From 16 October 2016, when Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced the launch of the assault, to 10 July 2017, when he declared victory over ISIS forces, portions of the city of Mosul were under siege. Lt. General Stephen Townsend said, “To put things in a little perspective for you, this is the most significant urban combat to take place since World War II; it is tough and brutal. House by house, block by block fights.” The combat he described would have been familiar not only to soldiers in Iraq, but also to those who fought at Stalingrad, and even to soldiers as far back as the sieges of antiquity. Even with the use of contemporary technology, many of the tactics employed in modern siegecraft and urban fighting are reminiscent of ancient ones. For this reason, the insights of Aineias the Tactician, a Greek author and likely general in the middle of the fourth century B.C. (i.e., late Classical/early Hellenistic periods), who composed an early technical treatise entitled Poliorketika (Siegecraft), should still interest military historians and strategists.
Without addressing a specific audience, Aineias’ work—apparently an extant chapter of a larger lost work on Military Preparations—seems designed to assist those charged with maintaining the security of the city-state from external threats and internal rebellions, the two of which often went hand in hand. The organization of the treatise itself is problematic. It is concerned primarily with defensive aspects of siegecraft (i.e., how to protect fortifications, cope with incendiary attacks, employ manpower most effectively, etc.), both in making preparations to withstand a siege and also in persevering while under assault. The treatise on occasion discusses siegecraft from the attacker’s perspective as well. In addition to offering practical advice for military commanders, Aineias the Tactician also shares keen psychological insights on maintaining loyalty and morale among the citizens of the city-state. Treachery from within rather than the enemy without seems Aineias’ chief worry.
The work is now available in an excellent translation by David Whitehead: Aineias the Tactician: How to Survive Under Siege, A Historical Commentary, with Translation and Introduction (2nd ed.) (Bristol Classical Press, 2001). Given that the list of sieges continues to grow with each passing year, Aineias’ treatise reminds us that the study of history can provide us with valuable insights even in the current landscape of battle.
