Warfare and Society in Ancient Greece
Lecture 29
Stories of cities under siege – II
i. Andros: political consequences of badly managed sieges
Diodorus, XIII.69
So when the fleet came to land the multitude turned to the ship of Alcibiades, and as he stepped from it all gave their welcome to the man, congratulating him on both his successes and his return from exile. He in turn, after greeting the crowds kindly, called a meeting of the Assembly, and offering a long defence of his conduct he brought the masses into such a state of goodwill to him that all agreed that the city had been to blame for the decrees issued against him. [2] Consequently they not only returned to him his property, which they had confiscated, but went farther and cast into the sea the stelae on which were written his sentence and all the other acts passed against him; and they also voted that the Eumolpidae1 should revoke the curse they had pronounced against him at the time when men believed he had profaned the Mysteries. [3] And to cap all they appointed him general with supreme power both on land and on sea and put in his hands all their armaments. They also chose as generals others whom he wished, namely, Adeimantus and Thrasybulus. [4]
Alcibiades manned one hundred ships and sailed to Andros, and seizing Gaurium, a stronghold, he strengthened it with a wall. And when the Andrians, together with the Peloponnesians who were guarding the city, came out against him en masse, a battle ensued in which the Athenians were the victors; and of the inhabitants of the city many were slain, and of those who escaped some were scattered throughout the countryside and the rest found safety within the walls. [5] As for Alcibiades, after having launched assaults upon the city he left an adequate garrison in the fort he had occupied, appointing Thrasybulus commander, and himself sailed away with his force and ravaged both Cos and Rhodes, collecting abundant booty to support his soldiers.
Xenophon, Hellanica I.5.17-20
So Alcibiades, who was in disfavour with the army as well, took a trireme and sailed away to his castle in the Chersonese. [18] After this Conon set sail from Andros, with the twenty ships which he had, to Samos, there to assume command of the fleet in accordance with the vote which the Athenians had passed. They also sent Phanosthenes to Andros, with four ships, to replace Conon. [19] On the way Phanosthenes fell in with two Thurian triremes and captured them, crews and all; and the men who were thus taken were all imprisoned by the Athenians, but their commander, Dorieus, a Rhodian by birth, but some time before exiled from both Athens and Rhodes by the Athenians, who had condemned him and his kinsmen to death, and now a citizen of Thurii, they set free without even exacting a ransom, taking pity upon him. [20] When, meanwhile, Conon had arrived at Samos, where he found the Athenian fleet in a state of despondency, he manned with full complements seventy triremes instead of the former number, which was more than a hundred, and setting out with this fleet, in company with the other generals, landed here and there in the enemy's territory and plundered it.
ii. Aeneas Tacticus: treachery and siegecraft
Aeneas Tacticus, I.3-7
On the other hand, the organization of troops employed on garrison or police duty depends on no such considerations, but on the points of vantage in the city and the needs of the moment.
In the first place the most skilful and experienced soldiers must be set apart to form the magistrates’ bodyguard; 5. it then remains to make a roll of the men who will be most capable of exertion and to divide them into companies, so as to form an organized and serviceable body for making counter-attacks, for furnishing rounds, for bringing assistance to anyone in difficulties, and for other similar duties. 6. These must be men who are loyal and satisfied with the established government; for a united body like this is a protection, as strong as any citadel, against the plots of traitors, and will intimidate malcontents within the walls. 7. Their commander and supervisor should also be a stout and able soldier, and also a man who has everything to fear from a change of government.
iii. Eastern origins of mechanised warfare
Diodorus, XIII.59.4-9
Now this city was taken after it had been inhabited from its founding for a period of two hundred and forty-two years. And Hannibal, after destroying the walls of Selinus, departed with his whole army to Himera, being especially bent upon razing this city to the ground. [5] For it was this city which had caused his father to be exiled and before its walls his grandfather Hamilcar had been out-generalled by Gelon and then met his end,1 and with him one hundred and fifty thousand soldiers had perished and no fewer than these had been taken captive. [6] These were the reasons why Hannibal was eager to exact punishment, and with forty thousand men he pitched camp upon some hills not far from the city, while with the rest of his entire army he invested the city, twenty thousand additional soldiers from both Siceli and Sicani having joined him. [7] Setting up his siege-engines he shook the walls at a number of points, and since he pressed the battle with waves of troops in great strength, he wore down the defenders, especially since his soldiers were elated by their successes. [8] He also set about undermining the walls, which he then shored up with wooden supports, and when these were set on fire, a large section of the wall soon fell. Thereupon there ensued a most bitter battle, one side struggling to force its way inside the wall and the other fearing lest they should suffer the same fate as the Selinuntians. [9] Consequently, since the defenders put up a struggle to the death on behalf of children and parents and the fatherland which all men fight to defend, the barbarians were thrust out and the section of the wall quickly restored. To their aid came also the Syracusans from Acragas and troops from their other allies, some four thousand in all, who were under the command of Diocles the Syracusan.
iv. Capitulation I: massacre
Thucydides, IV.120.1, IV.122.4-6, V.32.1
In the days in which they were going backwards and forwards to these conferences, Scione, a town in Pallene, revolted from Athens, and went over to Brasidas.
Upon Aristonymus reporting the case to Athens, the people at once prepared to send an expedition to Scione. Upon this, envoys arrived from Lacedaemon, alleging that this would be a breach of the truce, and laying claim to the town upon the faith of the assertion of Brasidas, and meanwhile offering to submit the question to arbitration. Arbitration, however, was what the Athenians did not choose to risk; being determined to send troops at once to the place, and furious at the idea of even the islanders now daring to revolt, in a vain reliance upon the power of the Lacedaemonians by land. Besides the facts of the revolt were rather as the Athenians contended, the Scionaeans having revolted two days after the convention. Cleon accordingly succeeded in carrying a decree to reduce and put to death the Scionaeans; and the Athenians employed the leisure which they now enjoyed in preparing for the expedition.
About the same time in this summer Athens succeeded in reducing Scione, put the adult males to death, and, making slaves of the women and children, gave the land for the Plataeans to live in.
v. Capitulation II: enslavement
Diodorus, XI.65-25
The Mycenaeans, because of the ancient prestige of their country, would not be subservient to the Argives as the other cities of Argolis were, but they maintained an independent position and would take no orders from the Argives; and they kept disputing with them also over the shrine of Hera and claiming that they had the right to administer the Nemean Games by themselves. Furthermore, when the Argives voted not to join with the Lacedaemonians in the battle at Thermopylae unless they were given a share in the supreme command, the Mycenaeans were the only people of Argolis who fought at the side of the Lacedaemonians. 3In a word, the Argives were suspicious of the Mycenaeans, fearing lest, if they got any stronger, they might, on the strength of the ancient prestige of Mycenae, dispute the right of Argos to the leadership. Such, then, were the reasons for the bad blood between them; and from of old the Argives had ever been eager to exalt their city, and now they thought they had a favourable opportunity, seeing that the Lacedaemonians had been weakened and were unable to come to the aid of the Mycenaeans. Therefore the Argives, gathering a strong army from both Argos and the cities of their allies, marched against the Mycenaeans, and after defeating them in battle and shutting them within their walls, they laid siege to the city. 4The Mycenaeans for a time resisted the besiegers with vigour, but afterwards, since they were being worsted in the fighting and the Lacedaemonians could bring them no aid because of their own wars and the disaster that had overtaken them in the earthquakes, and since there were no other allies, they were taken by storm through lack of support from outside. 5The Argives sold the Mycenaeans into slavery, dedicated a tenth part of them to the god, and razed Mycenae. So this city, which in ancient times had enjoyed such felicity, possessing great men and having to its credit memorable achievements, met with such an end, and has remained uninhabited down to our own times.
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