Whitehead Philo Mechanicus: "On Sieges"

Translated with Introduction and Commentary
1. Auflage 2016
ISBN: 978-3-515-11344-1
Verlag: Franz Steiner
Format: PDF
Kopierschutz: 1 - PDF Watermark

E-Book, Deutsch, Englisch, Band Band 243, 510 Seiten, E-Book-Text

Reihe: Historia – Einzelschriften.

Towards the end of the second century BCE Philo of Byzantium, a.k.a. Philo Mechanicus, wrote what is held to be the first , in eight or nine parts. Three concern warfare, viewed theoretically: a technical treatise on catapult-design (), and two associated ones which survive only in (lengthy) epitome. United here under the title address broader aspects of siege-warfare. First and primarily, withstanding a siege is the objective: cities must design and build towers, walls and gates in the most suitable way, stockpile and manage food and other strategic commodities, and resist a direct assault by men and machines. Then more briefly the perspective is reversed, with those who wish to conduct such an attack shown how to do so successfully.

This is the work’s first-ever complete translation into English, preceded by an Introduction on the writer and his work. The  Commentary – the first since Garlan's in 1972 – aims to elucidate the multifarious matters arising: issues of text, translation, vocabulary, idiom; themes in the poliorcetic genre; archaeological and other substantive contexts.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Whitehead, David

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Literatur: Editionen, Kritische Editionen
• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Klassische Literaturwissenschaft Klassische Griechische & Byzantinische Literatur

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1;TABLE OF CONTENTS;6
2;PREFACE;8
3;CONVENTIONS AND ABBREVIATIONS;10
4;MEASURES, WEIGHTS, VOLUMES;14
4.1;(1) (LINEAR) MEASURES;14
4.2;(2) WEIGHTS;14
4.3;(3) VOLUMES;15
5;INTRODUCTION;16
5.1;(A) BASICS;16
5.2;(B) THE WORK AND ITS AUTHOR;21
5.3;(C) STYLE, TONE AND TERMINOLOGY;26
5.4;(D) THE BESIEGED COMMUNITY IN AENEAS TACTICUS AND PHILO;34
6;INTERNAL (DIS)ORGANISATION OF THE TREATISE;61
7;SOME TEXTUAL ISSUES;64
8;TEXT AND TRANSLATION;66
9;COMMENTARY;134
9.1;PART A: FORTIFICATION(S);134
9.2;PART B: PROVISIONING AND PREPARATION;220
9.3;PART C: DEFENSIVE MEASURES;273
9.4;PART D: ATTACKING MEASURES;334
9.5;APPENDIX 1;405
9.6;APPENDIX 2;410
9.7;APPENDIX 3;413
9.8;APPENDIX 4;418
9.9;APPENDIX 5;426
10;GAZETEER;430
11;BIBLIOGRAPHY;440
12;INDEX OF PASSAGES CITED;448
13;GREEK INDEX (SELECT);488
14;GENERAL INDEX;496

Über Autor(innen)

Whitehead, David
Professor Emeritus of Ancient History, Queen's University Belfast, and Member of the Royal Irish Academy; author of numerous books and articles on Greek history and prose literature, especially in the genres of lawcourt oratory and military writings.