AI: 🌊 Tyre (332 BC), 🔧 Syracuse (213–212 BC), 🌀 Alesia (52 BC), ⛰️ Masada (73 AD), and ⚔️ Acre (1189–1191) Compared: Ancient Sieges (Part I)
“Alexander himself was the first to take up a basket and carry earth; and when the Macedonians saw their king working with his own hands, they followed his example with enthusiasm [the Mole].” — Arrian
“The Romans were so terrified that if they only saw a piece of rope or a small baulk of wood protruding over the wall, they would cry out that Archimedes was turning some engine upon them, and they would turn and flee.” — Plutarch
“Since such a large body of men could not easily be maintained by a thin line of soldiers… Caesar thought that he should add further types of defenses, so that the fortifications might be defensible by a smaller number.” — Julius Caesar, De Bello Gallico
“He also built a bank [the ramp] of earth… for the bank was three hundred cubits high, and on it was a structure of stone, sixty cubits high and sixty cubits wide.” — Josephus
“Whenever they [the Saracens] threw the Greek fire, every man among us threw himself on his face on the earth and cried: ‘Lord, save us from this fire which cannot be quenched!'” — attributed to the French Crusaders (recorded in later chronicles)