Aeneas Tacticus, Philon of Byzantium, Onasander and the good siege

Abstract

Of the four that survive from the Hellenistic period, two deal with siege warfare, those of Aeneas Tacticus and Philon of Byzantium. In writing his treatise of siegecraft in the century after Aeneas, Philon of Byzantium uses his predecessor’s work to describe the means of surviving a siege. Although Onasander was not a general, the advice that he gives is relevant and reflective of ancient military practice, and he possibly draws upon Philon. Even Onasander’s later summary advice to a general in conducting a siege that collates advice from Philon and Aeneas does not present a specific order of when to carry out each action during a siege. This chapter raises the possibility that one can read a military text in a manner that the author does not perhaps intend, to discover the kinds of stratagems that the enemy may undertake and thus be able to anticipate and counteract them.