Siege equipment grew enormous, with towers pushed by thousands of men
Evidence
Over time, fortress walls got thicker and taller, and siege towers and battering rams bigger. Early Assyrian siege towers had two or three stories, carrying rams handled by several dozen men. Later models got taller and wider, and, in their heyday, towers stood more than ten stories high, pushed by more than two thousand men. Battering rams reached lengths of 150 feet, crewed by a thousand men apiece. — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 515
Categorization
- XREF: connects to: Pushing siege weapons to longer range only drove artillery growth — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 514
Related
- Pushing siege weapons to longer range only drove artillery growth (similarity 0.89)
- Assyrian siege towers countered wall elevations by matching defender height and battering walls. (similarity 0.89)
- Assyrians multiplied assault points to overstretch thin defender coverage across the perimeter. (similarity 0.87)
- Siege artillery evolved to exploit the fragility of fortress wall corners (similarity 0.83)
- Bombers evolved like castles, adding all-around defenses against attackers (similarity 0.81)
- Ancient siege warfare succeeded only for the richest armies due to enormous logistical costs. (similarity 0.81)
- Fortification style evolved in direct response to artillery effectiveness (similarity 0.79)
- Artillery ended the castle arms race and forced the rise of star forts (similarity 0.78)