Overview

Sieges and siege-related activities played a significant role in the development of Rome’s power in Hispania and Gaul during the late-Roman Republic. They were made possible by the efficient Roman ‘military machine’ available to commanders during this period – a constantly adapting and improving army, highly regularised encampments and lethal artillery. The narration of Caesar’s sieges by Caesar himself and his literary successor Hirtius, makes them seem unusual and inventive, probably to emphasise Caesar’s brilliance as a military commander. They were not that different or new though, as shown by the close similarity between established Hellenistic siege practices and the general evidence of sieges in Gaul and Hispania. It can often seem that siege fieldworks were ‘operation-specific’ to sieges, but essentially just mining and ramps were siege-only techniques. Most of the other works were simply implementations of the normal repertoire of the army’s fortifications, just as the artillery and weaponry were used in all types of conflicts. This becomes apparent when looking at the wide variety of Roman military installations emerging in the Iberian Peninsula. Sieges are not mere mechanical exercises in military technology and tactics, as often seems in academic discussions, but people are at the centre of it all, with troops and besieged suffering alike. Sieges are consequently considered here within ‘warfare ecology’ – the severe environmental impact, the suffering health and well-being of all involved, even changes to the smellscape, much of which continued for the besieged long after the siege had ended and troops had departed.

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Mike Dobson is an Honorary Senior Research Fellow in the Department of Classics, Ancient History, Religion and Theology at the University of Exeter. He has long researched and published on the Roman Republican army and its fortifications. He is particularly interested in the Republican army in Spain, especially their campaigns against Numantia. He has been a collaborator in several Spanish research projects and visiting scholar to the Universidad de Alcalá de Henares. More recently, he has also been exploring the environmental and health impacts of ancient armies – warfare ecology. His books include The Army of the Roman Republic: The Second Century BC, Polybius and the Camps at Numantia, Spain (2008) and Rome and the North-Western Mediterranean. Integration and Connectivity c. 150–70 BC (2022, edited with Toni Ñaco and Jordi Principal).

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