Siege artillery evolved to exploit the fragility of fortress wall corners

Evidence

Only in the Middle East, Europe, and parts of Asia did siege warfare escalate, and it’s here that fortresses evolved to their greatest size and complexity. The protruding towers and balconies we saw in Lachish selected for a means to breach walls at a distance, and by the time of the Hellenistic Greeks artillery was added to siege repertoires. Ballistas, wheeled contraptions with a spring-loaded giant sling or wooden spoon, hurled rocks several hundred yards. Giant, multiperson catapults fired iron-tipped spear-sized missiles. Boulders punched holes into walls and snapped battlements. The best hits were on towers, since the corners were more fragile than the rest. Hitting a corner just right could rip away chunks of the tower, and often the walls above the gash then collapsed. — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 513

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Round towers replaced square ones because corners were vulnerable to artillery; Absent siege threats, defensive walls stagnated for seven thousand years — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 512; Trebuchets made square castle towers disappear in favor of round ones — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 516 (+3 more)

Related

• Round towers replaced square ones because corners were vulnerable to artillery (similarity 0.93)
• Pushing siege weapons to longer range only drove artillery growth (similarity 0.90)
• Trebuchets made square castle towers disappear in favor of round ones (similarity 0.89)
• Fortification style evolved in direct response to artillery effectiveness (similarity 0.87)
• Bombers evolved like castles, adding all-around defenses against attackers (similarity 0.85)
• Artillery ended the castle arms race and forced the rise of star forts (similarity 0.84)
• Assyrians multiplied assault points to overstretch thin defender coverage across the perimeter. (similarity 0.83)
• Siege equipment grew enormous, with towers pushed by thousands of men (similarity 0.83)
• Explosive artillery ended the era of fortified structures above ground. (similarity 0.82)
• Assyrian siege towers countered wall elevations by matching defender height and battering walls. (similarity 0.82)
• City fortification walls evolved progressively from palisades to layered battlement systems by 1500 BCE. (similarity 0.82)
• Human fortifications and artillery evolve via the same arms-race logic as animal weapons (similarity 0.80)
• Absent siege threats, defensive walls stagnated for seven thousand years (similarity 0.80)
• Cannons ended the castle arms race, making thousands obsolete (similarity 0.80)
• Cannons collapsed castle defenses and drove a new star-fort architecture (similarity 0.79)

Broader Connections

• Fortification style evolved in direct response to artillery effectiveness #corroborates (0.85) — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 972
• Artillery ended the castle arms race and forced the rise of star forts #expands (0.80) — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 973