Byzantine Artillery Proposals

Synopsis: The Byzantine Art(O) representing "wagons with artillery at each end", is apparently a mistranslation. They should be wagons carrying dismantled siege engines. This affects 4 lists.

Author: Tom Adamson

Generally Accepted.

List 3-17 Maurikian Byzantine, remove wagon mounted artillery

Proposal:

Remove line 22

Bolt-shooters on each end of ox-wagon - Reg Art(O) @ 8AP 0-2

insert new line

Bolt-shooters and rope pull catapults - Reg Art(O) @ 8 AP 0-2

notes line 34-35 after

"Artillery was deployed as part of the baggage defences, the best concentrated at the ends."

insert new sentence

"All artillery must be deployed in a group {or same command?} with the baggage"

List 3-29 Thematic Byzantine, remove wagon mounted artillery

Proposal:

Remove line 21

Bolt-shooters on each end of ox-wagon - Reg Art(O) @ 8AP 0-2

insert new line

Bolt-shooters and rope pull catapults - Reg Art(O) @ 8 AP 0-2

notes line 24-25 after

"Artillery was deployed only with the baggage, concentrated at each end of the line."

insert new sentence

"All artillery must be deployed in a group {or same command?} with the baggage"

List 3-64 Nikephorean Byzantine, remove wagon mounted artillery

Proposal:

Remove line 13

Bolt-shooters on each end of heavy wagon - Reg Art(O) @ 8AP 0-2

insert new line

Bolt-shooters and rope pull catapults - Reg Art(O) @ 8 AP 0-2

notes line 24-25 after

"Artillery was deployed only with the baggage, concentrated at each end of the line."

insert new sentence

"All artillery must be deployed in a group {or same command?} with the baggage"

List 3-75 Konstantinian Byzantine, remove wagon mounted artillery

Proposal:

Remove line 21

Bolt-shooters on each end of ox-wagon - Reg Art(O) @ 8AP 0-2

insert new line

Bolt-shooters and rope pull catapults - Reg Art(O) @ 8 AP 0-2

Justification:

The section of the Strategicon describing the baggage train includes servants, baggage, artillerymen, and "wagons carrying trebuchets" (the Greek is, approximately, wagons carrying engines that rotate around each end and there was, apparently, much debate about what rotated about the ends of what). At this stage it would be man powered catapults.

George Dennis is the translator who changed his mind (http://www.deremilitari.org/resources/pdfs/dennis2.pdf ) It's also in the Dumbarton Oaks papers (http://www.doaks.org/etexts.html ) as a response to Paul Chevedden's paper on the invention of the Trebuchet (http://www.doaks.org/DOP54/DP54ch4.pdf ).

Incidentally both the above papers clearly point to the Byzantines as the inventors of the counterweight trebuchet.

The notes no longer refer to artillery placement.