 10. In Plutarch's Life of Marcellus, we read of the great Siege of the City of Syracuse in the year 214 B.C. This was a fight of a navy against a strongly fortified seaport with lofty walls, assisted at the same time by a land attack. Marcellus had sixty great galleys and plenty of the artillery of the time for throwing arrows and stones. He chained eight galleys together to support one huge engine, trusting that its heavy fire would destroy the wall. Archimedes, the great philosopher, a kinsman of King Hiro of Syracuse, was begged to lend his aid against the Romans, and he used his skill to help the Syracusans in making and handling their artillery. He has said to have shot great timbers into the Roman ships, and so sunk them, to have caught some of them by their prowls with great hooks, and raised the bowels till they went down stern foremost, to have hoisted others into the air, whirled them about, and dropped them on the rocks, and so forth. As for the great engine on eight galleys, it was first struck with a mighty stone weighing more than a thousand pounds, then a second, and a third, and it went to pieces. Marcellus gave up the attack. Next, he tried to dash close to the walls, thinking Archimedes' machines only good at a distance. But the old philosopher had made others for short range, and the Romans were again quickly repulsed by showers of stones, volleys of arrows, and so many missiles that they lost not only men, but ships. Marcellus, seeing that the brain of Archimedes had inspired all the Syracusans, tried to shame the Romans to the attack, but they were in a panic, and shied at seeing a rope or a bit of timber on the walls. He had, therefore, to give up any idea of assaulting, and rely upon a blockade. Marcellus took a prisoner whom the Syracusans were eager to ransom, and while consulting with them about this, Marcellus noted that a certain tower was ill guarded. Providing scaling ladders of the right length, an attack was made while the citizens were keeping a feast to Diana. The Romans gained the wall, and then by boldness and noise put the Syracusans into a panic, and so came into possession of the city. Archimedes, it is said, was ordered to come before Marcellus, and being in a brown study told the Roman soldier to wait until he had finished a geometry problem, whereupon the soldier, not being interested in mathematics, drew his sword and bisected the philosopher. The burning of the Roman fleet by mirrors or lenses is not told of in several of the best authorities, but experiments have been made to show that curved mirrors might have sent the sun's rays in a concentrated beam, and so have set fire to light wood not too distant. The long struggle between Rome and Carthage saw a number of greater and lesser battles against the cities, but there can be little set of these since they do not give us new light on the methods of warfare. Were it not for the fact that it is also desired to choose in this book sieges not too near one another in time, the siege of Carthage by Scipio in 147 B.C. should be told. But it was not a contest in which the conditions were at all equal. The Carthaginians had been deprived of everything with which they could make war. Their ships were burned, their military engines carried away or broken up, even their very weapons demanded by the Romans. Yet, when the Roman conquerors demanded the destruction of the city, the Carthaginians refused in utter despair of any mercy. They worked in a frenzy to defend themselves, the Carthaginian women even given their long hair to be twisted into bow-strings. That the city should fall was inevitable, but the defense, the most heroic, was rather that of a great horde of citizens fighting desperately against overwhelming odds than a fair struggle between armies. Altogether it is rather a story of cruelty and horror than of scientific warfare. Of a very different type is the campaign of Caesar and Gaul. Although the Gauls had not so much science in war as the Romans, yet they were a brave and heroic people, and they had an enormous advantage in numbers. It required Rome's greatest captain and her best engineers to take their palisaded cities. Caesar took several Gallic cities by sieges, as most schoolboys are forced to know in reading his commentaries. The most noted of these sieges were those of Avericum, a city amid marshes and Elysia. Avericum was taken by a great mound and enormous towers. The Gauls here fought Caesar in towers like his own. They undermined his mound. They caught in nooses the hooks with which the Romans tried to tear down their ramparts. They scorned death, as it is shown by the incident of four or more Gauls being shot in succession as they stood in a breach throwing fire against the Roman works. Caesar tells this incident with admiration, and it shows the accuracy with which the Roman engineers plied the Scorpio or Machinbo. Finally, Caesar took the wall by assault and captured the town. The siege of Elysia was carried on with even more science and against a far greater force, both within and without the city, and it is of this siege that we shall next tell. End of Section 10 Section 11 of the Book of Famous Sieges This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Stephen Seidel. The Book of Famous Sieges by Tudor Jinx. The Siege of Elysia, 52 B.C. About 52 B.C., a year or two after Julius Caesar had made his first expedition into Britain, which, by the way, was a complete failure as a military enterprise, there was a great uprising of the Gauls under their leader, Bersangetarex. In this campaign the Gauls determined to adopt a new method of warfare. Hitherto they had tried to withstand the Roman soldiers at every point. Now, under the advice of their able leaders, they resolved to give up the smaller places, which were difficult to defend, and to select two or three of the largest towns, put all their forces within these strongholds, strengthen their fortifications as much as possible, and hold them to the last against the Roman armies. Three strong cities were chosen. The first, Averacum, now Bourges, was taken without much difficulty, but the second, Gurgovia, the capital of the Arverni, which was the name of the people over whom Bersangetarex ruled, made so good a resistance that the Gauls were greatly encouraged. Many who had before submitted took up arms in joining Bersangetarex and his forces. Bersangetarex found that the entire nation was in arms against him. The final struggle between the Romans and the Gauls took place around the city Elysia, which was situated upon a hill well surrounded with fortifications and garrisoned with more than a hundred thousand men. This hill was a steep slope on all sides, and in some places it was precipitous. On each side, at the bottom of the hill, ran two rivers. The historian, Frude, tells us that the position was so strong that it could not be taken except by starving out the garrison. The modern town, which is built near the site of the ancient town, is known as Elise St. Rhine. Against this position Caesar, having joined with his lieutenant Labenius, led his whole force, expecting to blockade the Gauls within the town, to cut off all supplies, to starve them into surrender, and then, having captured the leader of the insurrection together with his whole army, to put an end to the rebellion. Caesar himself, in his history of the campaign, declares that the only way of taking the town was by a blockade. All about the place were hills divided from the town site by the valley rivers. Not only was the fortified place full of Gauls, but a large force was encamped on a plain three miles long to the eastward of the city at the foot of the hills. These men had thrown up an entrenchment and dug a ditch to serve as a first defense against the Romans. Having arrived before the city, Caesar began the siege by throwing up entrenchments intending to surround Elysia upon all sides, and here and there behind this wall he built a number of camps in the Roman fashion. Each one really a little fortress. Also, to strengthen the line, the Romans built 23 towers, each one holding a strong garrison and guarded by vigilant sentinels. We must not think of these fortresses and walls as being built of masonry. They were constructed of logs of wood, or rather, trunks of trees pinned firmly together by great stakes and banked up by piles of earth. Towers and strongholds were built in the same fashion as log houses, except that the walls were usually doubled and filled in with earthen stones rammed tightly so as to strengthen the wooden walls. Against even the small cannon of the Middle Ages these defenses would have been useless. But when neither army possessed any artillery that could do more than throw large stones, these walls were really stronger against the enemy than stone walls were against cannon. To protect the soldiers who mounted these walls, stakes were driven at intervals along the top, and branches woven in and out so as to make a thick wicker work or very coarse basket work strong enough to stop an arrow, a dart, or the stones flung by the slingers. In order to repulse attacks, piles of stones and bits of timber, trunks of trees, earthenware vessels of water kept hot over fires were made ready along the ramparts to be thrown upon the attacking columns. There was little or no difference between the permanent walls of a city with their watchtowers at intervals and the walls built by the Romans outside, except perhaps that these were of a smaller size. Having finished the main part of these siege works, the fight between Gauls and Romans began by a cavalry battle between the walls. After a doubtful struggle the Gauls were put to flight, and many of them were slain while trying to make their way through the narrow gates of the camp. Here the horsemen became confused, interfering with one another and the Germans who were fighting in alliance with Caesar's men, were able to slay many of them, driving them finally within their camp with great loss. Many of the Gauls, when they saw it was impossible to get through the gates, slipped from their horses, flung themselves into the ditch that surrounded the camp, made their way across it and tried to climb up the outside of the breastwork. Here they were exposed to the darts and arrows and stones flung by the besiegers, and many of them perished. So great was the confusion that finally the leader of the Gauls, Vercingetorix, had to order the great wooden gates to be closed, partly to keep the victorious besiegers out and partly to force at least some of the Gauls to defend themselves in the plain outside the city. During the night that followed this first attack, the Gauls held a cancel of war and decided that the only hope of saving themselves was to bring about the arrival of an army of Gauls from outside. Orders were given, therefore, that all the horsemen should depart from the city secretly, make their way through the unfinished works of the Romans, and then riding each man to his own tribe to call upon every man in Gaul capable of bearing arms to advance to the relief of the besieged city. The message was that the liberty of all Gauls depended upon saving the force shut up in Elysia. By this means he thought he would be able to raise an army of some eighty thousand men before his provisions were exhausted. He calculated that there was enough food to last a month, or even longer if he should put the garrison upon reduced rations. When the horsemen had departed, Vercingetorix gave orders that every sort of food should be brought into one place under his own charge, and threatened death to anyone who should disobey. Besides the corn, they had cattle and sheep in great numbers. That same night he decided it was best to withdraw all his forces inside the walls, and to give all his efforts to keeping the Romans out of the city. Of these plans Caesar soon learned from prisoners or from deserters, and foreseeing that above all he must prevent the Gauls from obtaining supplies, he set his soldiers to make a twenty-foot ditch around the whole city, and caused all the provisions of the Romans to be carried back well beyond the ditch, in order that the besieged Gauls might not be able by a sudden attack to seize any part of the Romans' supplies. Having thus made his provisions safe, Caesar, to provide a defense against the expected army of relief, constructed a second fortification around the first, so as to surround the whole city with two rings of fortification, one to keep the besiegers from getting out, the other to protect the Romans against the rescuing army of Gauls. At every eighty feet along this entrenchment he built great wooden towers strongly garrisoned. The entrenchments themselves were protected on the outside by two deep ditches, and in front of these ditches were great pits in which large trees were set with sharpened branches, and beyond these pits were others shallower in the middle of each being a sharpened stake. Caesar describes in full his method of protecting the entrenchments, which seems to show that this method of protecting defenses was not well known to the Roman people. In brief it consisted of a wall, two ditches, deep pits filled with trees having branches sharpened, smaller sloping pits containing sharpened stakes, and the space over which were sharp iron spikes set into posts driven into the ground among which the cavalry could not gallop. The whole object of fortifications of this kind, both ancient and modern, is to delay the attack of outsiders. If they can be prevented from making a dash up to the fortifications, and are forced to pick their way slowly, they are kept for a long time under the fire of the defending forces. Traces of some of these defensive works made by Caesar soldiers have been found in modern times and gall, especially during the time of Napoleon III. The Emperor was deeply interested in Caesar's campaigns. He wrote a book about them, and sent men to work upon the sights of some of his battles and sieges in order to find traces of the old Roman works. So we have not only Caesar's descriptions, but even some of the remains of his fortifications to guide us in understanding them. There would have been little use in these works of the Roman soldiers, if they had not possessed something to take the place of modern artillery and firearms. In addition to their slingers and their bowmen, the Romans had the machines for throwing stones and arrows. These were of three kinds, two being the catapults and scorpions, which corresponded to our light artillery. These could be used not only upon fortifications, but even upon open ground. They were little else than great bows set upon a framework, a sort of giant bow gun having a flat piece in which great bolts or arrows could be placed, and a sort of winch or windlass that would draw back the core to the bow. These were not unlike the other third kind of machine that was used in these sieges, but this, the balista or thrower, was much larger and heavier and usually hurled great stones. These artillery machines were in the charge of a corps of men that went under the name Fabri, or workmen, and corresponded to modern artillery men and engineers. For ordinary siege works, such as were used in taking the first of the three strong towns fortified in this campaign, the Romans made use of a mound similar to that we have spoken of in previous sieges. They called this the agar. It was built of woods, stones, and earth, to a height that would bring the besiegers on a level with the walls of the town they were attacking. To protect the workmen while building the agar, forms of moving breastworks were built of timbers, and even set upon rollers. Behind these the workmen were protected, and gradually built up the agar until it reached the walls. These moving breastworks were of all sizes, from one large enough to protect a few men, to an enormous moving tower. Big shields were also used, and now and then, breastworks of logs could be thrown up wherever they were needed. Where the walls of the city were low, and the city itself was not upon a high hill, these methods enabled the Romans to approach the walls. But in the siege of Elysia, they could not be used because of the hill upon which the city was built. Consequently, before this place the siege was really a blockade, an attempt to starve out the garrison rather than to destroy the walls and enter the city. And the fortification toward the open country was, as we have seen, merely to keep the Gauls from making an assault against Caesar's embankments, by keeping him for a long time at a distance and under the fire of his artillery. The only part of the city from which there was danger that Vercingetorix could make a sudden rush with a large force was that long plain westward of the city where the cavalry fight had taken place. Across this Caesar set the Romans to digging a ditch 20 feet wide with perpendicular sides. While this would not keep the Gauls back long, it would prevent their troops from rushing upon the Romans during the building of the main defenses outside of it, since these began nearly a quarter of a mile back of the ditch. Having completed two lines of fortification, fully 10 miles in circuit, protected by ditches and stakes and trees as already described, Caesar awaited attacks either from the Gauls within the city or from the great armies summoned to their help. The Gauls were doing their best to go to the help of their great leader. Although they did not send all the fighting men of the country, they called upon each of the tribes to send so large a number that when the relieving armies set out upon its march for Elysia, it numbered 238,000 strong, of whom 8,000 were horsemen. While this vast host was being gathered, Caesar's men had been writing about the country gathering up everything that was eatable so as to support themselves in case they should be forced to sustain a long siege, and the Gauls within the city had been as saving as possible to make their food last until the relieving army should appear. Councils of the Chiefs were held, and every desperate proposal considered. They even expelled from the town all who were unable to fight—old men, women, and children. These came in pitiful throngs to the Roman fortifications, begging to be taken as slaves, prisoners, anything if only they could get food. But Caesar posted guards along the lines and left the miserable creatures to starve between the Roman and Gallic walls. These poor wretches were the townsfolk into whose homes the Gallic soldiers had come. But soon after the driving out of these townsfolk, the lookouts upon the Roman and Gallic ramparts suddenly saw a body of Gallic horsemen upon a great hill to the westward of the Roman's lines. And as these came into view and arrayed themselves on the height, they were seen to be followed by a numberless multitude of foot soldiers. These tall, fair-haired warriors wore armor brilliantly colored—tartens, plumes, rich cloaks, besides gold ornaments upon their necks—and they were armed with spears, lances, bows, and long swords. At once the galls within the town burst into cheers and demanded to be led against the Romans. Vercingetorix had made all ready for this sally, and his troops carried great bundles of wood, baskets of earth for filling up the trenches, and pushed forward breastworks mounted upon rollers to protect them in the attack. Meanwhile the Romans arrayed themselves along their lines of fortification, both inner and outer, while the Roman cavalry, many of whom were Germans fighting as Caesar's allies, rode forward to meet the Gallic horsemen. The battle of the cavalry lasted during a whole afternoon, but just at sunset the German cavalry, drawn up in a solid body, put the Gallic cavalry to route and then falling upon the archers who were drawn up behind them, cut them down with their swords. It must be remembered that this battle was fought in a great plane in full view of both galls and Romans, and that had the Roman force been defeated, an attack from the town would have been made upon their fortifications, but with the flight of the Gallic cavalry, the besieged lost hope and retired once more within their walls. During the whole of the next day the galls were getting ready for a grand attack, and suddenly at midnight was heard a terrifying shout as their enormous relieving army advanced down the hill against the Roman ramparts. Now was seen the value of Caesar's preparations, for though both sides suffered from the stones and arrows that were shot in vast numbers through the darkness, for there could be no light except from bonfires or from torches here and there, yet the galls were unable to cross the ground that had been so well guarded with sharpened stakes, trees, and pits. Very few of them were able to make their way through these defenses, and these few the Romans repulsed, sending bodies of men at times to one part or another of the wall as they were needed. Neither of the Roman walls was broken, and toward daylight the attack had failed. Just north of Caesar's position, he had been compelled to leave an opening in his line of fortifications. In this opening were posted two legions, about eight thousand men. Having learned of this weak point from the people of the country, the gall sent sixty thousand men around the hills to attack these less protected legions, while their cavalry pretended to make a strong attack on the Roman lines, and verson Ghetarix led his men out also against the near fortifications of the Romans. A general attack followed. Armed with long poles with iron hooks at the end, the galls attempted to tear the logs apart. Earth and bundles of branches were thrown into the ditches, and the Romans, fighting against their foes on both sides, were sorely distressed, since the men at each rampart had no means of knowing whether their comrades would be able to keep the enemy from attacking them in the rear. Caesar, on a great height just south of the city, could view the whole scene, sending horsemen with orders directing the reserves wherever they were needed. The fiercest attacks were made upon the two legions in the opening of the line, and upon those who fronted the city against the army of verson Ghetarix. Gradually the ditches and pits were being filled up, and the galls were able to approach the Roman lines. Caesar sent his best lieutenant, Marsil Labinius, to the point where the attack was most dangerous, and at the foot of the hill where Caesar himself was posted, the attack so nearly succeeded that Caesar had to ride down to the threatened point to harden his soldiers. But the galls were driven back everywhere, except where they had attacked the unprotected legions. Calling every man who could be spared, Caesar got together four thousand Romans, and in his crimson cloak, a garment worn by Roman commanders only, he led his men to the attack. Just as they reached the thick of the fight, the Roman, or German cavalry, appeared to rescue their comrades, and drove the galls into the very arms of the approaching forces of under Caesar. Of the whole sixty thousand men sent to this attack, but a few escaped death or capture. The galls were always most fierce in attack, but yielded quickly when discouraged, and the failure of this attempt so disheartened them that during the following night their whole host took to flight, pursued by the Roman and German cavalry who, until morning, were hunting the fugitives and slaying them. Vercingetorix gave up all hope of rescue, and nobly offered to yield himself to the Romans, in the hopes of gaining terms for the rest. Caesar, seated in state, received the Gallic chieftains, among whom came Vercingetorix, richly dressed and fully armed. Riding in state around his Roman conqueror, he then dismounted at the foot of the throne, laid his sword and armor at Caesar's feet, and yielded himself captive. This brave chieftain deserved a nobler fate than befall him, for after six years imprisonment in a Roman dungeon, he was paraded in the triumph awarded to Caesar, and then put to death. The heroic defense, made by Vercingetorix at Elysia, caused the Emperor Napoleon III, who wrote a life of Julius Caesar, and also an elaborate study of ancient artillery, to erect a statue of this brave gall at Elysse, the modern town that stands on the side of the city that saw Vercingetorix defeated. From this siege, we learn the state of the art of taking cities just at the beginning of the Roman Empire. The next siege is also Roman, and shows how the well-disciplined armies of the Empire succeeded in attacking one of the greatest strongholds of the old world, when it was defended by a race as brave as themselves, who had every advantage of position, as well as of defense's enormous in strength, and especially notable for their skillful arrangement in triple lines. The city of Jerusalem suffered many sieges, but none of them so long contested, so interesting, and so terrible in its cost of lives, as the siege by Titus in the first century of our era, 70 A.D. While the Jews were under the domination of the Roman Empire, there were many changes in their fortunes. Some of the Roman governors gained the people's good will and were loyally supported by them. Others, by taxation and abuses, excited them to revolt, which, however, were never long successful. One of the most serious of these rebellions took place under the reigns of Nero and his successor Vespasian, the latter for a time being Nero's general before he succeeded to the throne. During Vespasian's campaigns, those who escaped from other cities taken by him made their way to Jerusalem, and gradually in this city a strong force opposed to the Roman government was built up. But not all the inhabitants of Jerusalem were in favor of the rebellion. War broke out in the city itself between the various parties, and the chief power came into the hands of John of Giscalla, head of those who were known as the Zealots, the patriotic party. A very strong party, however, headed by another Jewish captain, Simon Bargiora, and still a third under a very rich Jew named Eliazar, once a lieutenant of John the Zealot, had seized the inner temple and revolted against his own leader, thus making three factions that fought one another within the city walls, all of them oppressing the more peaceable citizens. Before Vespasian had reached the walls of Jerusalem in his triumphant campaign, Nero died, and after two brief reigns of Otto and Vitelius, Vespasian was called to the throne and to Rome. For two years, there was no further attempt to conquer the Israelites, and then Vespasian sent his son Titus to subdue the city. At about the beginning of the siege in the year 70 AD, a great multitude of Jews were coming to the city for the celebration of the Passover, so that the city was full of strangers from all over the country, at the time when Titus marched his forces against it. Titus came by boats on the Nile, landed and marched to Caesarea, bringing with him more than five Roman legions as well as some five thousand other soldiers. He made his first camp to the northward of the city, another on the west, and a third to the eastward on the Mount of Olives, only separated from the walls by the valley of Kedron. Titus's order of march as described by Josephus shows that his army was fully equipped with everything that Roman military art demanded for carrying on a skilful siege. In describing the march, Josephus tells how it was led by the auxiliaries of light-armed troops followed by the pioneers or workmen. Next came the baggage with a strong guard, then Titus, with a bodyguard of horsemen, a body of pikemen, and the cavalry. Next in line came the military engines, or probably the metal parts of these, which were loaded upon wagons drawn by mules. Next followed the tribunes and the leaders of cohorts, the trumpeteers, the bearers of ensigns, and the Roman eagle, after whom marched the legionary soldiers in their armor armed with the Roman pillum, or spear, the short sword, and the shield. More baggage and servants, a second body of hired soldiers, and their rearguard closed the march. Soon after his arrival, Titus, with a chosen body of six hundred horsemen, started on a scouting expedition around the walls of the city to pick out the right point of attack. Up to this time there had been no sign that the Jews were upon the lookout, but just as Titus turned from approaching the city to ride parallel with the walls, a great throng of Jews suddenly burst from one of the gates charged through the Roman horsemen separating them into two parties and surrounded Titus and a few of his immediate followers. Titus had not expected an attack, and wore neither helm nor breastplate, but though darts were showered upon him, he escaped unhurt and led a fierce charge, cutting down all who opposed him, and forcing his way through to the main body of his troops. Then he withdrew to his camp. But the Jews fought one another as eagerly as they attacked the Romans. Not long after this attack, during the celebration of the Passover in the temple, John of Giscalia's men hid daggers under their robes, and following upon Elysia's followers, slew them in the temple itself. A general fight followed, which ended in the three Jewish factions being reduced to two, which agreed to hold the temple against all the others. These terrible internal fights had caused much of the food to be wasted or burned, and so the city was in poor conditions to resist Titus. Nevertheless, we have seen how bravely they fell upon the Roman soldiers upon their first coming. This was the first of the fierce sallies the Romans had to meet. While the 10th Legion was building its camp upon the Mount of Olives, throwing up the breastworks and erecting their huts after the usual Roman fashion, suddenly another body of Jewish soldiers came dashing out of one of the city gates, poured down into the valley of Kedron, rushed up the hill on the other side, and were in the midst of the disordered Romans before the Legionaries could seize their arms or make the slightest resistance. Even the Roman veterans took to flight. Titus, who seems to have been a most vigilant commander, came to their rescue with a body of cavalry, riding from the north against the flank of the Jews and driving them down the hill and back into the valley, even up to the very city gates. In this attack, Titus fought like the bravest of the common soldiers, and after the Jews had been repulsed, stationed along the hill a strong guard for protection, recalling the 10th Legion to their work upon the camp. But hardly had this second sally been repulsed that a Jew was seen to mount upon the walls of Jerusalem and wave his long cloak in the air, apparently as a signal for another attack. A greater throng than before poured out, attacking Titus' men who had been placed to protect the unfinished camp. Once more a fierce fight took place, which might have resulted in the complete defeat of the Romans, except that when the Legionaries saw their general surrounded and refusing to give ground, they feared for his safety, were ashamed of their retreat, and rallied in such numbers that the sally was repulsed. Josephus, the historian, tells how the Romans objected to Titus' risking his life among these desperate Jews, who, the Romans said, were fond of dying, for their way of fighting was not like that of the Roman soldiers, but more like that of the Arabs of today, who will charge without a thought of life even against rapid-fire guns, before which they must go down in hundreds. When the Romans were safely in their camp, Titus ordered as the first step in the siege that the valley surrounding the wall should be filled up in certain places to make it possible for his engines, that is his rams and stone throwers, to batter the walls. The Jews were not strong enough to prevent this work, but they used every means to annoy the Romans, shooting at them from the walls, and rushing upon them from the gates whenever any point seemed not well guarded. As it was known to the Romans that a large part of the Jews within the city would have been glad to make terms, the Jews took advantage of this to play a clever trick upon their enemies. A few days after the valley had been filled up, a great throng of Jews came rushing out of one of the gates nearby and moved irregularly toward the Roman army, while from the walls above other Jews hurled stones at them, reviled them, and in every way tried to make the Romans believe that these men were deserters. The fugitives came directly to the Romans, making signs of peace, and offered to conduct a strong Roman force through one of the gates of the city. A large party of the Romans were deceived and went with the Jews to one of the gates, expecting that it would be opened. But no sooner were these Romans in the space between the two towers that guarded the gateway than they were attacked by the very Jews who had pretended to be friendly, and at the same moment those that were upon the walls hurled missiles upon them from above. In this way many Romans were killed and only a very few succeeded by covering themselves with their shields and fighting their way through the mob and returning to the Roman camp. All through Josephus' story it is evident that he is saying whatever he can to make himself agreeable to the Roman commander, and in this case he tells us that Titus did not believe the Jews pretense of friendship because they had refused terms only the day before, and he tells how Titus wished to punish severely these Romans who had, without orders, left their places in the line, but that the other faithful Luginaries begged mercy for their comrades. This leveling of the ground before the walls took up four days, and after he was ready to begin the siege work, Titus strengthened his whole line, brought up his baggage, and proceeded to construct the siege machines, and to pour upon the city walls a heavy fire of stones, darts, and arrows. In preparation for the serious siege, Titus had burned all the suburbs outside the walls and had started to build a mound against the city. Meanwhile, the Jews erected upon the walls their machines for throwing darts and stones and timbers, but according to Josephus they did not at first know how to use these, and so shot with very little effect. During all the time the work was carried on outside, the Romans were never free of fear, day or night, that a strong force of Jews might attack them. They had to build great mantillettes to protect the workmen upon the mound. These, as usual, were made of branches woven together and covered on the outside with rawhids, and would protect from four to half a dozen men against all except the heaviest missiles. The fire of the Roman artillery was terrific. Some of their machines hurled great stones weighing about a hundred and twenty pounds fully a quarter of a mile. These stones were light-colored, and consequently as they came through the air the Jews were able to give warning of their flight, which they are said to have done by a phrase which Josephus gives as, the sun cometh. It is supposed that the text is corrupt here, and that the original word may have been one meaning stone. The Romans met this device by blackening the stones, after which they were not so easily seen. As the Roman machines could be adjusted to fire different distances, it was necessary to know the range. They learned this by attaching a small piece of lead to a cord, throwing the weight over to the wall, and afterward measuring the string when it was drawn in. During this bombardment the Roman engineers kept a vigilant watch, both day and night, for the furious quarrels inside of Jerusalem had been put aside so that all might fight against the enemy. Not only did the Jews shoot arrows, darts, and stones from the top of the wall, but rushing out with torches and pitch did their best to destroy the Roman works by fire, pressing their attack so closely at times that they even climbed upon the sheds covered with hides that had been built to protect the engines and their workers. They destroyed some, and Titus was forced to send cavalry and archers both to protect his artillery and rams, and also by their missiles to keep the Jewish archers and slingers from gathering on the walls to annoy the besiegers. Although the rams had been brought up against the walls, these were so solid that little effect was produced by the rain and blows, except at one corner of a tower where a stone or two were moved out of place. The Roman forces were now able to prevent the smaller attacks, but they could not prevent the sallies of larger forces, and we are told of one attack, coming after a long interval which was pressed home so closely that the machines of the Romans would have been captured except for the arrival of a new force of soldiers from Alexandria, who, marching in close order, succeeded in driving off the Jews with great slaughter. In this battle, Titus is said to have killed 12 men with his own sword. In order to strengthen the works outside against these sallies, Titus ordered the construction of three great towers, each 50 cubits in height, that is a little less than a hundred feet. These great siege towers were enormously heavy and were covered with iron plates. One of them fell one night shortly after it had been put together, causing a great panic among the Romans, who ran about demanding the watchword that they might know one another in the darkness. The two remaining towers, however, being too high to be reached by the missiles of the Jews, too heavy to be overturned when struck by stones fired from the battlements, and being protected against fire by the iron plates, enabled the Romans to keep up a constant fire of arrows, darts, and stones, downward upon the walls, which were soon cleared of the Jewish soldiers. Then Titus was able to bring up the largest of his rams, which was called Nikko, from the Greek word meaning I conquer. The work of this ram was so effective that the Jews decided to abandon the wall. The Romans climbed up and took possession of it, and thus took the first line of defense within 15 days after the beginning of the siege. Having thus entered one part of the city, Titus formed a strong camp inside, just out of range of the second wall where the Jews gathered in great numbers, and gave the Romans not a moment's rest. No hour, day or night, was free from fighting. Both Jews and Romans slept in their armor, ready for an instant call, and both were worn out by the incessant fighting. In these fights, many bold feats of arms were performed by single soldiers, the Jews pitting against the Roman valor a desperate courage that valued not life, if they could slay a Roman as they fell. Titus' main attack was against a great tower, apparently abandoned by the Jews, but really occupied by 11 desperate men who lay there in ambush. The Romans were too wary to climb into the apparently empty tower, but finally one of them, named Aeneas, volunteered and was slain by a stone thrown by one of the Jewish soldiers. Meanwhile, the Roman ram outside played so vigorously against the tower that all hope of saving it was abandoned by the Jews, who set fire to it, and then seemed to the Romans to leap directly into the flames, though really they escaped by a passage leading underground. To take the second wall required only five days of fierce fighting, but even after the Romans had made their entry, the Jews rushed upon them so fiercely as to drive them out again. A large force of Romans was now gathered, made a second assault upon the broken wall, once more captured it, and within a few days had leveled it to the ground. Next, in order to impress the Jews with his strength, Titus suspended the siege for five days, during which his soldiers, arrayed in their best armor, were drawn up in massive columns before the city and received their pay. During this interval, Josephus was sent to persuade his fellow countrymen to surrender and fill pages of his history with the eloquent and moving speeches which he claims to have delivered. But those whom Josephus describes as crazy fanatics, and whom it is possible to regard as devoted patriots, prevented the rest from yielding, despite the loss of two out of their three great defenses, and despite the ravages of a famine so terrible that we may well admit to tell the horrors which Josephus relates. Only recording that the starving Jews made their way out of the city in such numbers and searched the few herbs and roots that could be found between their walls and the Roman lines, that they were captured by the Romans at a rate of more than 500 a day. After the unutterably cruel custom of the time, these poor creatures were crucified with inside of the walls to induce their fellow countrymen to surrender. When the siege was resumed, Titus began four great mounds against the third wall. Upon these, the Jews once more began their fierce sallies, and were able to direct against their builders a much more effective fire, since their skill by constant practice had greatly improved, and they had been able to increase the numbers of their machines to 300 that shot darts, ballistas, and 40 that threw stones, magonels. While fighting thus bravely, most of the Jews were in the extremity of starvation, and in the quest of food fought one another, or robbed the helpless without scruple or mercy. The refugees from the city continued to go to the Romans until even these hardened soldiers were tired of slaying them. In so fierce and constant a battle, all details are lost. We can only tell the general features of the fighting. One of the great Jewish strongholds was the Tower of Atonia, which stood just to the northwestward of Solomon's Temple based upon a lofty rock. To take this, one of the great mounds had been built. But the Jewish leader, John, undermined it, that it has dug a great hole beneath the mound, supporting its roof by timbers. Then, filling up the space thus made with wood and rubbish covered with pitch, he set fire to his mine, just about as the mound was completed. The wooden supports were borne away, and the front of the mound fell in. Meanwhile, the other Jewish leader, Simon, tried to destroy the other mounds and to burn the artillery and rands, carrying his attack so far that he even reached the walls of the Roman camp within the city, being repulsed only after the Romans brought their reserves under Titus to attack the Jews on the flank. All the mounds were destroyed in this way, either by undermining or by fire, whereby the Roman work was all to do over again. Titus now held a general counsel of his officers, discussing the right way to continue the siege, and it was decided to surround what was left of the Jewish defenses with a great wall over six miles in length, and continuing at intervals 13 posts of greater strength for garrisons. At this work, the Romans drove eagerly, as it promised them safety from the terrible sallies, and when in three days it was completed, Titus kept it under constant inspection, that it might not be broken through. This shut the Jews in entirely, and the ravages of famine were worse than ever, while the Romans, who had plenty of provisions sent from Alexandria and the country round about, cruelly taunted the starving Israelites by exhibiting their plenty. Enumerable bodies of the dead were thrown from the Jewish wall until the city was surrounded by them. Four new and larger banks, or mounds, were begun, the materials having to be brought from 11 miles away, since all the suitable material nearer had been long ago used up. These new banks took three weeks to build, but despite desperate attacks of the Jews, which however daily grew weaker, the Romans were able to bring their engines close to the strong Antonia Tower, and also by gathering in strong forces and making a roof, or testudo, of shields over their heads. They worked fiercely at the foundations to undermine the wall. At last one wall, having fallen into the opening left by the first Jewish mine, the Romans discovered that another wall had been constructed behind the first. Here, Josephus gives a long, declamatory address where Titus appeals to his troops to make the assault, an address which it is hard to imagine put into the mouth of a modern general. A body of 11 Roman volunteers attempted to carry the breach, but their leader and three others were killed, and the other seven seriously wounded. No other Romans coming forward for several days, the Jewish defense seemed to have become careless, for a night attack made unexpectedly succeeded, and the Romans were able to take possession of the breach. The Romans were now on possession of the Antonia Tower, but met with a firmer resistance than ever when they tried to force their way into the great temple just south of it. Here began again the old story of hand-to-hand fighting by night and day, but the Romans were not able to make their way into the enclosure of the temple. One centurion, named Julian, seen his comrades afraid to advance, at one time pushed forward single-handed and drove the crowd of Jews back, but slipping on the marble floor because of the nails in his shoes. He was slain by the Jews despite the most gallant fighting, and not a Roman went to the help of their brave companion. Meanwhile the Romans holding the breach were gradually able to enlarge it, and the Jews ranged opposite them dragging their engines forward so as to command the point attacked. Besides the hand-to-hand fighting the Jews resorted to strategy. Thus at one time they packed a portion of the temple building full of combustibles, and then lured the Romans forward by a pretended retreat, setting fire to the pitchy wood as they retired. A great conflagration sprang up at once, and most of the attacking Romans lost their lives, but this success was dearly purchased for the Romans, seeing part of the temple burning, took pains to extend the flames, and thus destroying part of the walls made the temple at that point more difficult to defend. The Romans constructed mounds between the Tower of Antonia and the temple wall, and set three battering rams to work, but these rams were captured by the Jews after a fierce hand-to-hand struggle. Once more the Romans resorted to fire, and succeeded in burning down a part of the temple building that faced the Antonia Tower. Since six days of battering had failed, it was evident that only fire could clear a path for the grand assault. Josephus pretends that Titus regretted the burning of the temple, and did all he could to check the flames, but there is little doubt that whatever their commander may have desired, the Roman soldiers saw the temple could be taken in no other way, and eagerly carried the flames wherever they could find material that would burn. At length the whole structure was ablaze, and continued to burn for two days, amid a fearful den of roaring fire shouting Romans and shrieking Jewish citizens. The last great attack was delivered by the Roman legions, and the Jews were slain by thousands in every part of Solomon's great temple, even at the very altar itself. After the taking of the temple, however, there was still a part of the upper city unsubdued. The Romans, full of triumph, were certain of taking the whole city, and in 18 days' work succeeded in raising mounds against the last wall of defense. The last wall was soon broken down, and the Jews scattered, each seeking safety for himself. Some of them went into underground refuges, but most were slain in the streets, through which the Roman soldiers roamed with swords drawn, slain without mercy men, women, and children. Soon after Titus gave orders that the whole city should be destroyed, save only the three great towers built by Herod, which he left standing to show how strong the fortifications had been. The siege of Jerusalem had taken even the Romans over four months of the fiercest battling by day and by night, and had required all their bravery, science, and fortitude more than a million Jews met death, and nearly 100,000 were taken captive to go into slavery, to fight in the arena, to be led in triumph after Titus' chariot. The treasures of Solomon's temple were paraded before the eyes of applauding Romans, and the exiled Jews were sent into every quarter of the globe, no longer a nation. End of section 12, read by Elsie Silwin. Section 13 of The Book of Famous Seages. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. The Book of Famous Seages by Tudor Janks. Section 13, The Third Period. The change from the second to the third period came about partly from the general advance in civilization. During the second period there had been conflicts mainly between enormous bodies of men belonging to different nations. The places attacked, though some of them were great strongholds, were mainly the chief cities of large countries, outside of which there was little except small villages that did not dream of resisting a large army. But these armies, which had been to a great extent modeled upon the Romans' organization of strong legions of foot soldiers fighting with dart and short sword, had at a later date greatly changed their character. There had been increasing use of cavalry. The Roman army had been accustomed to use its mounted men merely as scouts, as an advance guard to protect the wings or ends of their line of battle, and to open an engagement or complete a victory when the main body of the enemy had been broken. The third period brings us to the Middle Ages and to the days of feudalism, when gradually civilized mankind was being divided into two great classes, the landowners and their tenants or serfs, who were under their control. The feudal lords and their retainers were unwilling to fight upon foot, and also were unwilling to entrust power to the lower classes. Consequently, the mounted men became in all armies the most important part of the force, and the foot soldier was looked upon only as an assistant to follow up the attack of the mounted soldiers or to remain in reserve and to rescue the retreating cavalry. At the same time, civilized lands were being divided into a number of small, more or less independent, portions. Instead of one king reigning over a large nation and leading all of its forces to battle, in the Middle Ages there were great numbers of petty lords, each with his small stronghold and his petty dependents, who went to battle under his leadership. Except among the less civilized nations, or when some great enterprise, like the crusades, brought vast bodies of men together, great armies were seldom seen. Consequently, the strongholds that were built were very numerous, but usually rather fortified post than walled cities. The nation, instead of being one of many towns dominated by a few big cities, became a place of widely distributed villages, each surrounding a single stronghold or medieval castle. Thus, although the art of taking places by siege was by no means lost, and indeed was used frequently against large places, most battles came in the Middle Ages to be fought in the open between smaller bodies of men, and it was seldom that the great army was marshaled against the storm castle. We shall find during this period the first hints of a new form of warfare, a form that might be called warfare by chemistry. This is marked by the appearance of the celebrated Greek fire, which at first chosen because of its power to burn, showed an explosive force that greatly terrified the enemy, and so was valuable. As the makers of Greek fire learned to increase its explosive power, it was used to propel itself from tubes, and the step from this use to that of driving stones and iron balls was soon taken. Greek fire thus became the forerunner of gunpowder, and brought about a complete change in sieges, in forts, and in the art of war. But this was not established until the 14th century, and until this time Greek fire was only a weapon used in connection with those that had been known for ages. But these latter were greatly developed and improved. Only because of the first use of Greek fire is the siege of Constantinople by the Saracens, in the 8th century here related, and something more is there told of this substance. It is stated by Captain Jervis, author of Engines of War, that the Greek fire was sought to have been revealed to the Emperor Constantine by an angel from heaven, who told him he must use it for Christians only, and never divulge the secret of its making. Whoever should disclose it was to be declared accursed. The secret was kept over 500 years before it became known to the Saracens. An English antiquarian points out the possibility that in our word cracker, as used in firecracker, it may be that we have preserved the Anglo-Norman word crake, or cracker, a name applied in early times to all explosives. But this is doubtful. End of Section 13. Section 14 of The Book of Famous Seages. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Colleen McMahon. The Book of Famous Seages by Tudor Janks. Constantinople, About 717 AD It is hardly fair to include in a book devoted to the taking of cities and account of the early sieges of Constantinople by the Saracens. In the first place it was not one siege, but a long series of attacks extending over 44 years, each conducted in the same way and with the same lack of result. In the second place the city was not then taken, and there is nothing in these attempts of the Saracens to help us in understanding siege methods, for the reason that the attack was not carried on in a scientific way, and yet would have been successful had it not been for the use of something new in warfare, or if not entirely new, new in the way it was employed. The Saracens, in extending their conquest over Africa and Asia, had for the most part taken cities by mere force of numbers, and by impetuous attacks which nothing could resist. They fought, as has been so often said, almost with a desire of death, and in the belief that death in battle meant immediate entrance into a heaven of delights. Before approaching Constantinople they had already taken Damascus and Alexandria, from which many clever engineers had made their escape into the greater and stronger city upon the Bosporus. Either one of these refugees, or to repeat the commonly accepted story, Kalinicus, a Syrian architect coming from Heliopolis, brought to the city the knowledge of the composition of a burning substance that has received a great number of names. Perhaps the best known is Greek fire, but it has also been called wild fire, wet fire, fire rain, and Median fire. Its composition was a secret so well kept that in spite of the various attempts to give its ingredients, we are not certain just what these were. It was a semi-liquid that contained usually sulfur, pitch, niter, and petroleum, with possibly other explosive compounds. We know that it produced a thick smoke, a light explosion, and a fierce flame that could not be put out with water, but was spread by it, especially by salt water. The only means of extinguishing it seems to have been either vinegar or wet sand. Burning substances had been used in warfare for many ages, being shown even upon the old Assyrian sculptures. They were known to the Chinese, to the Persians, and to the Romans, but at the time of the siege of Constantinople there seems to have been some new and more effective method of preparing the burning liquid. For all the stories of its employment agree that it was terrible and effective in repelling attacks of men in burning towers and ships, and that it was used in many methods which showed that it was prepared in a number of different forms. Certainly the secret of Greek fire was well kept, and the fire itself kept the city from falling, as others had done, into the hands of the Mohammedans. The methods of the Saracen attack were, as has been said, usually plain assaults. Thus the city of Damascus, which was taken only about a generation before this attack upon Constantinople, finally fell only after its Roman defenders had been defeated in the open field. The Saracens had again and again attempted to swarm over the walls, but without success, when, to the great joy of the hard-pressed garrison, the Roman general Heraclius brought up an army to the city's relief. Thus strengthened the garrison threw open the gates and marched forth to drive away their Saracen foes who had already begun to retreat. The Romans followed so closely that they succeeded in capturing the rear guard of the Saracen army and their women and children. But when the Roman general attempted to take possession of these captives, one of the Saracen women, enraged by his insults, snatched from the ground the sharp pegs that held down the tents, and calling her women around her fought desperately against the Roman soldiers. While the Romans hesitated to slay these women or to attack them, the Saracens, recovering from their first alarm, wheeled and rode back, attacked the Romans unprepared and put them to flight, then advanced once more to the walls of Damascus, where they made a new assault and took the city, pursuing and slaying the Romans for miles upon the surrounding plains. Apparently the only difference between the earlier and this last attack was in the fierce bravery of the returning Saracens, rather than in any new method employed to take the city. There was a tradition among the Mohammedans that whoever should first succeed in taking Constantinople, the city of the Caesars, would not only have all his sins forgiven, but would succeed to the heritage of glory handed down by the Roman emperors. Since there had been, about the year 700, many changes in the imperial throne. It was thought that the city would not be likely to offer any serious resistance. And on the other hand, the Saracen Empire was at its highest power, and its greatest extent, reaching from India all along the southern shore of the Mediterranean, northward and to Spain, where it was bounded only by the Atlantic and the mountain heights. One historian says, it seemed as if the Saracen Crescent would grow into a full moon covering all Europe. Nowhere had the simitors of the invaders failed to win them victory. Against Constantinople for the final attempt was led the best army that had ever attacked the Christians, consisting of 80,000 fighting men, while the Caliph awaited the results of the attack of this first force to furnish as many more men as might be required. According to Finlay, who wrote the history of the Byzantine Empire, 180,000 men were employed in the expedition in one way and another. The Saracens captured the city of Purgamos, then marched to Abidos, and here, having joined their fleet, crossed the Hell's Pond and surrounded Constantinople. Toward the landside, Constantinople was protected by three high and thick walls, built higher as they were nearer the city, and each so pierced with loopholes that those within could fire upon the assaulting army from several different levels, concentrating the fire of a number of lines against the attacking army. Owing to the heavy fire from these loopholes and from the engines that were set upon the top of the walls, every attempt to place ladders against the walls and to climb over them was repulsed with heavy loss, and the Saracens finally decided that they must blockade the city, and if possible starve out the garrison. To prevent provisions from being brought in, thousands of Saracen soldiers were sent to ride over the region to collect forage for the army, and to destroy what they did not need for their own use. Meanwhile the resting camped behind a strong earthwork, which had been protected by a deep ditch in order that they might defend themselves against sallies from the besieged city. To blockade the seawall, the Saracen sent their fleet of 1800 vessels and transports to guard the whole line of the coast. As a portion of them were entering the Bosporus, the strong current and a heavy wind threw a number of these ships into confusion. When the Greeks sending out swift galleys loaded with combustibles succeeded in burning a number of the Muslim ships and in driving others ashore. Enraged by this attack, the Saracen admiral selected his strongest vessels and putting in each 100 Arabs in complete armor sailed directly up against the seawall, and by raising ladders attempted to force his way into the city. Here the Saracens met with the terrible Greek fire poured from cauldrons, thrown from great ladles, shot from war machines. The sticky, burning, explosive liquid set fire to his vessels, burned a number of them, and forced the rest to retreat. No doubt the substance was greatly feared by the Muslims, as it had already been used against them in their earlier siege in 673. To put the story of the siege briefly, we may say that every attempt to approach the walls was defeated, either by storms of missiles or by torrents of Greek fire, and the Saracens were compelled to withdraw to their fortified camp, though they were too obstinate to give up the siege. The Caliph who had promised to send reinforcements died, and the Saracen army received but few additions. As winter came on it proved to be most severe, and the country roundabout was covered deeply with snow. The horses and camels of the Saracens died for once of forage. The soldiers themselves, unprepared for the northern climate, also perished in great numbers, and were soon nearly starved from the difficulty of procuring food. The Constantinople forces, having had ample time to prepare for the siege, were well provisioned and did not suffer. When spring came, two Saracen fleets arrived from Africa, and anchored in the bays nearby but did not dare to approach the walls, for fear of the Greek fire or the fire ships. Many among the crews of these new fleets were Christians, and seeing the weakness of the Saracens, they seized small boats and escaped to Constantinople. These refugees told of the misfortunes of the besiegers, and at once a fleet was sent out from Constantinople, and succeeded in sending fire ships among the enemy's vessels and also in approaching near enough to shoot Greek fire upon them from tubes set in the prowls. Some ships were captured, some driven ashore, others burned. This destroyed all hopes of Muslim success, but not until many of their foraging parties had been captured and all horses and camels and mules eaten did the Muslims give up the attempt to take the city. The few ships remaining from their fleet were all that they needed to carry away the remnant of their great army, for out of a hundred and eighty thousand only thirty thousand survived. Even after the retreat, their misfortunes did not end. They were caught in a storm while passing through the Grecian archipelago, were attacked by the Greeks of these islands, and at last only five of the Saracen squadron returned to tell the story of the Saracen failure. Finley, from whose book the facts are taken, ascribes the victory partly to the possession by the Greeks of engines of war far larger and better than those of the Saracens, and not only did these engines throw the usual missiles, but also the terrible Greek fire to which the defeat of the Saracen fleet was due. The people of Constantinople had been accustomed to the use of Greek fire since about the year 673, or over forty years, for it was daring the siege by the Saracens in that year the colonicus is said to have told the emperor, Constantine Pogonatus, how to make it. Constantine had used the Greek fire by projecting it from tubes set in the prowls of fast galleys, and at a later time not only was it so used but was projected from small tubes held in the hand, or thrown in jars that would break as they fell. In later times the Greek fire was frequently used against the Saracens, and by some historians it is believed to have been the salvation of Europe from the Mohammedan invaders. Europe was contending also against the northern races who pressed upon their more civilized neighbors to the southward just as the Saracens were attacking on the eastward and all along the southern shores of the Mediterranean. Out of the great turmoil of races were to come modern European nations. Some idea of the struggle farther north is given by the siege chosen for the next telling. That of the Northmen are Danes in their attempt to take the old city of Paris. The Danes fought for plunder, and though at first they had little skill in war, they learned quickly from their enemies, and thereby became so able in attack and defense that before many centuries they had established themselves firmly in France, England, Russia, and Italy, where they united with the people, and gave strength to the races they overcame. The siege of Paris by the Danes in 885 did not differ in the nature of the operations from sieges three and a half centuries earlier, nor from those more than two centuries later. This long period of more than 500 years saw little or nothing new in the taking of cities or in methods of defense. In every case the idea of those outside was first to fill up the ditches, and then by the aid of ladders to climb over the walls. If they could not do this, they tried to break down the walls with rams, or to bring up great towers, and by means of heavy volleys of darts, arrows, and stones to drive the defenders from the ramparts so that the walls could be attacked without loss. The usual rams had blunt heads, and by being swung against the walls again and again would shatter them. If instead of a blunt end a sharp point was put on the great swinging timber, the engine was called a bore, and was meant to pick out single stones and sew bore a hull through the walls. This opening once made could be easily enlarged into a breach. Both of these machines had to be protected by heavy sheds of timbers covered by raw hides, as burning pitch or oil and heavy stones were showered upon them from the walls as soon as they were brought near enough to reach the stonework. They also had to be guarded so that they could not be attacked by parties of soldiers sent out or lowered from the walls to destroy them. The defenders could protect the walls either by putting great mattresses or wooden guards between the ram head and the stone, or by catching the rams and looped chains or ropes or in forked timbers. The ram was sometimes broken from its fastenings by heavy timbers dropped upon it, but in all there was nothing new as we know. The sharp pointed bores were lighter than the rams and so could be more easily moved. They were called by a number of fancy names of which Charles Oman gives a few. Thus in Latin, and most of the siege stories of this time are in Latin, we find the bore called a musculus or little mouse because it gnawed a hole, a catus or cat because it clawed out stones, a vulpis or fox because it burrowed, and a scrofa or sus that is a sow or a hog because it rooted its way through the stonework. Mining was very common and has always been carried on in much the same way. Before gunpowder, mining was followed by filling up the hole under the wall or tower with timbers and rubbish. When these were burned, the ground above caved in. To guard against mining, those inside had to find the mine, dig out to meet it, drive out the enemy's miners, and fill up the hole. Scaling ladders were made in every form of wood, of rope, of iron. Though men trying to climb these could easily be thrown down, yet when defenders were few and ladders were put up in many points at once, it was hard to meet all the attacks, and at night constant watch had to be kept at all points for fear some party would erect a ladder and steal upon some unguarded portion of the wall. Great moving towers built of wood and higher than the walls meant to be rolled up directly against the defences were, as we have seen, much used in the old Roman sieges. They were often many stories in height and had big bridges drawn up against the front, with hinges at the lower ends. When they were close enough, heavy volleys would clear the walls of defenders. The bridges would be dropped and knights or soldiers could march across, as Alexander's men did at the siege of Tyre. The towers needed a smooth level road to the walls and were of such enormous weight that the path for their advance had to be solid, where they might sink in and upset or remain immovable. Sometimes too, they could be battered to pieces by heavy stones flung from machines, or they might be set on fire, as was so often done when Titus was trying to take Jerusalem. As to artillery before the invention of gunpowder, we have already told something, but it may be well to divide the different kinds into classes. Those that threw the biggest stones were called manganelles or mangans, from a Greek word meaning a trick or machine. The manganelle consisted of a long timber put between heavy ropes, fastened between upright posts. When the timber was pulled back, the ropes were twisted, and then the timber being let go, it flew over so as to fling anything put upon its end high upward and forward. It did not always shoot with the same force or accuracy, but could throw heavy beams, stones or barrels, and pots filled with burning pitch, could batter big walls, or by lucky hits, could disable the engines of an enemy. The catapult and the trebuchet worked in a similar way. In later times, after the year 1100, weights were sometimes used instead of twisted ropes, as in the earliest forms. The balista was a big bow worked by machinery. It shot darts, arrows, and beams, and could be aimed straight at the object. In fact, the balista was a big crossbow, and it is believed that the crossbow was only the balista made small enough to be carried by the soldier. The use of these terms is, as has been said, mixed up and uncertain. Some writers used one, some another for the same machine, but the general plans of them all were these two, the big beam throwing things by hurling them in a long curve upward, and the big bow that shot bolts or darts in a nearly straight line. End of section 14 Recording by Colleen McMahon This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org The Book of Famous Sieges by Tudor Jenks Siege of Paris in 885 During the Dark Ages, though there was much fighting and many sieges which were more or less interesting, it was not a time of letters and very few good descriptions of these sieges have been preserved. The few about which we know something have been described mainly in long poems written more for the purpose of glorifying feats of arms than the telling of the plain facts of methods of warfare. Charles Oman, who has written a most interesting history of the art of war, says that we have a better account of a certain siege of Paris by the Danes than of any other during this whole period, that is, down to the time of the Crusades. This description comes in a long Latin poem written by the French poet named Abu, surnamed the Crooked. He was a monk of Saint Germain de Pré, though his Latin was not good. He tells the story well and in full detail and from the poem Oman has given us the full story of the siege. The Paris of that day consisted mainly of the island that is now the center of the city. It was surrounded by walls connected with the two shores of the river by bridges protected on those shores by towers. These bridges were of wood supported by piles of stone. The towers were of stone, but the one on the north side of the river was a little more than a third finished at the time when the great army of Danish soldiers arrived at the city and begged for permission for their vessels to proceed under the bridges in order that they might invade France. Though the Danes promised not to do harm to Paris itself, Otto the Count and Goslin, the Bishop of Paris, bravely refused on the ground that the emperor had intended Paris to protect the rest of France against invasion. Siegfried the commander of the Danes then threatened to take the city by force or by famine. Landing from their boats, the Danes rushed upon the half built tower, but after a vigorous fight were driven back with loss. It had been so close a struggle, however, that the French spent the whole night in carrying from the city timbers and logs to increase the height of the unfinished tower, and in the morning the Danes found the tower twice as high as it had been the night before. It was now too strong to be taken by assault, so the Danes wove branches together to make mantlets or shields and carrying these over their heads a strong column of men marched to the foot of the tower and then began to tear away the foundations using heavy logs, the ends of which were shod with iron points. But expecting such an attack, the French had brought great cauldrons of oil and pitch and setting fire to these, they poured them down upon the mantlets. This set fire to the shields and the men beneath them were sorely burned, so that flinging their protection away, they rushed away and jumped into the river. The Danes' next attempt was to dig underground a mine leading to the bridge tower. This was propped up as usual with timbers, then filled with combustibles, which, being set on fire, burned away the timbers and allowed the ground to fall in beneath, carrying away a part of the bridge tower. Again the Danes were driven back by timbers and stones dropped from the top of the tower upon the attacking column. Once more the besiegers came forward, placed a great pile of wood against the door of the tower, hoping to burn it down. But when their big fire was lighted, the wind blew it away from the door and drove the besiegers back. From the tower and the walls of the city during these attacks was poured so fierce a volley of bolts and darts of stones and arrows upon the attacking columns that the Danes could not remain within range, but retreated to their boats after a loss of 300 men. Any attempt to take the city by direct attack seemed hopeless, so the Danes built themselves a fortified camp protected by a ditch and stakes and settled down for a regular siege. Their engineers built three great battering rims, each covered by a strong timbered shed supported on 16 Great Wheels. These sheds were big enough to hold 60 men, but the attacks of the Danes being delivered all at one point the French were able to pour such a volley of missiles upon them that they were not able to bring the rams into action, probably because of the heavy stones thrown by catapults from the walls, and because they could not fill up the ditch that defended the walls without exposing their men to the French artillery. To protect themselves they now made other mantlets, each covered with raw hides, of which they had plenty since they had collected from the whole neighborhood great herds of cattle as well as a vast store of corn. While the men beneath these shields were filling up the ditch, throwing in, says Oman, clods of earth, boughs, straw, rubbish of all sorts, even their cattle and their French prisoners, an attack from the river was made at the same time, the boats being run against the sides of the bridge. All this was done under a constant fire of missiles from the city, but in spite of it the Danes at last were able to bring up the three rams close to the bridgehead and again to destroy the tower. The French had prepared great forked beams with which they caught the heads of the rams and they had also built great stone throwing machines that hurled rocks of such size that they struck down the mantlets and killed the men underneath. After three days the Danes were driven back, having lost heavily in men and leaving two of their rams disabled. The fight at the bridge meanwhile had been fierce and at one time the Danes nearly succeeded in burning it down by means of three fire vessels towed against it, but the piles of stones on which the bridge was supported kept the vessels from getting near enough to set it in flames and the accurate marksmanship of the French engineers soon sunk the vessels by hurling rocks upon them. So far the besiegers had failed at every point, but a few days later heavy rains had so swollen the rivers that the flood carried away part of the northern bridge leaving 12 unfortunate French soldiers cut off in the tower. When the Danes discovered how weakly the tower was defended they pushed a wagon full of straw against the gate. The defenders of the tower were too few to drive the Danes away and the smoke from the burning cart prevented much damage from the engines upon the walls of the city. The defenders of the tower were too few to drive the Danes away and the smoke from the burning cart prevented much damage from the engines upon the cities of the wall. The upper part of the tower was soon in flames and the French were forced to take to the broken bridge. It is said that the Danes professed admiration for these brave men, promising to spare them if they should surrender but as soon as the 12 men were disarmed they were slaughtered and flung into the river. The Danes now sent some of their vessels through the broken bridge probably to get provisions and there came a lull in the siege. During this time the French sent out a party to seize and burn the deserted camp but found it still guarded by a heavy force and were compelled to retreat. But in return for the good fortune of the besiegers there now came help for the besieged. The Duke of Saxony appeared with reinforcements. The Danes retired into their camp and their relieving force were able to put stores into the city and probably to strengthen the garrison. Then the tower on the bridge was taken and rebuilt while the Danes still remained in their camp. The Duke of Saxony made an attack upon the Danes fortified camp but was driven off and marched away from the city possibly because there were not provisions enough for the citizens and for his men had they remained. Some of the Danes now cross the river to the southern side and after a dispute among their leaders it was resolved to make one last attempt to take the city. Bringing up their boats they landed men at the foot of the city walls and also sent forces against the two bridge towers but all of these attacks were driven off and what are their leaders Siegfried consented to give up the siege after receiving 60 pounds of silver. Another leader however continued it hoping for success because the pestilence had broken out in the city and one of the chief defenders the bishop was dead. No very vigorous attempt to take the city was made except one attack in which the Danes reached the city walls on the island climbed at one point over the wall by means of ladders but were driven back by the defenders before a stronger force could come to their aid. After this attack a second relieving army appeared fought its way into the city and reported that an army of French was coming to the rescue but before Charles the Fat had brought up this force the Danes made a grand attack concentrating tremendous fire upon the walls of the city from their engines and at the same moment attempting to climb upon the bridges and the island wall by this use of scaling ladders as well as to burn the wooden tower at the head of the northern bridge which was now protected by a sort of fort of heavy timbers. They almost succeeded in burning this fortification but the attack failed here and everywhere else. Not long after this failure Charles the Fat came up with a large army and bribed the Danes to pass by and to march into Burgundy where they made another unsuccessful attempt at besieging the city of Sends. The effect of these successive attempts to hold the cities against the Northmen was gradually to encourage the French against their attacks thereafter. Homan calls attention to the fact that these so called barbarians used in the siege all the engines of war that have been known to the Romans which it is believed they had learned from their enemies but against this display of knowledge is to be set the stupidity with which they failed to surround the city and to prevent its being relieved. If the Danes had been able or willing to build a strong set of siege works around the city so as to cut it off from receiving provisions or reinforcements they would no doubt have captured the town. Although I'm passing from this old siege by the Danes to the siege of Antioch by the Crusaders we go over more than two centuries we shall not note any great advance in the art of the besieger. The Crusaders were not in any sense learned in this history of the past. Their warfare had little of science and though they made use of some of the better known siege apparatus yet we find in their books upon sieges little that is new. Usually their conquests were by force of numbers and brute strength often their plans were defeated by the jealousies of one another but the taking of Antioch gives at least a good idea of how the Crusaders fought both before the city walls and in the open fields. End of section 15. Section 16 of The Book of Famous Sieges. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Colleen McMahon. The Book of Famous Sieges by Tudor Jenks. Siege of Antioch 1097 AD. The siege of this city in Syria is notable as the first in which the Crusaders had all agreed to act together for the common good. Since they had found in former battles and sieges that the jealousy of different commanders and bodies of troops had brought disaster. Antioch lies in a valley on the Arantes River about eastward of the island of Cyprus and 10 miles from the shore of the Mediterranean. It was surrounded by a double wall guarded by 450 towers and in addition there was one stronghold or citadel against the southern wall. The river ran along the length of the northwestern wall departing from it more widely as one went eastward and leaving a broad triangular plain just to the north of the city. Against this great fortification marched an army of 300,000 men. The strength of which was mainly in its mounted knights and chainmail. The Turks who then held the city before the coming of the Crusaders had turned most of the Christians out of the city retaining their wives and children as hostages to prevent them from joining the enemy. They had strengthened the fortifications as much as possible, had collected ample stores, and within the city they could command a force of perhaps 25,000 men, six or seven thousand being horsemen. The Christian army marched upon the city on October 21st 1097, saluted the city of the strong walls with shouts and the blasts of trumpets to which no response came from the silent Turks. Marching to the plain northward of the city the Crusaders spent 15 days in bringing in provisions and cattle from the surrounding country. Destroying the farms and houses round about, felling trees and bringing together a great mass of material with which to build themselves a camp. It seemed as if they were about to found a town in the valley before the walls. Not only did they make shelters and erect tents, but the multitude of camp followers, men and women, some of the very worst description erected booths and houses of entertainment as if preparing for a great fair. There seems to have been little military discipline. Luxury and riot ruled everywhere. Fruits, corn, cattle had been brought in in such profusion that the men disdained to eat any but the choicest portions of food or to drink anything but costly wines. It seemed as if the vast host had gathered for disgraceful merry-making. No thought was given to the Turks in the besieged town, the surrender of which they thought would take place daily. Yet of all the gates of Antioch, the besiegers commanded but three, all those upon the southern side of the city being open, enabling the Turks to communicate with their friends outside. In order to procure forage for the thousands of horses in the knight's camp, parties were sent across the Aranti's river to range about the country. But the Turks, noticing this, one day made a sally, fell upon the foragers and slew great numbers of them before they could recross the river. To make this attack, the Turks had crossed a bridge to the westward of the crusader's camp. But instead of trying at first to put a force to guard this bridge, the crusaders built a floating bridge laid upon boats back of their own camp. Though this made the retreat of the foragers easy, it did not prevent the Turks from sending out strong parties of horsemen across their bridge to the westward to fall by night upon the disorderly Christian camp. A party of crusaders at last made an attack upon the stone bridge, but owing to its strength and the vigorous resistance of the Turkish soldiers, they were unable to destroy it. It was then resolved to build a strong wooden fortification, like a great tower, and to roll it to a position from which it could command the stone bridge and keep the Turks from crossing. If this bridge could be guarded, the besiegers could not readily be attacked since the ground between them and the Turks was so wet and boggy that the Turkish horsemen could not readily cross it. The great tower was built and slowly moved into position to command the Turkish bridge. Hardly had it been put in place when a strong force of Turkish horsemen dashed out of the bridge gate, charged upon the newly constructed tower, drove back its guards, and set the tower on fire. In order to prevent another such attack, the Christians now placed before the bridge a battery of machines for throwing darts and stones, so placed that a heavy fire could be opened upon the bridge. So long as these machines were in action, the Turks remained safely behind their walls, but as soon as the fire slackened the light Turkish cavalry with sword and spear swarmed out again like flies and gave the besiegers no rest. The reason why these machines were not used to batter down the Turkish defenses was simply that they were not powerful enough to make any impression upon the enormous walls which had been constructed by the Roman Emperor Justinian. It was now decided by the Christian leaders that the only way to prevent these sallies from the bridge gate was to block up the bridge by masses of masonry. So while a heavy fire was directed upon the bridge, workmen carried great stones to the bridgehead and succeeded at last in blocking it up so as to prevent the Turkish horsemen from using it. But as there was still another gate to the westward, the only result of blocking up this bridge gate was to make the Turks go a little longer way around. The attacks of the swift horsemen who on their lighter chargers could easily distance the heavy Christian horsemen still continued and caused great losses among the parties who were forced to cross the bridge of boats northward of the crusaders camp in order to get forage for the horses. Many battles and skirmishes took place at this floating bridge of boats and many lost their lives here owing to the failure of the crusaders to station a force in front of each of the gates of the city. All this minor fighting was entirely useless and brought them no nearer to the capture of Antioch. Meanwhile time was passing and to the plenty and wastefulness of the early days had succeeded want and bitter famine. The parties sent out for provisions were frequently driven back or slain by Turkish horsemen. Finally eatables became so scarce and prices in the camp so high that the rich could hardly buy the simplest food. And the poorer pilgrims lived on the nearest scraps or even gnawed upon leather and the soft bark of trees. Sickness followed the famine. Thousands died and with difficulty were buried. The knights horses were reduced from seventy thousand to two thousand. The rainy season came when the huts and tents could not protect the miserable crusaders and every day that passed added to their misery and desolation. As it never rains but it pours during this wet and depressing season the crusaders were made still more despondent by the news that a prince of Denmark named Sveno had set out to join them with a force of fifteen hundred pilgrims and accompanied by his promised bride Florina, daughter of the Duke of Burgundy, had been attacked just as he encamped one evening by an overwhelming force of Turks and his forces slain to the last man. This painful news brought despair to many already discouraged and the faint-hearted began to steal away. Robert of Normandy withdrew to Laudicia and only came back after much persuasion. A Greek leader named Tacticius, true to his name, pretended to depart for supplies and was no more seen on the field. Peter the hermit, to whose frenzied preaching the expedition was due, was one of the refugees, but after being overtaken by the great prince Tankred and soundly scolded by another great crusader, Bohemond, the preacher was forgiven without punishment in which he was more fortunate than his companion, who was compelled as a penance to stand all night in the pouring rain at the door of Bohemond's tent. The Duke of Lorraine, one of the strongest leaders, now fell ill and a council was called to see whether the siege should be given up. Though almost in despair it was decided to make one more attempt to procure provisions and a small army of 2,000 horsemen and 16,000 foot soldiers went out on a foraging expedition to get provisions. Though they collected a fair store, as they were returning to their camp, the alert Turkish forces rushed upon them and took from them what they had so painfully gathered, except just enough to supply the starving camp for a few days. Instead of blaming themselves for their wastefulness and lack of foresight, Providence was blamed for their misfortunes, as was the way in those times, and this opinion was strengthened by the shock of an earthquake and the appearance of strange lights in the northern skies. A bishop who was the Pope's legate ordained a solemn fast of three days for the starving crusaders, and there followed processions, masses, and psalm singing, together with the enforcing of strict rules against gambling, drinking, and all other evil doing. All the camp followers and women were ordered from the camp, and for the first time there seemed to be some hope that the Christian soldiers would attend strictly to the business of the war. One offending monk received what the Middle Ages considered a fair trial, being made to walk blindfolded, over a piece of ground where pieces of red-hot iron had been placed. As he was unlucky enough to burn his toes, it was believed that heaven had convicted him of guilt, and he was severely whipped and led in a disgraceful rogue's march around the camp. These things did little to help in taking the city, but to prove that they were in earnest, the crusaders now plowed and planted great patches of ground within sight of the walls, to convince the Turks that they meant to fight it out even if they had to take to farming to support themselves. These things at all events restored the crusaders' courage, and their confidence grew as the weather began to become warmer and supplies to be brought into the camp. It was soon seen that whatever the Christians devised promptly became known to the Turks, for the camp was full of spies. Among the Syrians from the country roundabout who came to sell provisions, many Turkish spies mingled and reported every measure taken against the city. Boamund, knowing that they could not detect these intruders, determined to scare them away. He ordered that two of the Turkish prisoners should be slain, cut in pieces, and portions of their bodies roasted by his cooks. To all inquirers, the cooks were told to say that it was the intention of the crusaders to devour the bodies of all Turks or spies taken in the camp. The horrified spies one by one stole away, telling the awful story of the crusaders' cannibalism, and this frightful tale soon spread throughout the east. There still exist old ballads relating such barbarities, probably without any better foundation than this ghastly trick played by Boamund upon the spies. Not long afterward there came an embassy from Egypt representing a faction of the Mohammedans opposed to the party holding Antioch against the crusaders and offering an alliance against the common enemy. To entertain these ambassadors, the camp was gaily decorated. The soldiers all arrayed in their best and games, races, and nightly contests took place for their entertainment. These details show the difference between the warfare of the crusaders and that of the ancients as well as between those times and hours. It seemed that the crusaders were glad of anything to distract their attention from the task of overcoming the besieged city, and yet they knew that there was danger of a relieving army appearing unless they could soon finish their task. Hardly had the merry makings come to an end when carriers came riding at full speed to the camp to announce that a large force of Turks was marching to relieve their besieged brethren. To meet these, the chivalrous knights sent only a small force who made their way hastily to a narrow pass through which the relieving army must march. This defile lay between the river Orantis and a large lake and the ground around it consisted of little hills and valleys among which it was easy to conceal bodies of men. Bellamund had seen the advantages of this position and when he was told of the advance of the Turkish army, which consisted of from 12 to 28,000 men according to various accounts, the crusaders gathered all their best mounted and most effective men but could get together no more than 700 knights. Of course the strength of the knights' charges depended upon the condition of their horses and no more than this small number of men could be provided with steeds strong enough for the night march and the fight that was to follow although the field was only about 7 miles from the city. Having reached the pass, the knights awaited the dawn and just at daylight the Turkish lancers were seen advancing preceded by vast numbers of archers on horseback. As soon as the Turks had entered the narrow pass the crusaders formed in five squadrons with one held in reserve and charged upon the Turkish van. Had the attack been made in open ground the Turks, according to their usual custom, would have swung in both ends of their long line upon the small body of horsemen and completely surrounded them. In this narrow pass the foremost Turks driven back by the heavier horsemen charging with their lancers in rest fell back upon the advancing line threw the army into disorder and in a few minutes the battle was over and the Turks in full retreat. Over 2,000 Turks were drowned in the lake or river and the 700 Christian knights pursued the retreating foe so vigorously that before night they had reached the camp of the vast Turkish army and captured it with all the baggage. Riding back in triumph the knights carried with them hundreds of the Turkish warriors' heads and instead of being gladdened by the sight of the relieving army the garrison within the town were informed of its defeat by showers of their countrymen's heads which were shot from the military machines over the walls. Warfare in those days was a grim matter. It was now February 1098. In the following month the same tactics were repeated when the Turks from within the city came charging across the bridge into the plain intending to dash upon the Christian camp. Once more the heavy charge of the knights with their long lancers threw the lighter horsemen of the Turks into disorder and since the river was at their backs they could neither retreat nor reform and hundreds of them were slain or captured. There was about this time another fierce battle before the walls in which a party of Genoese bringing provisions to the Christians were defeated by the Turks and then the Turks in turn were attacked by the crusaders from the camp and routed with great loss as they attempted to retreat again into the city. In fact so narrow was the Turks' escape that only the coming of night prevented the Christians from forcing their way into the city. During this fight an incident occurred which shows the bodily strength of some of the powerful knights. Gigantic Turk who had already slain several of the Christians charged against the Duke of Lorraine who, with a single blow, cut the Turks' body off at the waist. This ghastly exploit was witnessed from the walls of the town and we are told that the air resounded with the cries and lamentations of the old men, women and children who stood on the walls. These victories, though they made the Christians safer, did little to hasten the siege and the next work of the Christians seemed likely to turn it into a mere blockade. They built to the eastward and westward of the town two tall castles with a strong force to guard each to prevent the attacks of the Turks and also to shut in that part of the city which up to this time had been unguarded. Now that everything seemed to smile upon the crusaders the timid came flocking back to camp. There was no longer any danger of sallies from the town and force but now and then small bodies of Turks would charge upon the crusaders who ventured too far from their camps. Thus they captured in slew a German count who was carelessly amusing himself by playing dice with a noble woman at the edge of a wood too near the city walls. One pilgrim who they took was ordered to beg for ransom from the walls of the city but instead of begging for release the hero cried from the battlements be steady and persevere for all the chiefs of the enemy are fallen and no one remains to lead them with vigor and understanding. By this defiance he lost his life. Now famine began to be felt in the town while on the crusaders camp there was again plenty but since no steps were taken to force their way into the city the siege might have lasted for weeks or months longer had it not been for the treachery of one of the leaders within the walls. Having been compelled to give up a store provisions he had collected for his own family he secretly sent word to Belemund offering to admit the besiegers. Belemund concealing the treachery's offer tried to get from his fellow knights the promise that the town should belong to whichever of the Christian princes should bring about its capture but they maintained that this was contrary to their agreement to act together and so Belemund did not reveal the secret of his power to take the city. News came that a second relieving army was gathering and again the flight from the camp commenced causing the princes to make a decree that death should be the penalty for desertion and that all should take an oath to persevere for fourteen years if necessary to take the town. The approach of this Turkish force enabled Belemund to make terms with the rest they reluctantly agreed that the town should belong to him who brought about its fall and word was sent to the traitor within that his offer to give up the stronghold would be accepted. With every day had arisen the suspicion of treachery among the Turks and this traitor Pyrrhus was one of those called to council on an effort to discover the treason. He boldly advised that all those in charge of the gates should on the next day surrender their offices to others which he could safely do since he had made arrangements to give up the town the very night of the council. A large number of Christian soldiers pretended to march away from the town just at nightfall while a strong force was secretly brought around to the foot of the tower where Pyrrhus was in command. After some delay a cord was lowered from the tower a rope ladder drawn up and a few of the Christians admitted. Just then the ladder broke and no other was to be had but meanwhile those at the foot of the wall succeeded in bursting open a small gate or doorway and having taken the Turks by surprise they drove the defenders from the walls and were soon in possession of ten of the towers that commanded them. Before the Turks could gather and resist this small party the Christians had forced their way to the bridge gate just to the westward of the crusaders camp and thrown it open. The Christian knights who were lying in wait poured into the city their banners were hoisted on the walls and in a single day ten thousand of the inhabitants were slain. Thus fell Antioch after seven months by the treachery of one of its defenders and this is the end of the story of the siege although shortly afterward the relieving army arrived surrounded the city and besieged the Christians in turn. The crusaders were reduced almost to despair and saved finally only by what they believed to be a miracle. A certain priest dreamed that the lance that pierced the Savior's side was buried in the church of St. Peter. Though the papal legate refused to believe the story under the direction of Bohemund the lance was sought for and found buried 12 feet in the ground. This relic so excited the enthusiasm of the Christian soldiers that they fought with irresistible courage. The gates were thrown open and as the clergy upon the walls waved their crosses singing the psalm let God arise and let his enemies be scattered the crusaders shouting God wills it marched upon the great host of the Turks and put them to flight assisted so the legend ran by three heavenly knights in glittering armor and white raiment. This was the last attempt to relieve the city of Antioch. This account shows us that in the science of taking cities the crusaders were far inferior to the Romans of the empire. Comparing the siege of Jerusalem by Titus with the siege of Antioch might lead one to think that the dates of the two should be reversed and yet Titus lived in the first century and Tancred a thousand years later. But the weapons and the equipment of the Romans were as good as those of the crusaders and their learning was greater when the days of gunpowder began all was changed but there were to be five centuries and more of warfare before gunpowder reached a place in the military art that put the knights hopelessly into the past. End of section 16 recording by Colleen McMahon section 17 of the book of famous sages this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org the book of famous sieges by Tudor Jenks section 17 the fourth period this is the time of a truly effective firearm although at first the new weapon was neither effective nor in widespread use the answer results of its introduction were great in the middle ages the knight in armor had been almost beyond harm at the hands of the foot soldier his equipment was very costly and he may be compared to a great battleship in modern times in that he was sluggish in movement could be used only for important matters but once in action was most destructive when however the firearms were really effective the value of the knight in armor rapidly decreased gradually the destructiveness of firearms against the charging bodies of horsemen increased and the uselessness of wearing armor was evident it may be that the downfall of the medieval knight was caused or at least hastened by the results of certain battles in which the free swizer had shown that the brave body of infantry who would hold their ground with the spear or pike could not be broken by the charges of the armoured cavalrymen at all events during all this period of the coming in of gunpowder we see a gradual increase in the value of the foot soldier and the passing away of the mounted knight then when the feudal lords could no longer rely upon their power in the open field the siege of castles again begun and gradually cannon gained in effectiveness until they could readily batter down even the strongest masonry again when cannon could shoot heavy shot from a great distance the old style of fortification had to be given up for it had been found that even a slight earthwork formed a better resistance against cannonballs than great masonry walls unsupported by earth embankments as the range of cannon became greater armies had to begin their siege works further and further away from the walls of the place they meant to take charges could be made only after the guns upon the walls had been silenced by killing the artillery men or dismounting the cannon every approach against a well fortified place had to be made under cover and the sort of defense most quickly constructed and most effective against cannon and firearms was the trench along the edge of which the earth taken out in making the trench was piled for additional protection against these protections dug deep down into the earth was invented the art of vertical firing that is of firing high into the air at such an angle as would cause the cannonball to drop into the trench against this sort of firing the besiegers were forced to construct underground protections burrows or bomb proof enclosures all this brought about a new science of besieging based upon the system of trenches dug one after the other nearer and nearer to the fortifications and with each new idea in attack was developed some new way of meeting it on the part of the defenders all this did away entirely with the old system based upon the gradual approach above ground the siege of Orlians shows a mixture of the old and new methods of fighting knights in armor, foot soldiers with spears artillery of the ancient kinds and cannon firing iron shot all appear in the defense and attack of the french city against the english end of section 17