ABSTRACT
The last decade of the fifth century saw a revolution in siege warfare in Sicily. In 415-413 BC Athens had launched a grand expedition to Sicily. The successes of the Athenian army and navy in the north and center of the island were conspicuous but the enterprise failed in its main objective, the capture of Syracuse. In Thucydides’ account of the siege and the struggle that slowly broke the Athenian hold on the besieged city and ended in the destruction of the Athenian army, what is striking is the undeveloped state of siegecraft. The attackers establish their lines around their objective and trust to starvation or treachery to achieve their ends. The besieged spend their efforts in outworks calculated to break the encirclement. The action consists mainly of pitched battles around the outworks or engagements between the opposing fleets in the Great Harbor. Never is there a mention of a siege tower being advanced to the walls by the attackers, never a mention of rock-or dartthrowing artillery (catapults or ballistas).
