to sap enemy's walls.

 

The second phase began with onager and ballista fire to cover the approach of the siege towers, full of legionaries ready to assault the wall's defenders. Meanwhile, other cohorts approached the city's wall in testudo formation, bringing up battering rams and ladders to breach the gates and scale the walls.

 

The third phase included opening of the city's main gate by the cohorts which had managed to break through or scale the walls, provided the rams had not knocked the gate open. Once the main gate was opened or the walls breached, the cavalry and other cohorts entered the city to finish off the remaining defenders.

 

[link from original added Roman infantry, tactics, etc. =PP]