Professional Documents
Culture Documents
38. Reserves
39. Ruses
40. Garrisoning a City
Aeneas is the author of a book which is apparently one of the
best kept secrets in ancient Greek history. He wrote the first
how to book in western literature, the Poliorketika, or How To
Survive Under Siege.
The Poliokretika is by turns serious, informative, sinister,
innovative, political, psychological, surprising, eccentric, wacky
and sometimes hilarious.
But it lets you never forget what can happen when a few
hundred (perhaps a few thousand) people get in the way of an
aggressive enemy. Nothing less than survival is at stake. Yet,
Aeneas commander not only fights the enemy outside the gates,
he also has to be worried about traitors on the inside. Moreover,
he has to achieve his goals with modest supplies of competent
troops and quality equipment, and he contends with the need to
keep morale, food and basic resources in steady supply.
This is not the impressive stuff of epics or grand conquest:
Aeneas deals with a situation much closer to a common, brutal
reality in ancient Greece: he shows us what needs to be done
when a group of people who'd rather get on with their normal
lives are forced to fight for survival.
Name and authorship
As so often with ancient texts, even the most basic details cannot
be taken for granted: we have an ancient military treatise, but
what was the name of its author?
In fact, the manuscripts identify the work as Aelianus Tactical
Treatise on How to Survive Under Siege, but this is generally
seen as false. At the end of the work the scribe recorded Aeneas
as the author, and (accepting some corrections of a very
confused text in this passage) the name Aeneas appears in the
work itself (31.18), where it is used as an example for a
particular method of sending secret messages.
0. Introduction
1. When men leave their country and engage in warfare and
encounter perils beyond their own frontiers, and disaster occurs
by land or sea, the survivors still have their own country and city
and fatherland between them and utter destruction; 2. but for
those who have to fight for all that is most dear to them, for
temples and fatherland, for parents and children and all they
posses, the struggle is of a wholly different kind: a successful
and stout resistance to the enemy will make them dreaded by
their foes and more secure from future invasion, while any
weakness in meeting the peril will leave them no hope for safety.
3. When, therefore, men have to fight for all these precious
stakes, they must omit no preparation and no personal effort:
rather they must think beforehand of every possible precaution,
that the world may never see them beaten through their own
fault, 4. and if disaster does come, the survivors may be able
later on to make good the loss, like certain of the Hellenes who
have been reduced to the direst straits and yet have recovered.
1 [Organizing Troops]
1. The organization of troops should be made with reference to
the size of the city, the situation of its buildings, the posting of
guards and rounds, and any other service for which troops are
required in the city: all these points must be borne in mind in
making the allotment. 2. Expeditionary forces must be organized
with reference to the country through which they have to pass,
provision being made for negotiating dangerous points, strong
positions and defiles, plains, commanding heights, and spots
suitable for ambushes; attention must be given also to river
crossings, and to the formation of a battle line under such
conditions. 3. On the other hand, the organization of troops
employed on garrison or police duty depends on no such
considerations, but on the points of vantage in the city and the
needs of the moment.
4. In the first place the most skilful and experienced soldiers
must be set apart to form the magistrates bodyguard; 5. it then
remains to make a roll of the men who will be most capable of
exertion and to divide them into companies, so as to form an
organized and serviceable body for making counter-attacks, for
6. [Outposts by Day]
1.Outposts, too, must be posted by day in front of the city, on
high ground visible from as great a distance as possible: each
group should consist of at least three men, specially chosen for
their experience. Otherwise, you will have scouts who know no
better, imagining dangers and reporting them by hand signal to
the city, thus causing needless panics. 2. Such false reports are
spread by men who have never seen active service, and so fail to
understand which of the enemys operations and movements are
due to design, and which to accident. 3. On the other hand, the
reports of an experienced man will be accurate: for he will know
the meaning of the enemys preparations and numbers, of his
line of march and his other movements. 4. If there are no places
from which signals can be sent direct to the city, stations must be
arranged at different points to transmit the signals to the city as
they are made. 5. The men on outpost must be good runners,
able to reach the city quickly and bring messages from distant
points, in cases where signals cannot be used and messages have
to come by word of mouth. 6. Where there are cavalry and the
country is suitable for their employment, it is best to keep
mounted men at each post, that messages may be delivered more
quickly. The outposts should be sent from the city at daybreak or
while it is still dark, to prevent the enemys scouts from seeing
them to go to their posts, as would happen if they went by day.
7. Their password must be different from that of the garrison, so
that if captured, they may not have it in their power, willing or
unwilling, to betray the password for entering the city. The men
on outpost duty should be ordered to display their recognition
signs at intervals during the day, in the same way as firesignallers raise their torches at night.
7. [Calling the Population into the City]
1. At harvest-time, if the enemy are close at hand, it is probably
that many of the citizens, in their anxiety to save their crops, will
remain in the fields near the walls. 2. These must be summoned
to the city in the following way. First of all, a signal must be
given at sunset for those outside the walls to leave their work
and come into the city; if they are scattered over a wide area,
transmitting stations will be required for the signals: for
everyone, or nearly everyone, should be within the walls by
night. 3. When the signal has been given for those outside to
leave their work, another should be given for those within to
take their dinner, and a third for mounting guard, whereupon the
watch should be duly posted. 4. The method of signalling and of
raising fire-signals is described at greater length in my
Preparations for Defence: I will leave it to be studied there, to
avoid the same ground twice.
8. [Securing the Countryside]
1. Next, if invasion by a superior force is anticipated, access,
encampment, and foraging must be rendered difficult for the
enemy; rivers must be made hard to cross and their banks
flooded. 2. Besides this, traps must be laid to hinder landing on
sandy or rocky shores; booms must be placed at the mouths of
harbours in the city or home territory, to prevent the enemy from
sailing in, or to cut off the escape of any ships that have sailed
in; 3. articles purposely left in the fields which are likely to be
useful to the enemy, as for making walls or tents, or for any
similar purpose, must be either rendered useless or else put out
of sight; 4. food, drink and growing crops ; all standing water in
the neighbourhood must be made unfit to drink; ground suitable
for the operations of cavalry must be made impracticable; and so
forth. 5. All particulars of these arrangements I here omit, to
avoid, as I said, undue repetition: a full discussion of them will
be found in my Preparations for Defence.
9. [Deterring the Enemy]
1. If your assailants are inclined to be aggressive, you may deal
with them in this way. First send men to occupy certain points of
vantage in your own territory. Then call together your soldiers or
citizens and, telling them that an attack is to be made on the
enemy, issue the necessary orders, bidding those of military age
be ready, when the trumpet sounds at night, to take their arms,
muster at a given point, and follow their leader. 2. When news of
this reaches the city or camp of the enemy, it may very well
dissuade them from their intended attack. 3. By this means your
boldness and readiness to take the offensive will inspire your
own men with confidence, and also deter the enemy from
stirring beyond their own frontier.
10. [Notices]
1.The following order, too, should have been already issued:
All citizens who possess cattle or slaves are to lodge them with
neighbours across the frontier, and on no account to bring them
into the city.
2. In the case of those who have no friends with whom to place
them, the magistrates must deposit them on behalf of the state
with people living near, and take means to ensure their safe
keeping.
(Notices)
3. Then, after a certain interval, notices to the following effect
should be published, to intimidate and deter intending traitors:
All free men and crops are to be brought in and lodged in the
city: offenders are liable to the seizure of their property without
redress.
4. All festivals are to be celebrated within the walls; no private
meetings may be held anywhere either by day or by night; all
necessary meetings are to be held in the prytaneion, council
chamber, or other such public place.
No prophet is to sacrifice privately without the presence of the
magistrate.
5. No communal dinners are allowed; all are to dine in their
own houses, except in the case of a wedding, or funeral feast,
and then only after due notice has been given to the magistrates.
6. If there are exiles from the city, proclamation should be made
of the penalties attaching respectively to any citizen, foreigner,
or slave who absconds. If anyone is seen with any of the exiles,
or with any emissaries sent by them, or sends letters to them or
receives letters from them, he should be liable to some penalty
or fine; and all letters going out or coming in should be
submitted to a board of censors before being sent out or
delivered.
7. A list should be made of all those who have in their
possession more than one set of arms, and no one should be
allowed to carry arms out of the city or to take them in pledge.
It should be forbidden to hire soldiers or to serve for hire
without leave from the magistrates.
8. No citizen or resident alien should sail out of the city except
with a pass; and orders should have been given beforehand to
upon themselves and their city: for the mercenary captain made
himself tyrant.
13. [The Maintenance of Mercenaries]
1. If it is necessary to maintain mercenaries, it may be done with
least risk in the following manner.
(The maintenance of mercenaries)
The wealthiest citizens should be required to provide one, two or
three mercenaries apiece, according to their means; when a
sufficient number has been collected, they should be divided into
companies, under the command of the most trustworthy citizens.
2. These mercenaries should receive their pay and maintenance
from those who hire them, partly at the expense of the latter,
partly from funds contributed by the state. 3. Each party of them
should be quartered in the house of the man who has engaged
them, but those who are told off for any public service, night
watches, or other duties assigned by the magistrates, should
always be assembled under the supervision of their commanders.
4. Repayment should be made after a certain time to those who
have advanced money on account of the mercenaries, the sum in
question to be subtracted from taxes paid by each man to the
state. This will provide the quickest, safest and cheapest system
of maintaining mercenaries.
14. [Suggestions for Securing Unanimity]
1.Particulars have already been given of the way to deal with
political malcontents.
(Suggestions for securing unanimity)
It is very important that unanimity (homonoia) among the
citizens in general should be secured for the time being by
various conciliatory measures, such as the relief of debtors by
the reduction or abolition of interest: in a very dangerous crisis
even the capital sum owed may be partly, or, of necessary,
wholly cancelled, as insolvent debtors are very dangerous
adversaries to have sitting by, watching for their opportunity.
in line, and heavy infantry alighted and fell in, fresh and ready
for an immediate attack on the enemy. 15. a good supply of
vehicles is therefore a great asset, providing a quick way of
bringing your men fresh to the point required. The carts will also
serve at the time to barricade the encampment, and can be used
afterwards to take back to the city those who are wounded or
injured in any other way.
16. If your country is not easy to invade, and the ways leading
into it a few and narrow, these, as I have said, should be
occupied in advance: then, with your detachments posted at the
several entrances, you should resist the attack of the force
moving on the city; your dispositions should be made in
advance, and the fortunes of each detachment made known to
the others by fire signals, to enable them to reinforce each other
in case of need.
17. If, on the other hand, your country is not hard to enter, and
can be invaded by a large force at several points, you must
occupy positions within your territory that will make it difficult
for the enemy to advance upon the city. 18. If this, too, is
impracticable, your next resort is to occupy positions near the
city which will help you to fight at an advantage, and to
withdraw easily from your position when you desire to retire to
the city; then, directly as the enemy enters the country and
marches upon the city, you to must assume the offensive with
these positions as your base. 19. Your familiarity with the
ground must always be used to advantage in delivering attacks;
you will gain a great deal by previous knowledge of the country,
and by being able to entice the enemy into whatever sort of
country suits you best, where you know your ground and are at
liberty to act on the defensive, to pursue, retreat, or withdraw
either secretly or openly to the city (especially as you will also
know where to find your supplies); while the enemy, strangers in
an unfamiliar country, can derive from it none of these
advantages: 20. for it is well known that a man who does not
know the ground is not only unable to carry out his own plans,
but finds it hard enough to retreat in safety, if the defenders
choose to attack him. Thus with no heart for anything and afraid
to move, because they cannot foresee their opponents'
movements, they are doomed to failure. For there will be as
much difference between your position and theirs if they were
Dionysus, they line the streets leading to the market place with
guards and pickets in force, thus making things very difficult for
would-be revolutionaries. 6. The best plan is for the magistrates
to conduct the celebrations first, attended by the bodyguard I
mentioned earlier, and not to allow the general public to
assemble until the officials are clear of the crowd.
18. [Closing the Gates]
1. When those who come in from the country are within the city
and evening is coming on, the signals should be given for dinner
and for mounting guard. While the guards are getting ready, you
should inspect the gates to see that they are shut fast; for
disasters are very apt to result from the magistrates slackness in
regard to bolts. 2. If a magistrate does not attend in person to the
duty of bolting the gates, but delegate it to the sentinel, tricks
can be played by the sentinel who wishes to let in the enemy by
night. I will give examples.
3. One of them poured sand into the socket in the day-time, so
that the bolt should remain outside instead of slipping down into
the hole. Even bolts already in position are said to have been
undone by pouring sand gradually into the socket, 4. and
working the bolt to and fro noiselessly, so as to avoid notice,
until, as the sand fell in, the bolt was gradually lifted and could
easily be taken out. 5. Once, too, a gatekeeper who had been
deputed by his general to fasten the bolt, stealthily cut a notch
into it with a chisel or file, tied a knot of string round it, pushed
home the bolt, and, after waiting a short time, pulled it up again
by the string. 6. Another prepared a fine net with a string
attached, pushed home the bolt enclosed in the net, and
afterwards drew it up. The bolt has also been removed by being
knocked upwards. Again, it has been taken out with a small pair
of pincers: one nipper of the pincers must be hollowed like a
channel, the other flat, so that you can receive the bolt with the
channelled pincer and get a hold upon it with the other. 7.
Another traitor succeeded in turning round the cross-bar without
being noticed, when he was about to insert the bolt, so that it
could not fall into its socket, and the gate could be opened
afterwards with a push.
down with the thread attached to it; and then, after shaking the
bar to show the general that the gate was secure, kept quiet. 17.
After a time he pulled up the bolt and tied the end of the cord to
his person, so that, if by any chance he fell asleep, he would be
roused by a pull of the cord. 18. Meanwhile Temenus was ready
waiting, with the force which was to make the attack, at the
place agreed upon with the man who had the ball of cord. It had
been arranged that Temenus should go to the place and pull the
cord: 19. and if the sentinel had succeeded in making all ready,
he was to have fastened to the cord a piece of wool and let it go;
on seeing this, Temenus was to have made a rush for the gates.
But the sentinel was unsuccessful in his enterprise, he let the
cord go with nothing attached to it, so that Temenus had plenty
of time to escape unobserved: they had, after all, noticed during
the night in the city that the cord was there, and so it was
impossible to proceed further.
20. Another way in which a city was betrayed by a gatekeeper
was this. He made a custom of going out with a pitcher just
before the gates were shut, as if to fetch water; on reaching the
spring he used to place stones on a spot agreed upon with the
enemy, who would come up and discover from the stones placed
there the message which the sentinel wished to convey. 21. If he
was keeping the first watch, he put one stone down on the
appointed place, if the second, two, if the third, three, if the
fourth, four; he also signified to what point of the walls and to
which guard-station the lot had assigned him. In this way he
imparted the information which betrayed the city. In view of
these various devices no precaution must be omitted: the
magistrate must shut the gate in person, and not give the bolt to
anyone else.
22. When engaged in any enterprise of the sort [i.e. an attempt to
open a gate] yourself, you should take away the cross-bar
altogether: for once some of the opposite party appeared
unexpectedly and shut the gates again by main force, as the bar
was still at hand; care must therefore be taken to prevent any
such occurrences.
19. [Sawing a Bar]
1. When you are sawing through a bar, you should pour oil on it:
this will help the work and deaden the sound. And if a sponge is
fastened to the saw and the bar, the sound will be much less
distinct. I could mention many other similar devices, but must
now pass on.
20. [The Prevention of Tampering with Bars and Bolts]
1. To prevent any tricks being played with these, a general
should, first of all, go in person to shut the gates and make his
inspection, before he has dined, and not entrust anyone else with
the task when he is disposed to be lazy; in time of war he will
need to have all his wits about him in the performance of his
duty. 2. Secondly, the bar should be covered throughout its
whole length with three or four thicknesses of iron, so that it
cannot be sawn through. Thirdly, three bolts of different patterns
may be put in on different days: one of these should be kept by
each general; or if the generals should be too many in number,
their days for this duty must be decided by lot. 3. And it is best
to have the bolts not removable, but held down by an iron place,
so that when the bolt is being taken out, it may never be lifted by
the pincers higher than will enable it to be inside the bar while
the gates are being shut or opened. The pincers must be so made
as to slip under the plate and lift the bolt without trouble.
4. At Apollonia on the Pontus, where one of the above ruses had
been practiced with success, the gates were so constructed as to
be shut to the sound of a big hammer, which made a tremendous
noise, so that almost the whole city could hear when the gates
were being shut or opened, the fastenings being very heavy and
plated with iron. 5. And the same thing was done at Aegina.
When the gates are shut the guards should be given the
password and the accompanying signal, and sent to their several
posts.
21. [Cross References]
1. The provision of tools, and the methods of putting friendly
territory in a state of defence and of concealing or rendering
useless to the enemy things left on the land, I will not now
discuss, as I have treated them at length in my Preparations for
Defence. The posting of guards, rounds, sudden alarms,
himself entered with the main body, 10 but took care at the same
time to place a detachment in ambush, suspecting that a force
would be sent to recapture the city, as was indeed the case. For
on hearing the news, Athenodorus of Imbros, who with his army
was at no great distance, tried at once to send help. 11. He, too,
was a shrewd man and also had his suspicions about an ambush:
so he avoided the route to Ilion on which the ambush was
placed, took another road in the dark without being seen, and
arrived at the city gates. 12. Then some of his men slipped into
the city, passing amid the confusion for members of
Charidemus army. 13. But before any more could enter, they
were discovered by means of the password, and some were
driven out, others slain at the gates; for the relieving force gave
the password as Tyndaridae, while Charidemus password was
really Dioscuri. 14. This, and nothing else, saved Ilion from
being at once recaptured by Athenodorus the same night.
The passwords given should therefore be easy to remember, and
as nearly related as possible to the business in hand: 15. for
instance, for a foray Artemis the Huntress; for secret exploits
Hermes the cunning; in case of an assault Heracles; for open
attacks Sun and Moon; and so on as far as possible, using
words that will be intelligible to all. 16. Iphicrates used even to
say that rounds and sentries should not have the same password,
but that a different one should be assigned to each: for instance,
the man challenged would answer Zeus the Saviour (if this
happened to be the word), and the reply of the challenger might
be Poseidon. This would minimise the risk of disasters arising
from the betrayal of a password to the enemy.
17. In case the guards get separated, arrange in advance for them
to communicate by whistling: for this will convey nothing to
those who do not know it, whether they are Hellenes or
Barbarians. 18. But look after your dogs: otherwise, when they
hear the whistle, they may cause trouble. Whistling was used to
collect the troops at Thebes during the recapture of the Cadmeia,
when they got separated and did not know one another in the
dark.
19. Rounds and patrols should both demand the password: it is
no use for only one to do so. For an enemy might challenge just
as well as a man going the rounds.
treachery, the rounds should be made under the wall, and no-one
allowed on the top except the sentinels.
If the army is in a bad state owing to a reverse in the field, or to
heavy loss from casualties or desertion by allies, or is
disheartened and humiliated by any other mishap, and the
presence of the enemy is a continual menace, the arrangement of
the watches mentioned above should be carried out. 8. At these
times the rounds should be made frequently, but you should not
be too anxious on the rounds to detect patrols who are asleep at
their posts or to worn out to keep proper guard; for it is unwise
to depress still further an army in this condition, and a man is
sure to lose heart if he is caught neglecting his duty: you should
rather set about attending to their wants and restoring their
morale. 9. At such times the approach of rounds should be
indicated from a greater distance by speaking loudly some way
off, so that if a sentinel is asleep he may wake up and prepare
himself to answer the challenge. 10. It is best under such
circumstances for the general in person to make each round
carefully with his own regular bodyguard.
On the other hand, when your force is overconfident, the
supervision of the guards must be stricter. 11. The general
should never keep to the same time for his rounds, but choose
his own time, to prevent the soldiers knowing long beforehand
the moment at which their general will arrive, and keeping
especially careful watch at that hour. 12. Some adopt the
following plan, which certain people suggest and recommend. In
case the governor of the city, from fear of danger or ill health, is
reluctant to make the rounds in person, but nevertheless wishes
to discover which men in any watch are neglecting their duty, he
may do as follows. 13. A lantern signal may be prearranged with
all the guards on the wall: and all patrols must answer this signal
by raising their own lanterns. This signal should be made on the
spot from which all on duty on the wall will be able to see it; 14.
if there is no such place, a raised platform must be constructed
somehow, as high as is practicable. From this a lantern should be
raised, and every man at each post must acknowledge the signal.
The number should then be counted: hence you can discover
whether all the patrols have acknowledged your signal, or
whether there are any defaulters.
person who let loose the horse which has caused this
commotion
12. If an army is subject to this sort of thing at night, men of
each company or regiment should in each watch be posted on
the flanks and in the centre, so that if anyone is seen waking in a
fright or otherwise beginning to make a disturbance, one of them
will be immediately at hand to check and restrain him. 13. One
man from each mess in the rest of the army should also be on
guard to look out for groundless alarms and check panics in his
own section. 14. You yourself should alarm the enemys forces
at night by giving your heifers or other beasts wine to drink, and
then driving them into the enemys camp with bells round their
necks.
Reveille
15. When day dawns, the guards should not be dismissed from
their posts until the ground outside has been thoroughly
explored, and it is known to be clear of hostile troops: the guards
may then be dismissed, not all at once, but by detachments, to
ensure there being always a certain number of men on duty.
28. [On Gate Keeping]
1. The following precautions, too, should be taken in a city
which is afraid of attack.
All gates should be kept shut except one, which should be in the
part of the city most difficult to access, and so situated that
anyone approaching it will be visible a long way off. 2. Even
here only the wicket gate should remain open, so that men have
to pass in or out one by one: in this way anyone seeking to
desert or a spy seeking to gain entrance will have little chance of
escaping detection that is if the sentry at the gate has his wits
about him. 3. To open the whole gate for beasts of burden, carts,
and merchandise is dangerous. If it is necessary to bring in
without delay corn, oil, wine or similar articles in carts or with a
number of carriers, they must be taken in at the nearest gate :
this will be the quickest and easiest way. 4. As a rule, gates
should not be opened incautiously early in the day, but only later
on, and no-one should be allowed to leave the city until the
to him. 9a. On hearing his story, the governor bade him deliver
the letters he already had to those for whom they were intended,
but to bring the traitors reply to him, if there was any truth to
his story. His informant did so; whereupon the governor, after
receiving the replies, summoned the traitors and confronted
them with the seals of their own signets, which they were forced
to acknowledge, and then opened the letters and discovered the
plot. 9b. He certainly convicted them very cleverly by not taking
the original letters from the bearer: for the traitors might have
denied complicity and asserted that it was a plot against them;
but by getting hold of the replies he convicted them all beyond
dispute.
10. Another way of conveying letters is to get a bladder to fit an
oil-flask, the bladder being of whatever size you please,
according to the length of the letter you wish to send: inflate
this, tie it up and dry it thoroughly, then write your message on it
in ink mixed with glue. 11. When the writing has dried, let the
air out of the bladder, squeeze it and push it into the flask; but let
its mouth project beyond the lid of the flask. 12. Then blow up
the bladder to its fullest extent inside the flask, fill it with oil, cut
of its projecting end and fit it to the mouth of the flask so that
no-one will notice it; put a put a bung in the flask, and carry it
about openly. The oil will now be plainly seen in the flask, and
there will not appear to be anything else in it. 13. When the flask
reaches the man for whom it was intended, he will empty out the
oil, blow up the bladder and read the message; and after
sponging off the writing he may write his reply on the same
bladder and send it back.
14. Again, a man has before now poured wax on a writing tablet,
after writing on the wooden part, and has written another letter
on the wax: when it has come to its destination, the recipient has
scratched off the wax, read the letter, written the reply in the
same way, and sent it off.
Another device recorded is to write on a boxwood tablet with the
very best ink, let it dry, then whiten it over to conceal the
writing. When the tablet reaches the man to whom it was sent,
he must take it and put it in water: and in the water every word
will come out clearly.
15. Again, you may write any message you wish on a votive
tablet: then whiten it thoroughly, dry it, and draw on it a picture,
say, of a horseman with a torch, or anything else you like; his
dress and horse should be white, or, if not white, any colour but
black. Then give it to someone to set it up in some temple near
the city, as if you were paying a vow. 16. The man who is to read
the message must come into the temple, identify the tablet by
some prearranged mark, carry it home, and dip it in oil: then all
the writing will become visible.
The hardest method of all to detect, but the most troublesome,
that without writing, I will now explain. It is as follows. 17. Take
a good sized die [an astragalos or knuckle bone] and bore in it
twenty-four holes, six on each side. These holes are to represent
the twenty-four letters of the alphabet; 18. and be careful, too, to
remember, counting from one side, whichever it is, on which the
A comes first, the letters which follow on each side in turn.
Afterwards, when you wish to place a message on this
contrivance, pass a thread through. Suppose, for instance, that
you wish to signify AINEIAS by the way in which the thread is
passed through. Begin from the side of the die where the A is,
and pass over the succeeding letters till you come to I; when you
reach the side where the I is, pull the thread through again; then
leave out the next letters, and do the same where N happens to
be; then again leave out the next letters and pull the thread
through at E; and in the same way copy the rest of the message
on the die by passing the thread through the holes, as in the case
of the letters AINE, which we have just placed on the die. 19. In
this way, there will be a ball of thread wound round the die when
it is dispatched, and the recipient must read the message by
writing on a tablet the letters signified by the different holes, the
thread being unwound from the holes in the reverse order to that
in which was wound on. It does not make any difference that the
letters are written on the tablet in the reverse order: they will be
intelligible just the same. But the task of reading the message is
really harder than the composition of it.
20 A handier method would be to get a piece of wood seven or
eight inches long, and bore as many holes in it as there are
letters in the alphabet; then pass the thread through the holes in
the same way as before. When it happens that the thread has to
go through the same hole twice, that is when the same letter
message, as the roads were guarded and it was very difficult for
a letter to get through without detection, he took his most trusty
slave and shaved his head, then tattooed the message on it, and
waited till the hair grew again. As soon as it had grown, he sent
him to Miletus, with no other orders than to tell Aristagoras,
when he reached Miletus, to shave his head and examine it. The
marks told Aristagoras what to do.
30 Again, you may use the following cipher. Arrange beforehand
to represent the vowels by dots, a different number of dots
according to the order in which each vowels stands in the
alphabet. For example:
DEAR DIONYSIOS
D: . R D:. ::N:::S:. :: S
Or again:
HERACLEIDAS WANTED
H : R . CL : :. D . S W . NT : D
And the messages in some place known by the recipient, to
whom arrival of the man in the city to buy or sell something
should be a signal that a letter has come for him, and has been
deposited in the place agreed upon. In this way the messenger
does not know for whom the letter was brought, nor will it be
known that the recipient has it.
32. Dogs were often used in Epirus in the following way. They
led them away from their homes on leashes, and fasted round
their necks a strap in which a letter was sewn up. Then, either by
night or by day, they let them go and find their way home, which
they were sure to do. This method is used in Thessaly.
33. All letters that arrive should be opened at once. A letter was
sent to Astyanax, tyrant of Lampsacus, containing information
of the plot which proved fatal to him: since, however, he did not
open it at once and read the contents, but took no notice and
attended to other business first, he was murdered with the letter
unopened in his fingers. 34. The same delay caused the capture
of the citadel in Thebes, and something like it happened in
Mytilene in Lesbos.
35. When Glous the Persian admiral went up to see the king, and
found it impossible to carry his memoranda into the presence
chamber (the matters of which he had to speak being numerous
and important), he noted down in the spaces of his fingers the
subjects he had to discuss.
The sentry at the gates must keep a sharp lookout for such things
as I have described, to see that nothing, whether arms or letters,
enters the city unobserved.
32. [Contrivances for Repelling Assaults]
1. I will now mention some methods of repelling an enemys
assaults, whether made by machines or by storming parties.
First, sails offer protection against missiles coming over the wall
from towers or masts or the like. Cover them with something
tear-proof, use capstans to stretch them taut, and once they are in
position, the projectiles will have to overshoot them. At the same
time make a big fire which will emit thick fumes. 2. Wooden
towers should be raised in defence, or other tall structures made
either of baskets filled with sand or of stones or of bricks;
missiles may be kept off by wicker-work made of reeds woven
crosswise. 3. Defences should also be prepared against battering
rams and similar engines directed against the battlements: hang
in front of them sacks filled with chaff, bags of wool, or fresh ox
hides, inflated or stuffed, and similar articles. 4. When the ram is
making a breach in a gate or any part of the wall, you must catch
its projecting end in a noose, and so prevent the engine from
delivering its blow. 5. And have ready a rock large enough to fill
a cart, to drop on it and smash its nose to pieces. This stone
should be dropped from the projecting beams, where it can be
held in position by grappling hooks. 6. Make sure that the stone
shall not miss the nose of the ram as it falls by letting down a
plumb line first, and when this drops on the nose, immediately
let the stone go after it.
7. It is best, too, to prepare as follows against engines attempting
to breach the wall. When you know where the ram is to be
applied, get ready at this point a counter-ram on the inside,
digging through a part of the wall, but only as far as the
brickwork on the further side, so as to keep the enemy still in
38. [Reserves]
1. At times when assaults are being made on the wall either by
machines or by actual storming parties, the fighting force of the
city should be divided into three parts, so that there may always
be one part in action, another off duty, and the third preparing
for action: thus the troops will always be fresh. 2. A larger
detachment of picked troops should go all round the walls with
the general, relieving any part of the fighting force which is hard
pressed. For the enemy are more afraid of a foe whose attack
they know to be imminent than of one with whom they are
actually engaged.
3. For the time being all dogs should be chained up: for at the
unfamiliar sight of armed men hurrying up and down the city
and making a noise, they might run at them and make
themselves a nuisance.
4. During the fight you should encourage the men on the wall
with tact and discrimination: give a word of praise to those who
deserve it; make a special appeal to those who need it. Do not
lose your temper with any of the rank and file: it will only
dishearten them; if a reproof for negligence and insubordination
is necessary, 5. single out the most wealthy and influential
citizens; then it will serve as a warning to the others as well. The
occasions on which these various offences should be passed over
are mentioned in my manual on Addressing Troops.
6. Do not allow stones to be thrown indiscriminately, and take
measures, too, to recover at night those which have been thrown
during the day. 7. Men should be lowered over the wall in
baskets to pick them up; and you should hang out boar-nets or
stag-nets or rope ladders to enable the men engaged on this duty
to climb up again. 8. There should be a ladder for each man, so
that if any of them get into difficulties there will be no time lost
in climbing up. The gates should not on any account be opened
by night: use ladders of this kind, or anything you please.
39. [Ruses]
1. If the city is a large one and the inhabitants too few to guard
the whole circuit of the walls, but you nevertheless wish to
guard it securely with the men you have, use any available
material to build up high such parts of the wall as are easy of
access from outside. Then, if any of the enemy make their way
up either by stealth or by force, they will find themselves in an
unfamiliar position, and will not be able to jump down from
such a height, but will have to go back because they cannot find
a way down. Such men as are available should be posted here
and there along the parts that have been built up, to dispatch any
who dare to make the jump.
2. Dionysius once wished to occupy a city which he had
conquered: some of its inhabitants were dead and some were in
exile, and it was too large to be defended by a small garrison. 3.
He therefore left behind him a few men whom he could spare to
look after the city, and married some of the slaves of the most
prominent citizens to the daughters, wives and sisters of their
masters: this, he thought, would make them most bitterly hostile
to their masters and increase their loyalty to himself.
4. Again, the men of Sinope, when at war with Datamas, were in
a critical position and in want of men. They therefore disguised
and armed the fittest of their women, so as to make them look as
much as men as they could, gave them jars and similar brass
utensils to represent armour and helmets, and marched them
round the walls in full view of the enemy. 5. They were not
allowed to throw anything: for you can tell a woman a long way
off by the way she throws. And they took care to prevent the
betrayal of the stratagem by deserters.
6. If you wish rounds on the wall to appear stronger than they
really are, they should march round two abreast, the front rank
carrying their spears on their left shoulders, the second rank on
their right shoulders: in this way they will look as if they were
four abreast. 7. If the patrol is a file of three men, the first man
should have his spear on his right shoulder, the second on his left
shoulder: in this way they will look as if they were two abreast.
8. As to the provision of food when there is no corn, shortage of
supplies during a siege, and the way to render water fit for
drinking, these matters have been discussions in my Preparations
for Defence. And since they have been dealt with, I shall
proceed to naval arrangements.
A fleet may be equipped in two ways.
(This is where the text breaks off it seems that the last sentence
is the start of a treatise on a naval theme).