Some Illustrations of Ancient Siege Machines

[Sean Manning]

We can't except book copiers to be Da Vinci, can we? Most copying was done by monastic people that have no idea what they are copying. It is quite possible that image is distorted in transition. Still, those images help tremendously I think. Anyone with slight knowledge about artillery of ancients could easily identify below image as arrow firing torsion weapon, ballista.

The illuminations are lovely and make me think of some 20th century art. I just would not want to try to build a siege tower based on one.

It is curious how the notches in the sides of the frame which receive the arms of the engine survive!

I suspect that they, or more often their monastery, were paid as copyists, they were the most literate people available. Also, an abbot or bishop trying to curry favour with a local prince might order a military book to be copied in order to be given as a present.

Indeed, in the second half of the middle ages some Catholic monasteries relied on bookselling for a significant proportion of their income, while big towns had a street of copyists and illuminators. For the first half of the middle ages, I think that the names to look for are Cassiodorus and Alcuin.

The manuscript which preserved three of the Greek tacticians and Aeneas Tacticus was made for the imperial library. I'm not a Byzantine expert, but I can imagine Caesar making a polite request to the Patriarch or the abbot of a big monastery who set some monks to work.