Classical Studies 2700B

War Machines

[In preparation for this class, please review Chapter 5 in the Landels book, ignoring the highly complex mathematical material, especially the foot of page 120 and the top of page 121; also, the second half of page 126, which is quite unclear.]

The main part of the class will be devoted to the following: further discussion of Theories in Ancient Science, plus Ancient Sieges from the career of Julius Caesar (both the “starve-out” type, as at Alesia in 51 B.C. and the “assault” type, as at Avaricum in 52 B.C.) and war machines, including catapults, scorpiones, the compressed air catapult, the ballista, and the onager (all illustrated by slides); also, there will be some discussion of “odd” failures in ancient technology, which will be useful for the final exam. Lastly, there will be a brief excerpt from a recent TV programme on Greek Fire (the not-so-ancient [i.e., Byzantine] attempt at a practical flame-thrower).