Kingsbury County independent. (DeSmet, Kingsbury County, S.D.) 1894-1929, 1905-01-13

4 IN ~ ~ - - 'Af0
OF defense Over attack. or OF attack
over defense, according as the efficiency
Of arms or OF Notifications has been I'M
creased from age to age, presents one
OF the most interesting studies In his
tory. The further we recede from the
present, the longer we find the sieges
10 have been. Until gunpowder and ex-
plosive bombs were invented, the de-
Tense was for the most part stronger
than the attack. with some few excep-
lions in favor OF the more advanced ma
tions, like the Romans, when opposed
to ~barbarians.
Herodotus tells tina the siege Of
Azotus. one OF the five royal cities OF
the Phoenicians. by Psammetichus,
king OF Egypt, lasted twenty-nine
years. The siege OF Troy, about twelve
centuries before Christ, by the allied
Greeks, who had owe Ia recover
Helen, the wife OF Menelaus. and TO
aveng her abduction, endured ten
years. While the Homeric accoun
must be regarded as very largely fabul-
GUS, 1t yet may be accepted as Illus
trating very primitive methods OF war
fare. The walls OF Troy We're not de-
signe TO repel attack by any really
formidable engines OF war. and hand
to-hand combats are the chief episodes
of the great Grecian epic. The place
was k at last. according to Homer,
u ~ ~ - kN1E& va = t1b1
Nebuchadnezzar, 59S h. c., besieged
Tyre thirteen years before IL fell.
Cyrus the Great, l3S Is. c., captured
Babylon by diverting the water OF the
EuDhrates and marching his army
through it's dry bed. under the massive
walls and Into the city. where Beishaz-
gar was feasting and carousing. Ca
millus. after a siege OF ten years, 396
b. C., took Veil. a rival TO Rome, by
draining the Alban lake and entering
the city through the tunnel which sup
piled 1t with water. The city ard Island
OF Rhodes. 305-4 Il, O., held out a whole
year against the remarkable engineer
ing genius OF Dendetrius, son of
Ambiguous, the wouldbe successor of
Alexander. The operations OF De-
metrius were the wonder OF his age.
Els masterpiece was the '~thelopolis,"
or "city-taker,t' q wooden tower 150
feet high, sheathed in iron, travelling
on wheels and moved by the united
strength Of 3.400 men. His battering
rams We're $50 feet long, and each was
driven by 1900 men. The Rhodians
were reduced TO such extremity that
they used IN working their catapults,
ropes made OF the hair OF their women.
But by many devices they frustrated
every assault, and In the end Demetrius
was obliged to confirm the independ-
ence OF their city.
M s Y tlNA 10ISfbUC " VfaNASEs 't
The Romans under Marcellus, PA b.
G.. besieged the great and powerful
city Of Syracuse. In Sicily. The fame OF
its defense is chiefly due to the wonder
full energy and mathematical genius OF
Archinfedes. the geometrician. For
eight months he constantly invented
and created new engines to meet and
repel the attacks OF the besiegers. His
torians say that without his aid 1t
would have been impossible TO resist
the Roman The machines OF Archi-
medes on the landward side OF the
town discharged from the top Of the
walls stones OF enormous weight. heat
Ing down n dashing to pieces all be-
\ Tore them. On the side other
machines flung great beams. heavily
Weighted. upon the ships OF the Ro-
mans, sinking a of them instantly.
with q huge iron grapple other ships
were seized by one end and hoisted into
the air N then allowed TO drop. Some
times by a particular continuance they
were whirled swiftly about while still
suspended. and In falling cast all OF
the men into the sea. Even Arclii-
medes, however, could not produce ma
chimes OF defense that would counter
balance the great superiority OF the
Romans in numbers and material re-
sources. BY their persistence and
logged valor they gained at The end OF
riHht iittlitin ~ iOblltOAu Mllfiln Tie OUT
er rampant. and therefore had less TO
fear from The ingenuity of the geo.
metrician. 1t took three years. how
ever, for them TO gain possession OF the
city, In the sack OF which Archimedes
was slain.
The superiority of the defense over
the attack was well illustrated by
Carthage in 14T b. c. The inhabitants
had been tricked by the Romans into
the surrender or their arms and milf
tary munitions; but they shut their
gates. and, without weapons, engineer
or ships until they had made them
anew, they kept the b~esiegers out for
two years.
Conquest Of Jerusalem.
Seventy years after the birth OF
Christ the most atrocious OF all the
conquests OF Jerusalem took place. In
consequence Of the Great Revolt III
tuss afterward Roman emperor, COM
manded the ~besieging army. The ma
teriai means employed by him were
those familiar to readers OF ancient his
tory. but added to these we're cruelties,
committed because OF their moral eff
feet. which have rarely. II ever, been
eQualed. The Jewish prisoners were
cruciffed before the walls in full view
OF their countrymen. These ~stubbornly
submitted to famine rather than sur
render to a yet more horrible death.
Whole families perished OF hunger. and
heaps OF purifying dead lay In the
houses. h siege began about the
time OF the Passover, and IL was not
until the eth OF September that the Ro-
mans forced their way through the in
ner wallis. They slew all whom they
found. meanwhile setting fire TO the
buildings In every direction, The entire
city was RACED with the exception of
three towers. which We're left as
trophies or victory. The Romans here
again owed their success to their great
err numbers and II TO a bet-
ter mastery of the art OF war. Jerusa-
lem was perfectly isolated. and the de- !
tenders must have died OF famine had
1t no been taken by storm.
The Dark Ages witnessed a relapse
In the art OF war n YET present a
few memorable sieges, notably that
laid against Paris by the Mortimer. or
Danes, under Rollo and Siegfried. a..
~. SS5-S6. After fayagirg for more
than forty years a good part OF France.
OF which Charles the a then was
king, the two forces formed a junction |
In the Seine before Paris with 700
barks ard more than $4,000 warriors. !
The siege began on the 25th OF Novem-
her, and was conducted with such
crude art as tile barbarfans had de-
rived from the Romans. n lasted for
thirteen months There We're eight ass
nnults and several sorties. In Novem-
Der, SIS. Charles the Fat came with q
large army to relieve the place. hut
instead Of doing no ~ force. made a
treaty with the yikings. giving them
700 on1,<,du ~ ei1yar ou4 froo r.~~>f@ L