Investment of Echinus by Philip
Having determined to make his approach upon the
In the campaigns of Philip, during the time that Publius Sulpicius Galba
as Proconsul commanded a Roman fleet in Greek waters, i.e. from B. C. 209 to B. C. 206. See
Livy, 26, 22, 28; 28, 5-7; 29, 12. |
town at the two towers, he erected opposite
to them diggers' sheds and rams; and opposite the space between the towers he erected
a covered way between the rams, parallel
to the wall. And when the plan was complete, the appearance of the works was very
like the style of the wall. For the superstructures on the pent-houses had the appearance and style of towers, owing to the placing
of the wattles side by side; and the space
between looked like a wall, because the row of
wattles at the top of the covered way were divided into battlements by the fashion in which they were woven. In the
lowest division of these besieging towers the diggers employed
in levelling inequalities, to allow the stands of the batteringrams to be brought up, kept throwing on earth, and the ram
was propelled forward: in the second story were water vessels
and other appliances for quenching fires, and along with them
the catapults: and on the third a considerable body of men
were placed to fight with all who tried to damage the rams;
and they were on a level with the city towers. From the
covered way between the besieging towers a double trench
was to be dug towards the wall, between the city towers.
There were also three batteries for stone-throwing machines,
one of which carried stones of a talent weight, and the other
two half that weight. From the camp to the pent-houses and
diggers' sheds underground tunnels had been constructed,
to prevent men, going to the works from the camp or returning from the works, being wounded in any way by missiles
from the town. These works were completed in a very few
days, because the district round produced what was wanted for
this service in abundance. For
Echinus is situated on the
Melian Gulf, facing south, exactly opposite the territory of
Thronium, and enjoys a soil rich in every kind of produce;
thanks to which circumstance Philip had no scarcity of anything he required for his purpose. Accordingly, as I said, as
soon as the works were completed, they begun at once pushing
the trenches and the siege machinery towards the walls. . . .