Athenaios (military writer)

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Athenaios, Peri mechanematon : Illustration of a mobile battering ram with a hanging ram in the handwriting Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale , Graec. 2442, fol. 59v (11th / 12th century)

Athenaios ( Greek  Ἀθήναιος Athḗnaios , Latin Athenaeus Mechanicus , German Athenaios the mechanic ) was a Greek military writer and Peripatetic who lived in the 1st century BC. Lived. He is probably identical with the author, who 27 BC Wrote a traditional treatise on siege engines.

Athenaios dedicated his work to a Roman named Marcellus, who, according to recent research, cannot be equated with the Roman general Marcus Claudius Marcellus . The dating of the writing to the reign of Hadrian is also considered unlikely.

Life

Athenaios came from the city of Seleukia on the Kalykadnos (today Göksu , Latin Seleucia ad Calycadnum ), where he is said to have been politically active. Later he moved to Rome , where he was one of the close circle of friends of Aulus Terentius Varro Murena . He belonged to a group of Greek intellectuals who were socially established in the house of Octavia .

In 23 BC He fell into disfavor because he was accused of complicity in the conspiracy against Augustus , which had come from his patron and friend Murena. Athenaios was taken and arrested while on the run. After proving his innocence, he was released from prison by order of the emperor . Athenaios returned to Rome, where he is said to have died a short time later when his house collapsed.

plant

The work Περὶ μηχανημάτων ( peri mechanematon - "About siege machines ") was a technical publication written in Greek that was supposed to convey basic poliorketical (siege-technical) knowledge to politico-military leaders in a clear and simplified manner. The author, who presumably was not a technician himself, intended to present the Poliorketics to an interested layperson in a literary way. It was therefore not a final, specific construction plan for designers, but an expertise of the previous siege technology, with additional suggestions for improvement and innovation from the author.

Portrait of Marcellus, to whom the writing of Athenaios was probably dedicated

The addressee of the treatise of Athenaios was most likely Marcus Claudius Marcellus , who at the end of the year 27 BC. Should take part in a campaign of the emperor in the Cantabrian war . Marcellus and Tiberius , who was of the same age , were presumably instructed in the sciences by a Nestor of Tarsus , who was a compatriot of Athenaios. They frequented the Octavia's house together, whereby a mutual, intellectual and general exchange and mutual support can be assumed. With this it must have been easy for Athenaios to bring his treatise directly or indirectly to Marcellus.

The manual to be used in practice was intended to serve the nephew, who was still inexperienced in warfare and the presumptive successor of Augustus at the time, as a guide and preparation for the siege war to be expected . It can be assumed that Athenaios intended with the work to arouse the interest of the addressee in the construction of siege machines, who could thus compensate for his personal inexperience through literature. Athenaios probably hoped to be commissioned with the construction himself or with his participation in an advisory planning of the machines and probably speculated on the influence that Augustus' nephew could exert at the imperial court.

Gimbal with cardanic suspension
Reconstruction of a chelone or testudo (tortoise)
Replica of a battering ram with protective structure (ram turtle)

His work borrowed for the most part from the poliorketischen presentation of Agesistratos . He had the writings of his teacher Apollonios available as a source for his work. Apollonios had himself in the years 88/87 BC. With the construction of defensive systems on the island of Rhodes , to defend against the by the king of Pontos , Mithridates VI. , carried out siege, deservedly made.

The writing of Athenaeus seems to have been written under time pressure because of the forthcoming campaign, as the author initially apologizes for stylistic deficiencies in the addressee at the end of the foreword.

The first part of the work contains a proömium in which a list of the sources used is given. The second part, the main part taken from the work of Agesistratos and also named by Athenaeus, relates to the war machines that have been used so far for the siege of fortresses.

This is followed by the part in which the author's four own further developments and new designs are listed and explained.

  1. Siege towers on warships with cardanic suspension and equipped with a counterweight, which can be brought to a besieged coastal city by water.
  2. Smaller, unspecified siege engines, which are brought together to the enemy city wall and erected on site by pulleys.
  3. A turtle equipped with single steerable wheels.
  4. A battering ram (ram turtle), which is also equipped with a basket. This modification, presumably a crew-manned device, is designed to increase an arie's destructive power while repelling attacks against the device.

Two sketches are attached to the work, which are intended to explain the new designs to the reader.

In a concluding epilogue, the author notes that if necessary he would write a treatise on the technical defenses of besieged cities.

It is not known whether the writing of Athenaeus was accepted and whether his innovations were even partially implemented into reality.

External impact

Contrary to some earlier and contemporary authors of political writings, the author treated exclusively the offensive and not the defensive (defense of besieged cities). Athenaios saw himself exposed to the criticism of being considered a cruel desk perpetrator, as he negatively affected the feeling of security of city dwellers by his intention in the destruction and not in the preservation of cities. He justified this by pointing out that the siege engines could also be used for defense. However, this reasoning was in contradiction to his treatise, since at the end of his work Athenaios held out the prospect of a supplementary work on war machines that were to serve to defend besieged cities or fortresses.

The work of Athenaios was in the context of the Roman expansion policy. His siege technique was based on the offensive military leadership of the Roman Empire . He believed that poliorketics would only be used against those who opposed the laws of the empire. His siege art was therefore only a legitimate aid in the implementation of the imperial will.

expenditure

  • Melchisédech Thévenot: Veterum mathematicorum, Athenaei, Apollodori, Philionis, Bitonis, Heronis, et aliorum opera. Graece et Latine. Ex Typographia Regia, Paris 1693
  • Rudolf Schneider : Greek Poliorketiker. Vol. 3. Treatises of the Society of Sciences in Göttingen, Philological-Historical Class, NF, 12.5. Weidmann, Berlin 1912. (Greek text and German translation)

literature

Remarks

  1. ↑ Strabo Book XIV, 5, 4 (English translation)
personal data
SURNAME Athenaios
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Athenaeus Mechanicus
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Greek military writer
DATE OF BIRTH 1st century BC Chr.
PLACE OF BIRTH unsure: Seleukia, today Silifke
DATE OF DEATH 1st century BC Chr.
Place of death Rome