Aeneas Tacticus

How To Survive Under Siege

0. Introduction
1. Organising Troops
2. Securing the City
3. Organizing City Guards
4. Signals
5. Gatekeepers
6. Outposts by Day
7. Calling the Population Into the City
8. Securing the Countryside
9. Deterring the Enemy
10. Notices - Martial Law
11. Plots
12. Precautions With Regard to Allies
13. The Maintenance of Mercenaries
14. Suggestions for Securing Unanimity
15. Expeditions Into the Countryside
16. Another Method of Relief
17. Precautions During Festivals
18. Securing the Gates at Night
19. Sawing a Cross-Bar
20. The Prevention of Tampering with Bars and Bolts
21. Cross-references
22. Watches
23. Secret Sallies at Night
24. Passwords
25. Signs to Accompany the Password
26. Rounds
27. Panics
28. Gatekeeping
29. Smuggling Arms
30. Importing Arms
31. Secret Messages
32. Contrivances for Repelling Assaults
33. Methods for Setting on Fire
34. Materials for Quenching Fire
35. Inflammable Materials
36. Hindrances to the Placing of Ladders
37. The Discovery and prevention of Mines

38. Reserves
39. Ruses
40. Garrisoning a City
Aeneas is the author of a book which is apparently one of the
best kept secrets in ancient Greek history. He wrote the first
how to book in western literature, the Poliorketika, or How To
Survive Under Siege.
The Poliokretika is by turns serious, informative, sinister,
innovative, political, psychological, surprising, eccentric, wacky
and sometimes hilarious.
But it lets you never forget what can happen when a few
hundred (perhaps a few thousand) people get in the way of an
aggressive enemy. Nothing less than survival is at stake. Yet,
Aeneas commander not only fights the enemy outside the gates,
he also has to be worried about traitors on the inside. Moreover,
he has to achieve his goals with modest supplies of competent
troops and quality equipment, and he contends with the need to
keep morale, food and basic resources in steady supply.
This is not the impressive stuff of epics or grand conquest:
Aeneas deals with a situation much closer to a common, brutal
reality in ancient Greece: he shows us what needs to be done
when a group of people who'd rather get on with their normal
lives are forced to fight for survival.
Name and authorship
As so often with ancient texts, even the most basic details cannot
be taken for granted: we have an ancient military treatise, but
what was the name of its author?
In fact, the manuscripts identify the work as Aelianus Tactical
Treatise on How to Survive Under Siege, but this is generally
seen as false. At the end of the work the scribe recorded Aeneas
as the author, and (accepting some corrections of a very
confused text in this passage) the name Aeneas appears in the
work itself (31.18), where it is used as an example for a
particular method of sending secret messages.

We also know from other ancient authors that there was an

Aeneas who had written a number of military treatises, and
whose work was well thought of by other writers as well as
military experts. Aeneas himself also refers to other works he
had already written.
It is therefore fairly likely that the author of this particular
military treatise was indeed called Aeneas.
Aeneas Tacticus is of course not a proper personal name for an
ancient Greek. In fact, we do not know his full Greek name,
which would have included his fathers name and his city of
origin.
The label Tacticus was attached to his name by early modern
editors of the Poliorketika in order to distinguish him from other
Aeneases; it means the Tactician, and therefore merely
describes the genre of his work. In fact, he is also referred to as
Aeneas the Tactician. Note that Aeneas can also be
transliterated from the Greek as Aineias.
Date
The date of Aeneas Poliorketika can only be determined from
the work itself. The author uses many anecdotes to illustrate his
points, and many of these can be dated (see Hunter & Handford
(1927) xi-xii, xxxiv-vii). Most of the events we can date belong
to the first four decades of the fourth century BC, and
particularly to the 370s and 360s. The latest episodes may date
to the early 350s BC. The complete absence of any references to
events later than that suggest strongly that the work was written,
or at least completed, sometime in the 350s BC.
This was a turbulent time, particularly in mainland Greece. The
old power blocks, Athens and Sparta, were no longer dominant,
Athens battling against reluctant allies and a lack of funds for
military operations, and Sparta reduced to its territory in the
south-east Peloponnese after its great defeat by the Thebans at
Leuctra in 371 BC. The Thebans, too had not been able to
remain a dominant power, but were still asserting their influence
in central and northern Greece. Many small cities which had
long belonged to one of the large alliances were, for the first

time in generations, on their own. At the same time, new

multilateral alliances and the increased use of mercenaries in
many areas made sieges an ever more common occurrence. In
short, a military commander in a small town with a force of a
few hundred may suddenly find himself in a situation where it
was necessary to understand principles of warfare on a much
grander scale.
Who was Aeneas?
The simple answer is that we do not know.
The author of the Poliorketika says very little about himself, and
almost consistently speaks in general terms: there is no reference
to his personal involvement in any of the events he recounts, and
no anecdotes about his own past exploits.
Aeneas combines military experience with an intimate
knowledge of life in a small town. His education and general
perspective suggest that he was comparatively well off, and his
political stance is broadly oligarchic.
Aeneas was a prolific writer, and a writer willing to experiment
with language and genre. The result of his efforts is generally
seen as a lot less sophisticated and polished than that of his
contemporaries (Xenophon offers the closest comparison in
terms of genre and outlook).
Unlike all other contemporary writers whose texts have been
preserved, Aeneas was not an Athenian. Unusually, Athens plays
only a minor role in his work and he does not write in the Attic
dialect, which is otherwise (with the exception of Herodotus) the
standard in classical prose literature.
The Poliorcetica does not single out a particular region, and
Aeneas city under siege is a generic small polis which is not
meant to be any particular place. The work offers no indication
of where Aeneas came from.
Aeneas of Stymphalos?

Ever since Casaubons edition of 1609, however, many have

been inclined to identify Aeneas Tacticus as Aeneas of
Stymphalos, an Arcadian general mentioned by Xenophon (Hell.
7.3.1).
This identification is tempting, since the historical situation in
the Peloponnese, particularly in Arcadia in the 360s BC would
account for Aeneas experience both with warfare on a grand
scale and life in a small city. However, this identification has not
been proved.
Aeneas: Testimonia
What some ancient writers say about Aeneas.
Translated passages available in the Loeb edition (Oldfather et
al. 1923); the Loeb translation is used here.
Aelian Tactica 1.2: And upon the subject of tactics in Homer we
have read Stratocles and Hermeas and Fronto the ex-consul of
our own time. Now the theory has been elaborated both by
Aeneas in detail (and he also composed a considerable number
of military manuals, of which Cineas the Thessalian made an
epitome), and by Pyrrhus of Epirus, who composed a treatise on
tactics, and by Alexander his son, and by Clearchus.
Aelian Tactica 3.4. Aeneas defined it (i.e. tactics) as the science
of military movements, but the definition of Polybius was that
tactics was when a man took an unorganised crowd, arranged it,
divided it into companies, grouped them together, and gave them
a practical military training.
Polybius 10.44. discusses Aeneas suggestions for long distance
communication, taken from another work which is not
preserved. Polybius 10 can be read at Lacus Curtius (scroll down
to ch. 44).
Julius Africanus Kestoi include a number of extracts from
Aeneas (see Loeb edition of Aeneas, p.206-225).

0. Introduction
1. When men leave their country and engage in warfare and
encounter perils beyond their own frontiers, and disaster occurs
by land or sea, the survivors still have their own country and city
and fatherland between them and utter destruction; 2. but for
those who have to fight for all that is most dear to them, for
temples and fatherland, for parents and children and all they
posses, the struggle is of a wholly different kind: a successful
and stout resistance to the enemy will make them dreaded by
their foes and more secure from future invasion, while any
weakness in meeting the peril will leave them no hope for safety.
3. When, therefore, men have to fight for all these precious
stakes, they must omit no preparation and no personal effort:
rather they must think beforehand of every possible precaution,
that the world may never see them beaten through their own
fault, 4. and if disaster does come, the survivors may be able
later on to make good the loss, like certain of the Hellenes who
have been reduced to the direst straits and yet have recovered.
1 [Organizing Troops]
1. The organization of troops should be made with reference to
the size of the city, the situation of its buildings, the posting of
guards and rounds, and any other service for which troops are
required in the city: all these points must be borne in mind in
making the allotment. 2. Expeditionary forces must be organized
with reference to the country through which they have to pass,
provision being made for negotiating dangerous points, strong
positions and defiles, plains, commanding heights, and spots
suitable for ambushes; attention must be given also to river
crossings, and to the formation of a battle line under such
conditions. 3. On the other hand, the organization of troops
employed on garrison or police duty depends on no such
considerations, but on the points of vantage in the city and the
needs of the moment.
4. In the first place the most skilful and experienced soldiers
must be set apart to form the magistrates bodyguard; 5. it then
remains to make a roll of the men who will be most capable of
exertion and to divide them into companies, so as to form an
organized and serviceable body for making counter-attacks, for

furnishing rounds, for bringing assistance to anyone in

difficulties, and for other similar duties. 6. These must be men
who are loyal and satisfied with the established government; for
a united body like this is a protection, as strong as any citadel,
against the plots of traitors, and will intimidate malcontents
within the walls. 7. Their commander and supervisor should also
be a stout and able soldier, and also a man who has everything to
fear from a change of government. 8. Of the rest, those who are
youngest and strongest should be picked out for guards and
stationed on the walls, and the remainder should be divided
according to the length of the nights and the number of guards,
and posted accordingly; 9. while the bulk of the inhabitants
should be distributed, some in the market place, some in the
theatre, and the rest in whatever open places there are in the city,
that as far as possible no part of the city may be left unguarded.
2. [Securing the City]
1. To avoid the necessity of stationing troops to defend the
unwanted open spaces of the city, it is advisable to block them
by digging trenches and raising all possible obstacles to any
disaffected citizens who might want to occupy them. 2. Thus,
when the Thebans broke into their city, the Lacedaemonians
pulled down the nearest houses, and filled baskets with earth and
stones taken from them and from fences and walls in different
quarters of the town; it is said that they even took from their
temples numbers of large bronze tripods, which they used to
block up the entrances, passages and open spaces of the citadel,
and in this way defeated the enemys attempts to break into the
citadel itself. 3. Similarly, the Plataeans, when they discovered
during the night that some Thebans had entered their city, soon
noticed that there were not many of them and that they were not
taking proper precautions, because they fancied they were
masters of the city; and concluding that a sudden onslaught
would easily dispose of them, they promptly devised the
following scheme. 4. While some of the magistrates discussed
terms with the Thebans in the market place, others secretly
passed word to the citizens not to leave their houses
indiscriminately in ones and twos, but to break through the
partition walls between them, and so muster without the enemys
knowledge. 5. Having thus got a presentable force together, they
used carts without horses to block up the alleys and streets, and

then, at a given signal, attacked the Thebans in a body; 6.

meanwhile, the women and children gathered on the housetops.
The Thebans, having to manoeuvre and defend themselves in the
dark, found the carts even more formidable than their assailants.
For they fled without any idea where to turn for safety, owing to
the presence of the barricades, while their pursuers, knowing the
ground well, soon dispatched numbers of them.
7. On the other hand, the arguments against this practice must be
admitted: when there is only one open space left in the city, the
inhabitants are in a dangerous situation if the traitors are the first
to occupy it: for the first move is all important when there is
only one such meeting place. But when there are two or three
such spaces, there are certain advantages: 8. if one or even two
of them are seized, the third is still left for the defenders; while if
all are occupied, the detached sections of the attacking force will
be in a weaker position to resist the combined forces of their
opponents, unless each section by itself outnumbers the whole of
the defenders. Similarly, when any other decision has to be
made, factors which may tell against the rules laid down must be
taken into account; for an unconsidered choice may lead to
something very different from what was intended.
3. [Another System of Organizing City Guards]
1. When an unforeseen danger threatens a city whose inhabitants
have not been previously organized, the quickest way to
organize them for the defence of the city will be to assign by lot
a section of the wall to each tribe; each tribe will then at once
proceed to its station and there mount guard; the number of men
in the different tribes will determine the length of wall assigned
to each. 2. Then those from each tribe who are capable of hard
work must be chosen for duty in the market place and on rounds,
or for any service for which such men are required. 3. So, too,
when a fort is held by allies, a portion of the wall should be
assigned to each contingent of the allies to guard. If the citizens
suspect one another of treachery, trustworthy men should be
stationed at each place where the wall can be ascended, to
prevent unauthorized persons from mounting.
4. But the citizens should have been already organized on time
of peace on the following plan. First of all, there should be

appointed as commander for each street a man selected for his

character and ability, whose house will serve as a rallying point
in the event of any sudden night alarm. 5. The commanders of
the streets nearest to the market place should lead their men to
the market place, those of the streets nearest the theatre to the
theatre, and similarly all the other commanders should assemble
at the open spaces nearest to them with the armed men who have
reported to them. 6. In this way each party will arrive at its
proper post without loss of time, and the men will be near their
own homes; they will thus be able to send domestic instructions
to their households their children and wives , being still close
at hand. Lots should have been cast before hand to decide the
spot to which each of the magistrates is to go, that he may send
detachments of the troops there assembled to the battlements and
see to the taking of such other measures as are required, when
once the commands have been apportioned as above.
4. [Of Signals]
1. First of all, signals should be already arranged, so that the
defenders may not fail to recognize anyone who approaches. For
this is what once happened. Chalcis on the Euripus was captured
by an exile who started from Eretria, with the help of a friend in
the city who contrived the following plan. 2. He went to the
most deserted part of the city, near a gate which was not opened,
and waited there with a saw or file which he kept ready day and
night, until he succeeded one night in sawing through the bar
unobserved and admitting soldiers at that point. 3. When about
two thousand men had assembled in the market place, the alarm
was sounded hastily, and many of the men of Chalcis were cut
down through failing to recognize their foes: for in their panic
they fell in with the enemy, each man thinking that they were his
friends and that he was late in coming up. 4. In this way, most of
them were destroyed, one or two at a time, and when they finally
discovered the true state of affairs, the city was already in the
enemys hands. 5. In time of war, therefore, and when the enemy
are close at hand, troops sent out from the city for any object,
whether by land or sea, should not be dispatched until signals
have been arranged by which they can communicate with the
garrison by day or night, so that when enemies appear before the
walls, the defenders may know for certain whether they are
friends or foes. 6. Further, when they have set out, observers

should be dispatched from the city to ascertain how they are

faring, in order that the garrison may allow their movements as
far out as possible; for it is a great advantage to be prepared well
beforehand for whatever is coming. 7. The result of neglecting
these precautions will be well shown from incidents which have
actually occurred to give in passing something in the way of
illustration and clear evidence.
8. Pisistratus, when general at Athens, was informed that a force
coming from Megara by sea intended to attack the Athenian
women by night, while they were celebrating the Thesmophoria
at Eleusis. On hearing this he laid an ambush for them. 9. The
force from Megara disembarked, as they thought without
attracting attention, and were some way from the coast when
Pisistratus burst from his ambush and overpowered them,
destroying the greater number of them, and also captured their
boats. 10. These he filled without delay with his own troops and,
taking with him such of the women as he thought best for this
purpose, put into Megara late in the evening, keeping at some
distance from the city. 11. On sighting the boats, a crowd of
Megarians, including all the magistrates, flocked down to meet
them, seeing, as they thought, a fine cargo of female prisoners.
to disembark with daggers in their hands, and to strike some of
them down, but to carry off alive to the boats all the
distinguished citizens they could capture. And these orders they
carried out. 12. It is clear from this story that no troops should be
mustered, and no expedition dispatched, without signals to
ensure that the different parties are known to one another.
5. [Of Gate-sentries]
1. In the next place, the sentinels at the gates must be men
specially selected for intelligence and presence of mind, who
will not fail to look with suspicion upon everything brought into
the town; they should also be well-to-do men, and bound by ties
of family that is to say, a wife and children to be loyal to
their city, not men whom poverty, difficulty in meeting their
commitments or other troubles might make ready supporters or
actual instigators of any mutinous design. 2. Leucon, tyrant of
Bosporus, used to discharge even members of his bodyguard
who got into debt through gambling or any kind of loose living.

6. [Outposts by Day]
1.Outposts, too, must be posted by day in front of the city, on
high ground visible from as great a distance as possible: each
group should consist of at least three men, specially chosen for
their experience. Otherwise, you will have scouts who know no
better, imagining dangers and reporting them by hand signal to
the city, thus causing needless panics. 2. Such false reports are
spread by men who have never seen active service, and so fail to
understand which of the enemys operations and movements are
due to design, and which to accident. 3. On the other hand, the
reports of an experienced man will be accurate: for he will know
the meaning of the enemys preparations and numbers, of his
line of march and his other movements. 4. If there are no places
from which signals can be sent direct to the city, stations must be
arranged at different points to transmit the signals to the city as
they are made. 5. The men on outpost must be good runners,
able to reach the city quickly and bring messages from distant
points, in cases where signals cannot be used and messages have
to come by word of mouth. 6. Where there are cavalry and the
country is suitable for their employment, it is best to keep
mounted men at each post, that messages may be delivered more
quickly. The outposts should be sent from the city at daybreak or
while it is still dark, to prevent the enemys scouts from seeing
them to go to their posts, as would happen if they went by day.
7. Their password must be different from that of the garrison, so
that if captured, they may not have it in their power, willing or
unwilling, to betray the password for entering the city. The men
on outpost duty should be ordered to display their recognition
signs at intervals during the day, in the same way as firesignallers raise their torches at night.
7. [Calling the Population into the City]
1. At harvest-time, if the enemy are close at hand, it is probably
that many of the citizens, in their anxiety to save their crops, will
remain in the fields near the walls. 2. These must be summoned
to the city in the following way. First of all, a signal must be
given at sunset for those outside the walls to leave their work
and come into the city; if they are scattered over a wide area,
transmitting stations will be required for the signals: for
everyone, or nearly everyone, should be within the walls by

night. 3. When the signal has been given for those outside to
leave their work, another should be given for those within to
take their dinner, and a third for mounting guard, whereupon the
watch should be duly posted. 4. The method of signalling and of
raising fire-signals is described at greater length in my
Preparations for Defence: I will leave it to be studied there, to
avoid the same ground twice.
8. [Securing the Countryside]
1. Next, if invasion by a superior force is anticipated, access,
encampment, and foraging must be rendered difficult for the
enemy; rivers must be made hard to cross and their banks
flooded. 2. Besides this, traps must be laid to hinder landing on
sandy or rocky shores; booms must be placed at the mouths of
harbours in the city or home territory, to prevent the enemy from
sailing in, or to cut off the escape of any ships that have sailed
in; 3. articles purposely left in the fields which are likely to be
useful to the enemy, as for making walls or tents, or for any
similar purpose, must be either rendered useless or else put out
of sight; 4. food, drink and growing crops ; all standing water in
the neighbourhood must be made unfit to drink; ground suitable
for the operations of cavalry must be made impracticable; and so
forth. 5. All particulars of these arrangements I here omit, to
avoid, as I said, undue repetition: a full discussion of them will
be found in my Preparations for Defence.
9. [Deterring the Enemy]
1. If your assailants are inclined to be aggressive, you may deal
with them in this way. First send men to occupy certain points of
vantage in your own territory. Then call together your soldiers or
citizens and, telling them that an attack is to be made on the
enemy, issue the necessary orders, bidding those of military age
be ready, when the trumpet sounds at night, to take their arms,
muster at a given point, and follow their leader. 2. When news of
this reaches the city or camp of the enemy, it may very well
dissuade them from their intended attack. 3. By this means your
boldness and readiness to take the offensive will inspire your
own men with confidence, and also deter the enemy from
stirring beyond their own frontier.

10. [Notices]
1.The following order, too, should have been already issued:
All citizens who possess cattle or slaves are to lodge them with
neighbours across the frontier, and on no account to bring them
into the city.
2. In the case of those who have no friends with whom to place
them, the magistrates must deposit them on behalf of the state
with people living near, and take means to ensure their safe
keeping.
(Notices)
3. Then, after a certain interval, notices to the following effect
should be published, to intimidate and deter intending traitors:
All free men and crops are to be brought in and lodged in the
city: offenders are liable to the seizure of their property without
redress.
4. All festivals are to be celebrated within the walls; no private
meetings may be held anywhere either by day or by night; all
necessary meetings are to be held in the prytaneion, council
chamber, or other such public place.
No prophet is to sacrifice privately without the presence of the
magistrate.
5. No communal dinners are allowed; all are to dine in their
own houses, except in the case of a wedding, or funeral feast,
and then only after due notice has been given to the magistrates.
6. If there are exiles from the city, proclamation should be made
of the penalties attaching respectively to any citizen, foreigner,
or slave who absconds. If anyone is seen with any of the exiles,
or with any emissaries sent by them, or sends letters to them or
receives letters from them, he should be liable to some penalty
or fine; and all letters going out or coming in should be
submitted to a board of censors before being sent out or
delivered.
7. A list should be made of all those who have in their
possession more than one set of arms, and no one should be
allowed to carry arms out of the city or to take them in pledge.
It should be forbidden to hire soldiers or to serve for hire
without leave from the magistrates.
8. No citizen or resident alien should sail out of the city except
with a pass; and orders should have been given beforehand to

ships to anchor only in front of those gates which are specified

in a proclamation.
9. All strangers entering the city should carry their arms openly
and ready to hand, and be disarmed immediately upon entrance;
no one, not even an innkeeper, should take them without leave
from the magistrates, who should keep a list of them, and of the
addresses of any who take lodgings. 10. At night all inns should
be locked up by the magistrates from the outside; and after a
specified time all strangers who are vagrants should be given
notice to quit, but a list should be made of members of
neighbouring states residing in the city for educational and other
purposes.
11. When official embassies come from other cities, tyrants or
camps, the general public should not be allowed to mix and
converse with them, but a number of citizens specially selected
for their loyalty should always attend them, sharing their
quarters during the whole time of their stay.
12. When the city is short of corn, oil or other supplies, a
premium proportionate to the value of his cargo should be
offered to any merchant who brings in a consignment, and also a
wreath as a mark of honour, while the captain should be granted
exemption from harbour dues.
13. Parades should be held frequently, and on each occasion
strangers living in the city should be ordered to remove
temporarily to a specified place or to keep within doors; if
discovered elsewhere, they should be liable to prosecution. 14.
At a given signal all stores and shops should be closed and all
lights put out, after which the public should be forbidden to walk
abroad: 15. anyone who is obliged to go out is to carry a lamp,
until further notice. A reward should be offered to any man who
brings information about any traitor, or gives evidence of the
commission of any of the offences above mentioned; this reward
should be displayed openly in the market place, or an altar, or in
one of the temples, to encourage people to give such evidence
more readily. 16. In the case of any monarch, general or ruler
who is in exile, it should be further announced that and that if
the slayer himself is slain, the reward will be paid to his
children, or, if there are no children, to his next of kin. 17. Even
if a follower of the exiled ruler, monarch or general conspires
against him, he should be paid part of the reward and allowed to
return from exile; this will be a strong inducement to make the
attempt.

18. The mercenary troops should be assembled, silence ordered,

and the following proclamation made in the hearing of all: 19.
If anyone is discontented and wishes to depart, he may take his
discharge now; after this, any malcontent will at once be sold as
a slave. Minor offences will be punished according to the
recognized law by imprisonment, but if any man is caught
tampering with the army and inducing men to desert, he will pay
for it with his life.
20. In the next place, all other classes should be kept under
careful supervision. It should first be ascertained whether the
citizens are all of one mind: for this would be the greatest
advantage possible in time of siege; if they are not, it is
advisable unostentatiously to get rid of some of those who are
discontented with the present government, especially when they
have been prominent on or responsible for any intrigue in the
city: this may be done plausibly by sending the suspects
elsewhere on embassies or other public service.
21. It was thus that Dionysius dealt with his brother Leptines,
when he saw that he was in high favour with the people of
Syracuse, and that his position was in many ways a strong one:
suspecting his loyalty, he determined to remove him, but did not
attempt to banish him openly, knowing that his popularity would
gain him considerable support, and that violent measures might
lead to revolution. His plan was this. 22. He dispatched him with
a few mercenaries to a city called Himera, with orders to replace
the present garrison by the troops he had with him; and on his
arrival there sent him further orders to remain until he was
definitely recalled.
23. When a city which has given hostages is attacked, the
parents and relatives of the hostages should be removed from it
until the siege is over, that they may not see their children
brought up with the enemy as they attack, and meeting a cruel
death: for if within the walls they might go so far as to offer
resistance to the authorities. 24. If it proves difficult to use the
pretexts I have mentioned for sending them away, they must
remain, but should be assigned as small a part as possible in the
conduct of operations, and should not know in advance where
they will be sent or what they will have to do. They must be left
as little as possible on guard by themselves, either by day or by
night; and even when they are left alone, a number of people
should, without raising suspicion, keep coming upon them in the
execution of various commissions and special services: under

whose observation they will be really under guard rather than on

guard. 25. They should also be separated, for purposes of
supervision; in this way there will be little chance of their
making trouble.
Further, no lamp or other light should be taken by a man when
he goes to bed; for it has happened before now that when
peoples attempts to revolt and intrigue with the enemy were
completely baulked, 26. they hit upon the plan of bringing
lanterns, torches and laps to their posts, as well as the baskets
and rugs they usually carried, saying that they must have some
light to go to bed by, and by means of these lights made signals
to the enemy. A sharp look-out, therefore, must be kept for all
such devices.
11. [Plots]
1.Again, it is necessary to keep an eye on the citizens who are
known to be disaffected, and never to adopt suggestions too
readily. 2. To illustrate this, I will give in order an account of the
several plots mentioned in my treatise on the subject which
owed their origin to the treachery of magistrates or private
persons, and also relate how some of them were frustrated and
failed.
3. When Chios was on the point of being betrayed, a magistrate
who was in the plot deceived his colleagues by persuading them
that, as it was peace time, it was advisable to have the harbour
boom hauled ashore, dried, and pitched, the old tackle of the
ships sold, and the leaky roofs of the ship-houses put in a state
of repair, as well as the colonnade adjoining the docks and the
tower next to it, in which the magistrates resided: this served as
a pretext to provide ladders for those whose object it was to
seize the dockyard, colonnade and tower. 4. He also advised the
discharge of a greater number of the city guards, on the plea of
saving expense. 5. By these and similar arguments he persuaded
his colleagues to agree to the very measures that would facilitate
the capture of the city by the traitors attack. It is, therefore,
important always to keep an eye on people who busy themselves
to prepare the way for such schemes. 6. At the same time, he
fastened to the walls and hung out stag-nets and boar-nets, as if
for drying, and in another place sails with their ropes hanging

outside; and by these some of the enemy climbed up under cover

of night.
7. In Argos the following measures were taken against the
revolutionary party. When the wealthy party was about to make
its second attempt against the democracy, and was calling in
mercenary troops, the democratic leader, perceiving what was on
foot, induced two of the hostile party which was meditating the
attack to become his secret accomplices, and thus, while
representing them to be his enemies and treating them as such in
public, obtained from them privately information about the
traitors plans. 8. The wealthy party was on the point of bringing
in the mercenaries, accomplices in the city were ready, and the
attempt was to be made on the following night, when the
democratic leader saw fit to summon a special meeting of the
assembly, and without disclosing the plot, which might have
thrown the whole city into commotion, said in the course of his
speech that it was expedient for all citizens to assemble by tribes
and to remain under arms during the coming night: 9. and that
anyone who conveyed his arms to any other point, or appeared
with them anywhere else, was to be punished as a traitor and
conspirator against the people. 10. Now the object of this was
that the wealthy men, being divided according to their respective
tribes, might be prevented from forming a united body and
taking part with the mercenaries in the attack: for by this tribal
arrangement they would be distributed in small groups among
their fellow tribesmen. By this clever and effective plan the
attempt was frustrated entirely without risk. 10a. Similarly, at
Heracleia Pontica, when under a democratic regime the wealthy
party was plotting against the people and contemplating an
attack, the leaders of the people, discovering their intention,
persuaded the populace to substitute for their normal
arrangements of three tribes, with four centuries in each, a
division into sixty centuries, in which the wealthy men were to
be distributed for guard-duty and other public services. 11. Here,
too, the result was that they were divided, so that in each century
there were only a few of them along with a large number of
ordinary citizens. 12. A similar incident is said to have occurred
long ago at Sparta. The magistrates were informed that an attack
would be made when the cap was lifted, and defeated the
attempt by ordering those who were about to raise the cap to
refrain from doing so.

13. At Corcyra, when a revolt of the wealthy oligarchs against

the people was impending (Chares the Athenian, who was
stationed there with a guard, was in sympathy with this revolt),
recourse was had to the following device. 14. Certain officers of
the guard cut themselves about the body with cupping glasses,
and run out into the market place covered with blood, like
wounded men; whereupon the rest of the soldiers and the
Corcyraean conspirators, who were standing by in readiness,
immediately brought out their weapons, the rest of the populace
knowing nothing of the plot. 15. Then the assembly was
summoned, and the leaders of the people were arrested on the
charge of instigating a revolution, while the conspirators
proceeded to make the changes necessary to secure their
position.
12. [Precautions With Regard to Allies]
1. When allies are brought into the city, they should never be
quartered all together, but in separate detachments, in the
manner suggested above and for the same reasons. 2. In he same
way, when mercenaries are to be deployed for any purpose, the
citizens who employ them should always be superior in numbers
and strength: otherwise, they and their city are at the mercy of
the foreigners. I will give an instance. 3. The people of
Chalcedon during a siege received a garrison from Cyzicus,
which was then their ally; when the Chalcedonians proceeded to
frame their plans according to their own interests, the troops of
the garrison said they would consent to nothing that was not
expressly approved by the Cyzicenes as well; and the end of it
was that the people of Chalcedon became far more afraid of the
garrison inside the city than of the enemy without. 4. It should,
therefore, be a rule never to admit into ones own city a foreign
force stronger than the available citizen army, and when
mercenaries are employed, there should be a considerable
margin of superior strength on the side of the home forces; for it
is not safe to be under foreign control and in the power of
mercenaries.
5. The inhabitants of Heracleia Pontica found this to their cost.
They called in too strong a mercenary force, and so, after
crushing the opposing faction, found that they had brought ruin

upon themselves and their city: for the mercenary captain made
himself tyrant.
13. [The Maintenance of Mercenaries]
1. If it is necessary to maintain mercenaries, it may be done with
least risk in the following manner.
(The maintenance of mercenaries)
The wealthiest citizens should be required to provide one, two or
three mercenaries apiece, according to their means; when a
sufficient number has been collected, they should be divided into
companies, under the command of the most trustworthy citizens.
2. These mercenaries should receive their pay and maintenance
from those who hire them, partly at the expense of the latter,
partly from funds contributed by the state. 3. Each party of them
should be quartered in the house of the man who has engaged
them, but those who are told off for any public service, night
watches, or other duties assigned by the magistrates, should
always be assembled under the supervision of their commanders.
4. Repayment should be made after a certain time to those who
have advanced money on account of the mercenaries, the sum in
question to be subtracted from taxes paid by each man to the
state. This will provide the quickest, safest and cheapest system
of maintaining mercenaries.
14. [Suggestions for Securing Unanimity]
1.Particulars have already been given of the way to deal with
political malcontents.
(Suggestions for securing unanimity)
It is very important that unanimity (homonoia) among the
citizens in general should be secured for the time being by
various conciliatory measures, such as the relief of debtors by
the reduction or abolition of interest: in a very dangerous crisis
even the capital sum owed may be partly, or, of necessary,
wholly cancelled, as insolvent debtors are very dangerous
adversaries to have sitting by, watching for their opportunity.

Those in want of the necessaries of life should be amply

provided for. 2. How this may be done fairly and without laying
an undue burden on the rich, and from what funds such
provision should be made, I have described in detail in my Ways
and Means.
15. [Expeditions into the Countryside]
1. So much for preparations within. If after this a message
arrives by hand or fire-signal, asking for help in the country, an
expedition should be made to the district attacked. 2. The
generals should be present on the spot to marshal the force, and
to prevent small parties from marching out one after another to
rescue their own property; for such ill-organized and ill-timed
exertions would lead to disaster by affording an easy prey to
ambushes. 3. The men should be assembled at the gates as they
come up, till a certain number, say one or two companies, has
arrived; then, after they have been properly formed up and a
capable leader placed in command, they should be sent on as
fast as they can go without losing their formation. 4. In this way
one detachment after another should be dispatched without
delay, until the expeditionary force is considered sufficiently
strong: the object is to keep several detachments in touch with
one another on the march, and, in case one detachment should
require anothers assistance or the whole force be compelled to
engage, to make concentration easy, so that no troops will have
to come up at the double from a distance. 5. Any cavalry and
light troops available should be sent out first in advance, also in
good order, and should reconnoitre and occupy commanding
positions, in order that the main body may have as much notice
as possible of the enemys plans, and thus be secure from a
sudden attack. 6. At bends in the road, at the foot of hills, and at
turnings wherever there is a choice of roads signals should
be placed, to prevent stragglers who do not know the way from
taking a wrong turning. 7. In returning to the city every
precaution should be taken, especially against ambushes; for
lack of caution has before now involved an expedition in the sort
of mishap which I am now going to relate.
8. A raid made by the Triballi into the country of Abdera was
met in a splendid fashion by the men of Abdera, who marched
out and were victorious in a pitched battle against this powerful

and warlike tribe, inflicting great loss on them. 9. The Triballi,

mortified by their defeat, retired to collect their forces, and then
advanced a second time, posting an ambush as they went, and
proceeded to lay waste to the territory of Abdera within a short
distance of the city. The men of Abdera, whose previous success
had made them despise their enemy, rushed out and charged
them with the utmost vigour and enthusiasm; the enemy led
them on, step by step into the ambush; 10. and therefore they
lost more men, it is said, than any other city of the same size
ever lost in so short a space of time. For even when news
reached the city of the fate of the first sally, men kept pouring
out, cheering one another on in their eagerness to rescue those
who were in front, until not a man was left within the walls.
16. [Another Method of Relief]
1. Another way of ordering an expedition against invaders may
therefore be preferable. 2. In the first place, it is undesirable to
attempt immediate reprisals ; for you must remember that before
daybreak your men will be unprepared and in great disorder,
some eager to save their own property on the farms without loss
of time, others afraid to advance boldly to meet the danger, as is
natural in the case of sudden alarm, others again caught entirely
unprepared. 3. You must, therefore, make ready for the
expedition not only by mustering troops without delay, but by
removing apprehensions, inspiring confidence, and, where
necessary, providing arms.
4. For you must know that if your adversaries are men of
judgement and skill, they will at first keep their best troops in
hand when in the enemy's country; for they will expect an attack
and be prepared to repulse it. Some of them in small
detachments will be going about the country plundering, while
others will probably be in ambush, ready for any undisciplined
attempts of reprisal on your part. 5. You should not, therefore,
attack and harass them at once, but should wait till they grow
reckless and contemptuous of your opposition, and intent only
on satisfying their greed by looting. Soon, too, they will be full
of food and drink, and drunken men are careless and disobey
orders. 6. Men in this condition are likely to make a poor show
in battle and in retreat, if you choose the right moment for
attack. 7. This will be when your force is in readiness at the

place appointed and the enemy have dispersed in search of

plunder: then is the time to attack, cutting off their lines of
retreat with your cavalry and using your picked men for
ambushes; the rest of the light troops should keep in touch with
the enemy, while heavy infantry is brought up in column not far
from the detachments sent in advance. Make your attack in a
position where you need not fight if you do not want to, but
where the advantage will be on your side if you choose to fight.
8. From what I have said you will see that it is sometimes a
good plan to give the enemy rein and allow them to lay waste
your territory as far as they please, for when they are engaged in
pillage and encumbered with spoil, you will have an easy
opportunity of revenge; the loot will be all recovered and the
robbers will receive their just reward. 9. On the other hand, you
will endanger your own men if you attempt reprisals hastily, and
when they are unprepared and in disorder; while the enemy,
although they will have had time to do a little damage, will not
yet have lost their formation, and so will get away unpunished.
10. It is, as I have said, far better to give way for the moment,
and then catch them unprepared.
11. If you do not succeed in finding or intercepting your
captured property, you should not pursue along the roads or
through the country which the enemy have traversed; send only
a few men that way to make a demonstration, with orders not to
overtake the enemy, but to let him think they are trying to do so,
while the main army, in full strength, makes a forced march by
another road. After outdistancing the robbers, wait in ambush on
the confines of their territory 12. (it will still be easy to
outdistance them and reach their frontier first, as the spoil they
carry will delay their march), and choose their dinner-hour for
your attack; for when the plunderers are safely across their
frontier, they will relax their vigilance, and will thus have less
chance of escape.
13. If you have boats available, it is best to make a pursuit by
sea and so keep the soldiers fresh; for thus you will outdistance
the enemy and secure the other advantages you need, as long as
your passage by sea is unobserved. 14. It is said that the people
of Cyrene and Barca and some other cities, when they sent relief
expeditions over their long carriage roads, used carts and
chariots. After driving to a likely spot they drew up their chariots

in line, and heavy infantry alighted and fell in, fresh and ready
for an immediate attack on the enemy. 15. a good supply of
vehicles is therefore a great asset, providing a quick way of
bringing your men fresh to the point required. The carts will also
serve at the time to barricade the encampment, and can be used
afterwards to take back to the city those who are wounded or
injured in any other way.
16. If your country is not easy to invade, and the ways leading
into it a few and narrow, these, as I have said, should be
occupied in advance: then, with your detachments posted at the
several entrances, you should resist the attack of the force
moving on the city; your dispositions should be made in
advance, and the fortunes of each detachment made known to
the others by fire signals, to enable them to reinforce each other
in case of need.
17. If, on the other hand, your country is not hard to enter, and
can be invaded by a large force at several points, you must
occupy positions within your territory that will make it difficult
for the enemy to advance upon the city. 18. If this, too, is
impracticable, your next resort is to occupy positions near the
city which will help you to fight at an advantage, and to
withdraw easily from your position when you desire to retire to
the city; then, directly as the enemy enters the country and
marches upon the city, you to must assume the offensive with
these positions as your base. 19. Your familiarity with the
ground must always be used to advantage in delivering attacks;
you will gain a great deal by previous knowledge of the country,
and by being able to entice the enemy into whatever sort of
country suits you best, where you know your ground and are at
liberty to act on the defensive, to pursue, retreat, or withdraw
either secretly or openly to the city (especially as you will also
know where to find your supplies); while the enemy, strangers in
an unfamiliar country, can derive from it none of these
advantages: 20. for it is well known that a man who does not
know the ground is not only unable to carry out his own plans,
but finds it hard enough to retreat in safety, if the defenders
choose to attack him. Thus with no heart for anything and afraid
to move, because they cannot foresee their opponents'
movements, they are doomed to failure. For there will be as
much difference between your position and theirs if they were

fighting in the dark and you in broad daylight, supposing this

could happen at once.
21. If you have a fleet, your ships will be ready manned; for an
attack by sea will cause the enemy just as much embarrassment
as one by land, if the fleet is kept threatening their sea-board and
the roads along the coast: they will then be embarrassed both by
your attack on land and by the descent made by the fleet upon
their rear. 22. By this means you will attack the enemy when
they are least prepared to resist, and your movements will take
them by surprise.
17. [Precautions during Festivals]
1. Where the citizens are not of one mind, but suspicious of one
another, careful watch must be kept on occasions when the
crowds go out to see torch races, horse races, or other games
that is all public celebrations and armed processions outside the
walls; and also the public docking of ships and at public
funerals: for even on these occasions loyal citizens may be
involved in disaster, 2. as I shall proceed to show by an actual
instance.
At Argos a public festival took place outside the city, at which
there was an armed procession of all the men of military age;
and a number of the conspirators made ready and joined in the
demand for arms to carry in the procession. 3. Their attempt was
made close by the temple and the altar: most of the company
piled their arms at some distance from the temple and went to
the service of prayer at the altar; but some of the conspirators
remained by the arms, while others, armed with daggers, took
their places at the ceremony next to the magistrates and most
prominent citizens, each picking his man. 4. After these had
been struck down, others ran off with the arms to the city; while
another party of conspirators, who had remained in the city,
occupied points of vantage, armed with the extra weapons they
had collected, so as to allow only those whom they wished to
enter the city.
At no time, therefore, should you neglect to be on your guard
against such plots. 5. When the people of Chios celebrate their
Dionysiac festival with a splendid procession to the altar of

Dionysus, they line the streets leading to the market place with
guards and pickets in force, thus making things very difficult for
would-be revolutionaries. 6. The best plan is for the magistrates
to conduct the celebrations first, attended by the bodyguard I
mentioned earlier, and not to allow the general public to
assemble until the officials are clear of the crowd.
18. [Closing the Gates]
1. When those who come in from the country are within the city
and evening is coming on, the signals should be given for dinner
and for mounting guard. While the guards are getting ready, you
should inspect the gates to see that they are shut fast; for
disasters are very apt to result from the magistrates slackness in
regard to bolts. 2. If a magistrate does not attend in person to the
duty of bolting the gates, but delegate it to the sentinel, tricks
can be played by the sentinel who wishes to let in the enemy by
night. I will give examples.
3. One of them poured sand into the socket in the day-time, so
that the bolt should remain outside instead of slipping down into
the hole. Even bolts already in position are said to have been
undone by pouring sand gradually into the socket, 4. and
working the bolt to and fro noiselessly, so as to avoid notice,
until, as the sand fell in, the bolt was gradually lifted and could
easily be taken out. 5. Once, too, a gatekeeper who had been
deputed by his general to fasten the bolt, stealthily cut a notch
into it with a chisel or file, tied a knot of string round it, pushed
home the bolt, and, after waiting a short time, pulled it up again
by the string. 6. Another prepared a fine net with a string
attached, pushed home the bolt enclosed in the net, and
afterwards drew it up. The bolt has also been removed by being
knocked upwards. Again, it has been taken out with a small pair
of pincers: one nipper of the pincers must be hollowed like a
channel, the other flat, so that you can receive the bolt with the
channelled pincer and get a hold upon it with the other. 7.
Another traitor succeeded in turning round the cross-bar without
being noticed, when he was about to insert the bolt, so that it
could not fall into its socket, and the gate could be opened
afterwards with a push.

8. At a city in the district of Achaea, where they were plotting

secretly to let in mercenaries, their first step was to take the
measurements of the bolt in the following manner. 9. They
inserted into the socket during the daytime a loop of fine strong
string, with ends projecting but concealed; and when the bolt
was inserted at night they pulled it up, along with the loop, by
pulling the ends of the string, took its measurements and
replaced it in the socket. Their next step was to get a key made
to those measurements, which they did as follows. 10. They had
a tube and a rush-mat needle forged: the tube was of the usual
pattern, as was the greater part of the needle, including the sharp
end; but its handle was made hollow, like the hole in a spike
where the shaft is inserted. 11. A shaft was put in at the smithy,
but taken out when they carried it home, so that the needle could
be driven against the bolt and made to grip. The trick played to
get the instruments made without the smith's suspecting the
object for which he had made them was certainly a very clever
one.
12. Once, too, the circumference of the bolt was measured, while
it was in the socket, in the following way. Potter's clay wrapped
in fine linen was inserted and pressed down with a tool round
the bolt; then the clay was pulled up, an impression of the bolt
taken, and a key made to fit it.
13. An agreement was once made to betray Teos, a Ionian city of
considerable size, to Temenus the Rhodian, with the complicity
of the sentinel at the gate. Among other arrangements they fixed
upon a dark night when there would be no moon, on which the
sentinel was to open the gates and Temenus was to enter with his
mercenaries. 14. During the day before the night when the
attempt was due, a man waited by the sentinel; when it grew late
and the guards were being posted along the wall, and the gates
were about to be shut, this man slipped out in the gathering
darkness, after making fast one end of a ball of spun cord which
would stand a good strain. 15. Unrolling the ball as he went, he
made his way to a spot five stades from the city, where the
attacking force had arranged to meet him. 16. When the general
came round to shut the gates and as usual gave the sentinel the
bolt to insert, he took it and, without making a noise or attracting
notice, cut a notch in it with a file or a chisel, so that a thread
would catch; next he slipped a loop round the bolt and let it

down with the thread attached to it; and then, after shaking the
bar to show the general that the gate was secure, kept quiet. 17.
After a time he pulled up the bolt and tied the end of the cord to
his person, so that, if by any chance he fell asleep, he would be
roused by a pull of the cord. 18. Meanwhile Temenus was ready
waiting, with the force which was to make the attack, at the
place agreed upon with the man who had the ball of cord. It had
been arranged that Temenus should go to the place and pull the
cord: 19. and if the sentinel had succeeded in making all ready,
he was to have fastened to the cord a piece of wool and let it go;
on seeing this, Temenus was to have made a rush for the gates.
But the sentinel was unsuccessful in his enterprise, he let the
cord go with nothing attached to it, so that Temenus had plenty
of time to escape unobserved: they had, after all, noticed during
the night in the city that the cord was there, and so it was
impossible to proceed further.
20. Another way in which a city was betrayed by a gatekeeper
was this. He made a custom of going out with a pitcher just
before the gates were shut, as if to fetch water; on reaching the
spring he used to place stones on a spot agreed upon with the
enemy, who would come up and discover from the stones placed
there the message which the sentinel wished to convey. 21. If he
was keeping the first watch, he put one stone down on the
appointed place, if the second, two, if the third, three, if the
fourth, four; he also signified to what point of the walls and to
which guard-station the lot had assigned him. In this way he
imparted the information which betrayed the city. In view of
these various devices no precaution must be omitted: the
magistrate must shut the gate in person, and not give the bolt to
anyone else.
22. When engaged in any enterprise of the sort [i.e. an attempt to
open a gate] yourself, you should take away the cross-bar
altogether: for once some of the opposite party appeared
unexpectedly and shut the gates again by main force, as the bar
was still at hand; care must therefore be taken to prevent any
such occurrences.
19. [Sawing a Bar]

1. When you are sawing through a bar, you should pour oil on it:
this will help the work and deaden the sound. And if a sponge is
fastened to the saw and the bar, the sound will be much less
distinct. I could mention many other similar devices, but must
now pass on.
20. [The Prevention of Tampering with Bars and Bolts]
1. To prevent any tricks being played with these, a general
should, first of all, go in person to shut the gates and make his
inspection, before he has dined, and not entrust anyone else with
the task when he is disposed to be lazy; in time of war he will
need to have all his wits about him in the performance of his
duty. 2. Secondly, the bar should be covered throughout its
whole length with three or four thicknesses of iron, so that it
cannot be sawn through. Thirdly, three bolts of different patterns
may be put in on different days: one of these should be kept by
each general; or if the generals should be too many in number,
their days for this duty must be decided by lot. 3. And it is best
to have the bolts not removable, but held down by an iron place,
so that when the bolt is being taken out, it may never be lifted by
the pincers higher than will enable it to be inside the bar while
the gates are being shut or opened. The pincers must be so made
as to slip under the plate and lift the bolt without trouble.
4. At Apollonia on the Pontus, where one of the above ruses had
been practiced with success, the gates were so constructed as to
be shut to the sound of a big hammer, which made a tremendous
noise, so that almost the whole city could hear when the gates
were being shut or opened, the fastenings being very heavy and
plated with iron. 5. And the same thing was done at Aegina.
When the gates are shut the guards should be given the
password and the accompanying signal, and sent to their several
posts.
21. [Cross References]
1. The provision of tools, and the methods of putting friendly
territory in a state of defence and of concealing or rendering
useless to the enemy things left on the land, I will not now
discuss, as I have treated them at length in my Preparations for
Defence. The posting of guards, rounds, sudden alarms,

passwords and signals must be reserved for full treatment in the

manual on Campaigning, but a few hints may be given now.
22. [Watches]
1. Watches at night must be strictly kept in time of war and when
the enemy are close to the city or camp. 2. The commander-inchief and his bodyguard should be stationed round the town hall
and market place, if this position is a defensible one, otherwise,
he should have previously occupied the strongest place in the
city, and the most conspicuous from all quarters. 3. The bugler
and the dispatch-runners should always be quartered next to the
generals lodging, ready at hand in case bugle-calls or messages
are needed, so as to give the guards and the rounds notice of
what is to be done, wherever they happen to be in their circuit of
the city. 4. Secondly, the guards on the wall, in the market place
and at the town hall, the entrances to the market place, the
theatre, and other points occupied should have short periods on
duty: the reliefs should be frequent and their numbers strong. 5.
For in a short period on guard a man will not have time to effect
communication with the enemy and complete any treasonable
design before he is relieved, and men will be less likely to fall
asleep at their posts if they are on duty for a short time only; and
with large numbers it is more likely that information will leak
out concerning any attempt at treachery. 5a. Thus it is desirable
that as many men as possible should be on the alert at time of
danger, and that everyone should go on guard duty during the
night, so that there may be as many men as possible in each
relief; 6. with small numbers and infrequent reliefs men are
likely to fall asleep owing to the length of their watch, and
intending traitors will have ample time to communicate with the
enemy unobserved before they are relieved. These
considerations, therefore, have to be borne in mind.
7. At a critical time these further precautions should be added.
None of the sentinels should know beforehand in which relief or
at what point in the city he will be on guard; nor should the same
commanders be always in charge of the same detachment; in all
matters concerned with the supervision of citizens changes
should be made as frequently as possible. A traitor will have far
less chance of betraying anything to outsiders or receiving
information from the enemy, 8. when no-one knows beforehand

at what point of the wall he will be at night, or who his

companions will be, but everyone is in complete ignorance of
his destination. Those who have kept guard by day should not do
so at night as well: for it is inadvisable that men should know in
advance on what duties they will be deployed.
9. Patrols from the sentries on the wall may be sent out in the
following manner. In every watch one man from every guard
station is to patrol as far as the next station; from there another
on to the next, and so on; the order for all these patrols to start
should be given by one signal. 10. Thus there will be several
men on their rounds at once, and each will only have a short way
to go; neither will the same men remain together, but new guards
and new patrols will be constantly meeting each other. This
system will prevent treachery on the part of the guards. 11. The
patrols, when not actually on their round, should stand facing
each other: in this position they will be able to survey the
country in all directions, and are least likely to be surprised by
anyone coming stealthily upon them, a misfortune which, as we
saw, has happened before in the case of day outposts. 12. During
stormy or dark nights they should throw down one stone after
another onto the ground outside the walls, and challenge as if
they saw someone coming: for in this way anyone approaching
will inevitably be discovered. 13. If it is thought advisable, the
same may be done on the city side as well. Some, however, say
that this is a bad plan: for the enemy approaching in the dark are
warned by the voices of the men on their rounds and the
throwing of stones not to attack at that particular point, but
rather at a place where no sound is to be heard. 14. The best plan
on such nights is to keep watchdogs chained up outside the wall:
these will be quicker to detect the enemys spies, deserters
stealing up to the city, or anyone making his way out at any
point with intent to desert; their barking, too, will wake the
sentinel if he happens to be asleep.
15. The quarters of the city which are most accessible to attack
should be guarded by the wealthiest and most distinguished
citizens, whose interests are most closely bound up with those of
the city: for they more than anyone else will have reasons for
seeing that they do not turn aside to self-indulgence, but always
attend diligently to their duty. 16. During public festivals those
of the troops on guard in the city who are untrustworthy and

most suspected by their own comrades must be dismissed from

their posts with leave to keep the feast at their own houses: 17.
this will seem to them as a special mark of distinction, and at the
same time give them no chance of causing mischief. Others
more loyally disposed should be placed on guard in their place;
for it is at festivals especially that revolutionary designs are put
into execution. 18. The disasters that have happened on such
occasions are described elsewhere [in chapter 17]. 19. At these
times, therefore, it is also better for the ways up onto the wall to
be rendered difficult of access and kept closed, so as to give an
intending traitor no opportunity of seizing any part of the wall,
which will be manned by guards of your own choosing who
have no alternative but to stay at their posts; while if the party
succeeds in climbing up from the outside unobserved, they will
not be able to come down off the walls into the city without
some trouble and delay, unless they are willing to take the risk of
jumping down from a height in full view of an enemy awaiting
them. This plan of blocking the ways to the wall will be useful
also in a tyrants citadel. 20. After the battle of Naxos, Nicocles,
the commander of the garrison, against whom a plot was being
formed, had the ascents blocked up, posted guards on the walls,
and kept up a patrol with dogs outside the city; for a treacherous
attack was expected from without.
21. When there is no disaffection or suspicion within the city,
lights should be kept burning in lamps by night at the posts on
the walls, so that a signal can be given to the general by raising
the lamps when a hostile move is directed against any point. 22.
If the nature of the ground prevents the general from seeing a
lamp on the wall, a transmitting station must forward the signal
with another lamp, whereupon the general should communicate
the news to the other posts, either by bugle-call or orderly, as is
most convenient. 23. At such critical times, when the sentries are
kept strictly at their posts in this way, orders should be issued to
the rest of the populace that after the signal none are to leave
their houses: if anyone finds it necessary to do so he must take a
lamp, so as to be seen clearly at a distance by the men on their
rounds. 24. No craftsmen must work at night, lest the noise
should disturb the guards.
The fair and equal distribution of the watches among the troops,
varying with the length of the nights, must be regulated by a

water-clock. This should be made to the change of the reliefs.

25. It is better for its inside to have a coating of wax: as the
nights grow longer some of the wax should be removed, to allow
room for more water; as they grow shorter, more wax should be
inserted, so that the clock holds less. Enough then of the
question of the fair distribution of watches.
26. When danger is less imminent, half of the numbers indicated
above will be sufficient for the guards and rounds, and so half of
the army will be on guard each night. In time of peace, when
there is no danger, as few men as possible should be troubled
with sentry duty, and to the least possible extent.
27. If the general has to send out rounds, a stick with a seal upon
it should be delivered from the general to the first sentinel,
passed by him to the next, and so on until the stick has
completed the circuit and is returned to the general. Orders
should be given to each patrol not to carry the stick further than
to the next sentry; 28. and if on arrival he finds the post vacant,
to return the stick to the man from whom he received it, so that
the general may be notified, and identify the offender who is
absent from his post. 29. If a man is not present to mount guard
at the place appointed, his company commander must at once
sell his post for whatever premium it will fetch and appoint a
man to keep watch instead of him. Then the citizen who engaged
him must supply money to pay the man who bought the post,
and next day he regimental officer must inflict the usual fine on
the defaulter.
23. [Secret Sallies at Night]
1. When making a sally at night to surprise the enemy outside
your walls the following precautions should be observed. First
of all, take care that no-one deserts; secondly, that there are no
lights in the open air: for a glow in the sky over the city may
betray your intentions. 2. Any chance of dogs barking or cocks
crowing must be done away with: you can keep them quiet for
the time by cauterizing some parts of their bodies; for the noise
they make by barking or crowing altogether betrays what is
going on. 3. The following device has been employed in making
a sally. The citizens made a plausible pretence of sedition within
the city, watched their opportunity for a sally, and made a

surprise attack on the enemy with complete success. 4. In

another city the besieged surprised the enemy by sally in the
following way. They walled up the gates in full view of the
enemy; but at the point where an attack upon the latter was most
practicable, they let down a sail and after a while drew it up
again. This surprised the enemy at first, but on its frequent
repetition they ceased to take notice of it; 5. then, at night, the
besieged made a hole in the wall large enough for their purpose,
built a retired wall across the gap and stretched the sail over;
when the opportunity came, they made their sally and took the
enemy by surprise. While they were doing all this they took
good care that no one should desert. None of these points,
therefore, must be neglected. 6. But you should never, not even
at night, go out incautiously with a disorganised mob: in times of
danger traitors both within and without devise plans with the
special object of drawing an attack, by such tricks as lighting
fires or setting fire to a dockyard, gymnasium, or public shrine,
in short, by any ruse likely to entice a crowd of unusual size out
of the city. You must therefore use care, and not be too ready to
take such proceedings seriously. 7. I will mention here a scheme
originated by certain magistrates. They arranged for an alarm to
be raised in the country and for a report to be brought in from
the fields of an intended attack by robbers, which they know
would bring the citizens in haste to the rescue. 8. When the
alarm was raised, these magistrates and their supporters called
upon the citizens to go to the rescue. When the citizen body had
mustered at the gates under arms, their next manoeuvre was to
direct the assembled force to divide into three detachments and
lay ambushes at a little distance from the city: 9. an order which
suited their own plans without exciting the suspicions of their
hearers. 10. Thereupon they led out the force and posted it in
likely spots with directions to lie in wait for the invaders; they
themselves with their accomplices went on ahead, saying that
they would test the truth of the report and meet the danger first,
their plan being, nominally, to entice the enemy into the ambush
by a pretended flight. 11. They then went ahead to a spot where
a force of mercenaries, who had arrived secretly by sea, was
ready waiting, picked them up, and without attracting notice,
succeeded in conveying them into the city by another route: for
it looked as if they were merely leading back the citizens on
their return from the expedition. Then, when the mercenaries
were in occupation of the city, some of the citizens who had

formed the ambush were banished, and the rest permitted to

return. All such reports, therefore, should be looked at with
suspicion, and no sallies in force should be made at night
without due precautions.
24. [Of Passwords]
1. In giving the password, if your force includes men of different
cities or nationalities, take care not to give a word whose
meaning can be equally well expressed by another word, as for
instance Dioscuri and Tyndaridae, where the two different words
mean the same; 2. or again Ares and Enyalius, Athena and
Pallas, sword [xiphos] and cutlass [encheiridion], lamp and light,
and similar expressions which are hard to remember because of
the different usages in every nation [ethnos], and are a source of
danger if a dialect form instead of one generally familiar is
issued as the password. 3. Thus when mixed mercenary troops or
allies of different nationalities form part of your force, such
passwords should be avoided.
I will give as an instance what happened in Aeolis to
Charidemus of Oreus, after he had captured the town of Ilion by
the following stratagem. 4. The governor of Ilion had a slave
who constantly went out to steal, especially at night, when he
used to go out and return again each time with the results of the
nights work. 5. After a time Charidemus found this out, made
the slaves acquaintance, and came to a secret understanding
whereby he induced him to go out as if to steal on a specified
night: he was to go out during the night with a horse, so that the
gates might be opened for him on his return, instead of his
entering by the passage (or wicket), as he usually did. 6. When
he arrived outside, he interviewed Charidemus and chose from
his force about thirty mercenaries, armed with breastplates,
daggers, shields, and close-fitting helmets. 7. These he led off in
the dark, in shabby clothing and with their arms concealed,
making them look like prisoners, and brought them into the town
along with some women and children, also dressed as prisoners,
the gates being opened to let the horse pass through. 8. No
sooner had they entered than they set to work, slew the sentinel,
behaved as mercenaries usually do, and succeeded in occupying
the gates, at which troops at once arrived and seized the citadel;
for Charidemus was close at hand. 9. Afterwards Charidemus

himself entered with the main body, 10 but took care at the same
time to place a detachment in ambush, suspecting that a force
would be sent to recapture the city, as was indeed the case. For
on hearing the news, Athenodorus of Imbros, who with his army
was at no great distance, tried at once to send help. 11. He, too,
was a shrewd man and also had his suspicions about an ambush:
so he avoided the route to Ilion on which the ambush was
placed, took another road in the dark without being seen, and
arrived at the city gates. 12. Then some of his men slipped into
the city, passing amid the confusion for members of
Charidemus army. 13. But before any more could enter, they
were discovered by means of the password, and some were
driven out, others slain at the gates; for the relieving force gave
the password as Tyndaridae, while Charidemus password was
really Dioscuri. 14. This, and nothing else, saved Ilion from
being at once recaptured by Athenodorus the same night.
The passwords given should therefore be easy to remember, and
as nearly related as possible to the business in hand: 15. for
instance, for a foray Artemis the Huntress; for secret exploits
Hermes the cunning; in case of an assault Heracles; for open
attacks Sun and Moon; and so on as far as possible, using
words that will be intelligible to all. 16. Iphicrates used even to
say that rounds and sentries should not have the same password,
but that a different one should be assigned to each: for instance,
the man challenged would answer Zeus the Saviour (if this
happened to be the word), and the reply of the challenger might
be Poseidon. This would minimise the risk of disasters arising
from the betrayal of a password to the enemy.
17. In case the guards get separated, arrange in advance for them
to communicate by whistling: for this will convey nothing to
those who do not know it, whether they are Hellenes or
Barbarians. 18. But look after your dogs: otherwise, when they
hear the whistle, they may cause trouble. Whistling was used to
collect the troops at Thebes during the recapture of the Cadmeia,
when they got separated and did not know one another in the
dark.
19. Rounds and patrols should both demand the password: it is
no use for only one to do so. For an enemy might challenge just
as well as a man going the rounds.

25. [Signs to Accompany the Password]

1. A sign is sometimes employed as well as the password to
prevent panics and for the better recognition of friends. 2. These
signs must be as distinctive as possible, and such as an enemy
will be least likely to recognize: here are some examples. On
dark nights the challenger should also utter some further sound
or simply make an audible signal, and the man challenged
should give the password and also utter a prearranged sound or
make some noise. But in god light the challenger should take off
his cap [pilos], or, if he has it in his hand, put it on; 3. or he may
press his cap down over his brow, or set it back on his head, 4. or
plant his spear in the ground as he approaches, or pass it over to
his left hand, or hold it aloft in his hand, or simply raise it; the
other man should give the password in answer and also make
some such prearranged movement.
26. [Rounds]
1. In time of danger rounds are necessary. And first two of the
companies stationed in the market-place should take turns to go
to the rounds under the city-wall, equipped with their ordinary
armour, and instructed in signs which will enable them to
distinguish each other with certainty from a distance. 2. The men
on duty in the first watch must go their rounds before their
dinner: for men on patrol in the first watch are apt to be lazy and
insubordinate if they have come straight from their dinner. 3.
Rounds should be made without lanterns, except on very dark
and stormy nights; if one is carried, it should be screened so as
not to shed any light upwards, but only on the ground in front of
the mens feet. 4. In a city which keeps horses and where the
ground is fit for their use, rounds should be made on horseback
in winter; for in the cold and mud of the long nights they will be
sooner over this way.
5. If men are going their rounds on the wall as well, so that a
lookout is being kept on both sides of it, 6. those on duty should
on dark nights have stones to throw down one after another to
the ground outside the walls; though some object to this, for the
reasons I have given above [22.13]. 7. When there is fear of

treachery, the rounds should be made under the wall, and no-one
allowed on the top except the sentinels.
If the army is in a bad state owing to a reverse in the field, or to
heavy loss from casualties or desertion by allies, or is
disheartened and humiliated by any other mishap, and the
presence of the enemy is a continual menace, the arrangement of
the watches mentioned above should be carried out. 8. At these
times the rounds should be made frequently, but you should not
be too anxious on the rounds to detect patrols who are asleep at
their posts or to worn out to keep proper guard; for it is unwise
to depress still further an army in this condition, and a man is
sure to lose heart if he is caught neglecting his duty: you should
rather set about attending to their wants and restoring their
morale. 9. At such times the approach of rounds should be
indicated from a greater distance by speaking loudly some way
off, so that if a sentinel is asleep he may wake up and prepare
himself to answer the challenge. 10. It is best under such
circumstances for the general in person to make each round
carefully with his own regular bodyguard.
On the other hand, when your force is overconfident, the
supervision of the guards must be stricter. 11. The general
should never keep to the same time for his rounds, but choose
his own time, to prevent the soldiers knowing long beforehand
the moment at which their general will arrive, and keeping
especially careful watch at that hour. 12. Some adopt the
following plan, which certain people suggest and recommend. In
case the governor of the city, from fear of danger or ill health, is
reluctant to make the rounds in person, but nevertheless wishes
to discover which men in any watch are neglecting their duty, he
may do as follows. 13. A lantern signal may be prearranged with
all the guards on the wall: and all patrols must answer this signal
by raising their own lanterns. This signal should be made on the
spot from which all on duty on the wall will be able to see it; 14.
if there is no such place, a raised platform must be constructed
somehow, as high as is practicable. From this a lantern should be
raised, and every man at each post must acknowledge the signal.
The number should then be counted: hence you can discover
whether all the patrols have acknowledged your signal, or
whether there are any defaulters.

27. [Of Panics]

1. For dealing with sudden alarms or attacks of terror occurring
by day or night in the city or camps, sometimes called panics (a
Peloponnesian word, especially common in Arcadia), the
following measures have been recommended. 2. Signals should
be pre-arranged which the troops in the city will recognize, and
perceive that a panic has occurred; there should also be a
beacon-fire, in accordance with a pre-concerted plan, and on a
spot visible, as far as may be, from all quarters of the city. 3. It is
best to have issued orders in advance that wherever the alarm
takes place, all troops are to remain at their posts and raise a
paean, or pass the word round from man to man that it is only a
panic. 4. If in any part of the force the paean is not raised in
answer, you may assume that the panic has occurred there. If the
general sees some real ground for apprehension, the bugle
should be sounded: this should be the recognised alarm-signal.
Panics generally take place after a defeat in battle, occasionally
in the day time, at night frequently. 5. To prevent their occurring
so often, all the troops should have orders for the night to remain
by their arms as far as possible, in readiness for emergencies: 6.
this warning will probably prevent them, when emergency does
arise, from being taken by surprise and thrown into confusion by
a sudden panic, with disastrous results.
7. Euphratas, the Spartan governor in Thrace, finding night
alarms of very frequent occurrence in his army, and being unable
to stop them in any other way, issued the following orders for
the night. 8. In the event of an alarm, the men were to sit up at
once on their beds and to reach for their arms, but no-one was to
stand up. Anyone standing upright he publicly ordered them to
treat as an enemy. 9. Everyone, he thought, would take care to
remember this order from fear of the consequences. And to show
that he really meant what he said, when a panic did occur, one of
his best men was struck down, though not killed, and some of
the less valuable men actually lost their lives. 10. After this the
men obeyed orders, and took care to have no more panics, and
never again to leave their beds in a fright.
11. Another way of stopping a panic was this. While the camp
was in an uproar one night, the herald called for silence and
made the following proclamation: Whosoever reports the

person who let loose the horse which has caused this
commotion
12. If an army is subject to this sort of thing at night, men of
each company or regiment should in each watch be posted on
the flanks and in the centre, so that if anyone is seen waking in a
fright or otherwise beginning to make a disturbance, one of them
will be immediately at hand to check and restrain him. 13. One
man from each mess in the rest of the army should also be on
guard to look out for groundless alarms and check panics in his
own section. 14. You yourself should alarm the enemys forces
at night by giving your heifers or other beasts wine to drink, and
then driving them into the enemys camp with bells round their
necks.
Reveille
15. When day dawns, the guards should not be dismissed from
their posts until the ground outside has been thoroughly
explored, and it is known to be clear of hostile troops: the guards
may then be dismissed, not all at once, but by detachments, to
ensure there being always a certain number of men on duty.
28. [On Gate Keeping]
1. The following precautions, too, should be taken in a city
which is afraid of attack.
All gates should be kept shut except one, which should be in the
part of the city most difficult to access, and so situated that
anyone approaching it will be visible a long way off. 2. Even
here only the wicket gate should remain open, so that men have
to pass in or out one by one: in this way anyone seeking to
desert or a spy seeking to gain entrance will have little chance of
escaping detection that is if the sentry at the gate has his wits
about him. 3. To open the whole gate for beasts of burden, carts,
and merchandise is dangerous. If it is necessary to bring in
without delay corn, oil, wine or similar articles in carts or with a
number of carriers, they must be taken in at the nearest gate :
this will be the quickest and easiest way. 4. As a rule, gates
should not be opened incautiously early in the day, but only later
on, and no-one should be allowed to leave the city until the

immediate neighbourhood has been thoroughly explored. Again,

boats must not come to anchor in front of the gates, but lie
further off, since even in the daytime the opening of both gates
has been the occasion for many successful attempts, aided by
stratagems or pretexts which I will now illustrate; for many
similar ruses have been employed for this same object.
5. Python of Clazomenae, who had accomplices in the city,
waited carefully for the quietest time of day, at which he had
arranged for carts to bring in a load of wine-casks [pithoi], and
then seized Clazomenae while the carts were standing in the
gateway this enabled a force of mercenaries, waiting in
concealment close at hand, to make their way in and capture the
city, some pf the citizens not knowing what was going on, and
some being too late to prevent it, while others were accomplices
in the plot.
6. Again, Iphiades of Abydos was trying to take Parion on the
Hellespont. Besides making secret preparations for scaling the
wall by night, he filed carts with faggots and brambles, and sent
them up to the wall after the gates had been shut, as if they
belonged to the town. They actually came right up to the gates
and bivouacked there, pretending to be afraid of the enemy. 7.
The arrangement was there, pretending that the carts were to be
set alight at a certain time so that the gates might catch fire; then,
while the citizens were all intent on putting out the fire, Iphiades
himself was to enter at another point.
I have thought it best to collect these precepts to show the
several precautions which should be taken at the various times,
that no-one may be too ready to accept anything without due
examination.
29. [The Smuggling of Arms]
1. I will now deal with the bringing into the city of vessels and
freights in which articles are hidden out of sight; for cities and
their citadels have been captured by this means before now. 2. In
this matter the closest and most careful supervision must be
exercised, especially by the sentinel at the gates, at times when
attacks are feared either from without or within; and he must pay
special attention to goods coming in. 3. I will give as an example

a trick once put into practice, which, with the assistance of

traitors, resulted in the capture of a city during public festival.
4. The first step was to bring in arms for the use of foreigners
already resident and of those citizens in the plot who did not
already possess them: so linen cuirasses, jerkins, helmets,
shields, greaves, daggers, bows and arrows were packed up in
transport cases apparently containing garments and other
merchandise, 5. which the custom-officials opened, inspected
and sealed up as containing nothing but garments, until the
valuation was forthcoming from the importers. 6. The cases
were then stored in the proper place near the market, while small
spears and javelins were brought in wrapped in wicker-work,
crates, and half-woven sails, and quietly placed in convenient
positions; bucklers and small shields were hidden among the
contents of vessels full of chaff and wool, other less bulky
articles in baskets full of raisins and figs, daggers in jars of
wheat, dried figs and olives; 7. more daggers, without sheaths,
were smuggled in inside ripe pumpkins, pushed in at the bottom
into the seed of the pumpkins. The ringleader of the plot was
carried into the city in a load of firewood. 8. At night the
conspirators mustered for the attack, each waiting for the
appointed time, when the rest of the inhabitants were about the
streets full of wine, as usually happens on a feast day. First the
load was untied, and their captain sprang out ready; then some
unwound the wicker-work to get hold of the spears and javelins,
others emptied the jars of chaff and wool, others cut open the
baskets, others opened the cases and took out the arms, while
others smashed up the jars, as to get hold of the daggers quickly.
9. All these preparations went forward at once and at no great
distance from each other on a signal given in the city, as if for a
battle array. 10. Then, when each man had found his proper
arms, some rushed off to seize the towers and gates, where more
of their number were let in; others made for the town hall and
houses opposite, while the rest occupied various points of
vantage.
11. On similar occasions men in want of shields, and unable to
provide them in any other way or to convey arms into the city,
had recourse to importing osiers and with them workers in osier,
who plaited other articles in the daytime, 12. but at nights
worked wicker armour, consisting of helmets and shields, to the
rims of which they fixed leather and wood.

Moreover, you should keep a sharp look-out on boats, both large

and small, which take up moorings nearby, either by day or at
night: the harbour officials and dockyard superintendents should
go on board and inspect the cargoes in person, bearing in mind
that the Sikyonians for instance suffered a great disaster from
neglect of these precautions.
30. [Of the Importation of Arms]
1. Precautions must be taken, too, in regard to arms imported for
sale or displayed in the market place, or in the shops and stores:
these, if collected, might make a large pile, and so they must be
placed beyond the reach of intending traitors. 2. It would be very
foolish to make everyone who enters the city give up his arms,
while you let quantities of them, boxes full of shields and chests
full of daggers, lie ready to hand in the market or in lodging
houses. Imported arms, therefore, which have been collected
should not be exposed in the market place or left for the night
wherever they happen to be placed: with the exception of a
sample, official permission should be required before a
consignment is displayed.
31. [Of Secret Messages]
1. As regards secret messages, there are all sorts of ways of
sending them: a private arrangement should be made beforehand
between the sender and the recipient. I will give some of the
most successful methods.
2. A message was once sent in the following manner. A book or
some other document, of any size and age, was packed in a
bundle or other baggage. In this book the message was written
by the process of marking certain letters of the first line, or the
second, or the third, with tiny dots, practically invisible to all but
the man to whom it was sent: then, when the book reached its
destination, the recipient transcribed the dotted letters, and
placing together in order those in the first line, and so on with
the second line and the rest, was able to read the message.
3. Another, similar way of sending just a short message is this.
Write an ordinary letter at some length on any subject, and

employ the same device of marking letters, indicating by these

whatever you wish, The marking should be made as
inconspicuous as possible, either by placing dots at long
intervals, or by strokes of unusual length: in this way the
message will be intelligible to the recipient, without arousing the
suspicions of anybody else.
4. Again, a man may be sent with a message or even a letter on
some other subject, not anything private, while a letter is
secretly inserted between the sole and the lining of the
messengers shoes before he starts, and sewn up. In case the
road is wet and muddy, the message should be written on a thin
sheet of tin to prevent the letters from being obliterated by the
water. 4a. When the messenger has reached his destination and is
asleep at night, the person for whom the letter is intended must
undo the stitches in his shoes, take out the letter, read it, write a
reply unobserved while the man is still asleep, sew it up in the
sole, and send him off, after giving him the answer to be
delivered openly. 5. In this way, neither the messenger nor
anyone else will know the secret: only take care to make the
stitches in his shoes as inconspicuous as possible.
6. Again, a message was brought to Ephesus in the following
way. A man was sent with a letter written on leaves, the leaves
being bound on a wound in his leg. 7. Again, writing may be
conveyed in womens ears, wrapped in thin pieces of lead worn
instead of earrings.
8. Again, a letter containing an offer of betrayal was once
conveyed by a traitor into the enemys camp near at hand in the
following manner. One of a troop setting out from the city for a
foray had a note sewn up under the skirt of his cuirass, with
orders, if the enemy came into view, to fall from his horse as if
he had been thrown, and allow himself to be made a prisoner; on
arrival in the enemys camp he was duly to deliver the note. In
this case he was assisted by a brother trooper. 9. Another man
sent out a trooper with a note sewn up in his bridle rein.
Here is another story about a letter. During a siege the bearer of
some letters arrived within the city, but, instead of delivering
them to the traitor and those for whom they were intended, went
and laid information before the governor, and offered the letters

to him. 9a. On hearing his story, the governor bade him deliver
the letters he already had to those for whom they were intended,
but to bring the traitors reply to him, if there was any truth to
his story. His informant did so; whereupon the governor, after
receiving the replies, summoned the traitors and confronted
them with the seals of their own signets, which they were forced
to acknowledge, and then opened the letters and discovered the
plot. 9b. He certainly convicted them very cleverly by not taking
the original letters from the bearer: for the traitors might have
denied complicity and asserted that it was a plot against them;
but by getting hold of the replies he convicted them all beyond
dispute.
10. Another way of conveying letters is to get a bladder to fit an
oil-flask, the bladder being of whatever size you please,
according to the length of the letter you wish to send: inflate
this, tie it up and dry it thoroughly, then write your message on it
in ink mixed with glue. 11. When the writing has dried, let the
air out of the bladder, squeeze it and push it into the flask; but let
its mouth project beyond the lid of the flask. 12. Then blow up
the bladder to its fullest extent inside the flask, fill it with oil, cut
of its projecting end and fit it to the mouth of the flask so that
no-one will notice it; put a put a bung in the flask, and carry it
about openly. The oil will now be plainly seen in the flask, and
there will not appear to be anything else in it. 13. When the flask
reaches the man for whom it was intended, he will empty out the
oil, blow up the bladder and read the message; and after
sponging off the writing he may write his reply on the same
bladder and send it back.
14. Again, a man has before now poured wax on a writing tablet,
after writing on the wooden part, and has written another letter
on the wax: when it has come to its destination, the recipient has
scratched off the wax, read the letter, written the reply in the
same way, and sent it off.
Another device recorded is to write on a boxwood tablet with the
very best ink, let it dry, then whiten it over to conceal the
writing. When the tablet reaches the man to whom it was sent,
he must take it and put it in water: and in the water every word
will come out clearly.

15. Again, you may write any message you wish on a votive
tablet: then whiten it thoroughly, dry it, and draw on it a picture,
say, of a horseman with a torch, or anything else you like; his
dress and horse should be white, or, if not white, any colour but
black. Then give it to someone to set it up in some temple near
the city, as if you were paying a vow. 16. The man who is to read
the message must come into the temple, identify the tablet by
some prearranged mark, carry it home, and dip it in oil: then all
the writing will become visible.
The hardest method of all to detect, but the most troublesome,
that without writing, I will now explain. It is as follows. 17. Take
a good sized die [an astragalos or knuckle bone] and bore in it
twenty-four holes, six on each side. These holes are to represent
the twenty-four letters of the alphabet; 18. and be careful, too, to
remember, counting from one side, whichever it is, on which the
A comes first, the letters which follow on each side in turn.
Afterwards, when you wish to place a message on this
contrivance, pass a thread through. Suppose, for instance, that
you wish to signify AINEIAS by the way in which the thread is
passed through. Begin from the side of the die where the A is,
and pass over the succeeding letters till you come to I; when you
reach the side where the I is, pull the thread through again; then
leave out the next letters, and do the same where N happens to
be; then again leave out the next letters and pull the thread
through at E; and in the same way copy the rest of the message
on the die by passing the thread through the holes, as in the case
of the letters AINE, which we have just placed on the die. 19. In
this way, there will be a ball of thread wound round the die when
it is dispatched, and the recipient must read the message by
writing on a tablet the letters signified by the different holes, the
thread being unwound from the holes in the reverse order to that
in which was wound on. It does not make any difference that the
letters are written on the tablet in the reverse order: they will be
intelligible just the same. But the task of reading the message is
really harder than the composition of it.
20 A handier method would be to get a piece of wood seven or
eight inches long, and bore as many holes in it as there are
letters in the alphabet; then pass the thread through the holes in
the same way as before. When it happens that the thread has to
go through the same hole twice, that is when the same letter

occurs twice in succession, twist the thread once around the

wood before passing it through the hole again. 21. Another plan
would be this: instead of the die or the piece of wood, make a
wooden disk and polish it; next bore twenty-four holes in a line
round the circumference for the letters of the alphabet, and to
disarm suspicion, bore holes in the middle as well. After this the
thread must be passed through the different letters in the line. 22.
When you have to repeat a letter, pass the thread through one of
the holes in the middle before returning to the same letter by
letter I mean of course hole.
23. Again, a note has been written on very thin papyrus, in long
lines of fine characters, so as to make the packet as small as
possible; it was then inserted into the shoulder of a tunic
[chiton], and part of the tunic folded back on the shoulder. A
good way of getting the letter through without suspicion would,
I think, be for a man to put the tunic on and carry it in this way.
24. Here is the proof of the difficulty of thwarting plots for
bringing things into a city. The men round Ilion, after all this
time, and in spite of their efforts, are not yet able to prevent the
Locrian maidens from coming into their city, for all their eager
watching: a few men by studious precautions have managed to
smuggle in women unobserved every year.
25. In earlier years the following trick was once played.
Timoxenus wished to betray Potidaea to Artabazus: they
therefore agreed upon a certain spot in the city chosen by
Timoxenus, and one in the lines chosen by Artabazus, 26. into
which they used to shoot arrows carrying any information which
they wished to communicate to each other, ; the following was
the device they used: they wound the note round the grooved
end of an arrow, which they then feathered and shot into the
places agreed upon. 27. But Timoxenus treachery was
discovered: for Artabazus shot in the usual direction, but owing
to the wind and the bad feathering of the arrow missed his mark,
and hit a Potidaean in the shoulder. As often happens in war, a
crowd ran up to the wounded man: and they at once seized the
arrow and took it to the generals, so that the plot was discovered.
28. Again, when Histiaeus wished to communicate with
Aristagoras, and could find no other safe means of sending a

message, as the roads were guarded and it was very difficult for
a letter to get through without detection, he took his most trusty
slave and shaved his head, then tattooed the message on it, and
waited till the hair grew again. As soon as it had grown, he sent
him to Miletus, with no other orders than to tell Aristagoras,
when he reached Miletus, to shave his head and examine it. The
marks told Aristagoras what to do.
30 Again, you may use the following cipher. Arrange beforehand
to represent the vowels by dots, a different number of dots
according to the order in which each vowels stands in the
alphabet. For example:
DEAR DIONYSIOS
D: . R D:. ::N:::S:. :: S
Or again:
HERACLEIDAS WANTED
H : R . CL : :. D . S W . NT : D
And the messages in some place known by the recipient, to
whom arrival of the man in the city to buy or sell something
should be a signal that a letter has come for him, and has been
deposited in the place agreed upon. In this way the messenger
does not know for whom the letter was brought, nor will it be
known that the recipient has it.
32. Dogs were often used in Epirus in the following way. They
led them away from their homes on leashes, and fasted round
their necks a strap in which a letter was sewn up. Then, either by
night or by day, they let them go and find their way home, which
they were sure to do. This method is used in Thessaly.
33. All letters that arrive should be opened at once. A letter was
sent to Astyanax, tyrant of Lampsacus, containing information
of the plot which proved fatal to him: since, however, he did not
open it at once and read the contents, but took no notice and
attended to other business first, he was murdered with the letter
unopened in his fingers. 34. The same delay caused the capture
of the citadel in Thebes, and something like it happened in
Mytilene in Lesbos.

35. When Glous the Persian admiral went up to see the king, and
found it impossible to carry his memoranda into the presence
chamber (the matters of which he had to speak being numerous
and important), he noted down in the spaces of his fingers the
subjects he had to discuss.
The sentry at the gates must keep a sharp lookout for such things
as I have described, to see that nothing, whether arms or letters,
enters the city unobserved.
32. [Contrivances for Repelling Assaults]
1. I will now mention some methods of repelling an enemys
assaults, whether made by machines or by storming parties.
First, sails offer protection against missiles coming over the wall
from towers or masts or the like. Cover them with something
tear-proof, use capstans to stretch them taut, and once they are in
position, the projectiles will have to overshoot them. At the same
time make a big fire which will emit thick fumes. 2. Wooden
towers should be raised in defence, or other tall structures made
either of baskets filled with sand or of stones or of bricks;
missiles may be kept off by wicker-work made of reeds woven
crosswise. 3. Defences should also be prepared against battering
rams and similar engines directed against the battlements: hang
in front of them sacks filled with chaff, bags of wool, or fresh ox
hides, inflated or stuffed, and similar articles. 4. When the ram is
making a breach in a gate or any part of the wall, you must catch
its projecting end in a noose, and so prevent the engine from
delivering its blow. 5. And have ready a rock large enough to fill
a cart, to drop on it and smash its nose to pieces. This stone
should be dropped from the projecting beams, where it can be
held in position by grappling hooks. 6. Make sure that the stone
shall not miss the nose of the ram as it falls by letting down a
plumb line first, and when this drops on the nose, immediately
let the stone go after it.
7. It is best, too, to prepare as follows against engines attempting
to breach the wall. When you know where the ram is to be
applied, get ready at this point a counter-ram on the inside,
digging through a part of the wall, but only as far as the
brickwork on the further side, so as to keep the enemy still in

ignorance of your proceedings. Then, when the enemys engine

is close up, deliver a blow from the inside with your counterram. The counter-ram should be much the stronger of the two.
8. When you have to deal with big machines which bring up a
number of men to discharge missiles from catapults, slings and
so on, and burning arrows to set fire to thatched roofs
contrivances of this sort must be met, first, by setting the
inhabitants of the city to dig secretly beneath the spots where the
assaults will be made, so that the wheels of the machine will fall
through and sink into the excavations; next raise a breastwork
against them as best you can with baskets full of sand and with
stones, which will raise above the level of the machine and
render the enemys missiles ineffective. 9. Hang out as well
strong curtains or sails as a shelter against the missiles, to catch
them as they come over the wall; they can then be easily
collected, and none will reach the ground. 10. Do the same, too,
at any other point where the missiles may fly over the wall and
disable or wound workmen and passers-by.
11. At whatever point he enemy bring up a shelter to enable
them to dig through or knock down part of the wall, you must be
ready to resist their attack. 12. Where they are digging through,
light a great fire, and where they are knocking down the wall,
dig a trench inside to prevent their getting in.
33. [Methods of Setting on Fire]
1. On shelters brought up by the enemy you should pour pitch
and drop tow and sulphur: then fasten to a rope some burning
brushwood and let it down onto the shelter.
Materials of this kind may be slung out from the wall and
dropped on the engines which are being brought up. 2. The best
way to set fire to them is to get pieces of wood shaped like
pestles, but much larger, and hammer sharp iron spikes into the
ends of the wood; and round the other parts of it, both on the top
and underneath, fasten separate pieces of highly inflammable
stuff, till it looks like a thunderbolt as represented in pictures.
This instrument should be dropped on the engine which is being
brought up: it is made in such a way that it will fix itself in the
engine, and so that the burning stuff will not fall off when it is
fixed. 3. If there are any wooden towers in the city, or if any part

of the wall is made of wood, they must have coverings of felt

and hide on the side facing the enemy, to prevent their being set
on fire. 4. If the gates catch fire, you should bring logs and pile
them up to make the fire as big as possible, until you can dig a
trench inside and build a retired wall with such materials as are
immediately at hand: if there are none forthcoming, you must
get them by pulling down the nearest houses.
34. [Materials for Quenching Fire]
1. If the enemy attempt to set anything on fire with highly
inflammable materials, you should use vinegar to put the fire
out: this will make it hard to set alight again. Better still, smear it
beforehand with birdlime: for this is fireproof. 2. Men engaged
in putting out fires below them should wear a shield over their
faces, so as to be less inconvenienced by the leaping flames.
35. [Inflammable Materials]
1. You yourself may make a fierce fire, which is impossible to
put out, with the following materials: pitch, sulphur, tow,
pounded gum of frankincense, and pine sawdust. Put these into a
vessel, set a light to them, and apply them to any articles
belonging to the enemy which you wish to catch fire.
36. [Hindrances to the Placing of Ladders]
1. The planning of scaling ladders against the wall should be
resisted. If the ladder, when in position, projects over the top of
the wall, you must wait until the man coming up reaches the top,
and then push him or the ladder away with a pitchfork,
supposing a discharge of missiles from below prevents you from
stopping him in any other way. If the ladder is just level with the
top of the wall, you will not be able to push it away: in that case
you must push off the men who come over the top. 2. If this does
not seem practicable, have a frame like a door made out of
planks, and when the ladder is being placed against the wall, slip
the frame out under its upper end before it touches the wall:
when the ladder leans against the frame, the frame runs back of
its own accord upon a roller placed ready under it, and the ladder
falls down, so that it will be impossible to place it into position.

37. [The Discovery and Prevention of Mines]

1. The digging of mines should be prevented by the following
measures. If you think you are being undermined, the trench
outside must be dug to a great depth, so that the enemys mine
will open into the trench and their men will be seen plainly at
work. 2. Where you have enough material, you should also build
a wall in the trench, using the strongest and largest stones you
can get. If you have no stones to build a wall, bring all pieces of
wood you can find, 3. and if the mine runs up against the trench
at any point, there pile up logs and the odd pieces of wood, and
set light to them, covering up all other faces of the pile, so that
the smoke passes into the enemys workings, and stifles the men
at work there; it is even possible that many of them will die in
suffocation. 4. Once the workmen in a mine were tormented by
swarms of wasps and bees let loose into it.
5. If, however, you know at what spot they are digging, you
should dig countermines and engage them underground, barring
their progress and burning them out. 6. There is an old story in
this connexion, Amasis, while besieging Barca, started to dig
mines. The citizens, on realizing his intention, were greatly
dismayed, fearing that he would defeat their vigilance, until a
smith thought out a plan, which was to go round inside the walls
with a bronze part of a shield and apply it to the ground. 7. There
was no sound where the shield was applied, except at the point
where the mines were being dug. There the mining caused it to
ring. Here then the men of Barca dug countermines and killed
many of the enemys miners. So this method is still employed at
night in discovering the whereabouts of mines.
8. I have now described the best method of defence against the
enemys stratagems. When you are starting mining operations
yourself, the following will prove the most effective screen. 9.
Take two carts, and tilt them up together from behind like
opening doors, until their poles are high in the air and converge
towards the same point; and tie the poles together. Next on this
framework bind other poles and wickerwork, or anything else to
serve as a screen above, and daub the whole with clay. The
wheels will enable you to bring this contrivance wherever you
want it, and to take it away afterwards, and under this shelter the
miners can work.

38. [Reserves]
1. At times when assaults are being made on the wall either by
machines or by actual storming parties, the fighting force of the
city should be divided into three parts, so that there may always
be one part in action, another off duty, and the third preparing
for action: thus the troops will always be fresh. 2. A larger
detachment of picked troops should go all round the walls with
the general, relieving any part of the fighting force which is hard
pressed. For the enemy are more afraid of a foe whose attack
they know to be imminent than of one with whom they are
actually engaged.
3. For the time being all dogs should be chained up: for at the
unfamiliar sight of armed men hurrying up and down the city
and making a noise, they might run at them and make
themselves a nuisance.
4. During the fight you should encourage the men on the wall
with tact and discrimination: give a word of praise to those who
deserve it; make a special appeal to those who need it. Do not
lose your temper with any of the rank and file: it will only
dishearten them; if a reproof for negligence and insubordination
is necessary, 5. single out the most wealthy and influential
citizens; then it will serve as a warning to the others as well. The
occasions on which these various offences should be passed over
are mentioned in my manual on Addressing Troops.
6. Do not allow stones to be thrown indiscriminately, and take
measures, too, to recover at night those which have been thrown
during the day. 7. Men should be lowered over the wall in
baskets to pick them up; and you should hang out boar-nets or
stag-nets or rope ladders to enable the men engaged on this duty
to climb up again. 8. There should be a ladder for each man, so
that if any of them get into difficulties there will be no time lost
in climbing up. The gates should not on any account be opened
by night: use ladders of this kind, or anything you please.
39. [Ruses]

1. Another device to which you should resort during a siege is

this. Dig a trench in the gateway and for some way into the city,
leaving a passage on each side. Then let some of your force
make a sally, and skirmish so as to entice some of your
opponents to pursue them into the city. 2. The citizens, as they
flee into the city, should run in along the passages left on each
side, but their pursuers, knowing nothing of the trench, which
should be concealed, will probably fall into it and be killed
inside the city; a force should be drawn up for the occasion in
the streets and in the spaces near the gates where the trenches
are. 3. If more of the enemy are running in after these and you
wish to stop them, you must have ready a door of stout timber to
let down from the beam above the gate and have it plated with
iron. 4. When you wish to check the enemy as they rush in, let
this door fall straight down: it will kill some of them as it falls,
and prevent the rest from getting in. Meanwhile some of the men
on the wall must shoot down the enemy near the gates. 5. But
you must always have a prearranged rendezvous for your own
men, where they are assemble if ever the enemy follow them
into the city, so that they may be distinguished by their position:
for it is no easy task to know friend from foe when they rush in
pell-mell in the confusion of the fight.
6. Once when an enemy became too venturesome and advanced
too close to the wall, lassos were prepared for day and night (by
day they were concealed and by night used openly: the object
was to entice the enemy up to the city by skirmishing and haul
up those who were caught in the lassos. 7. The noose itself
should be made of the strongest rope obtainable; the line that
pulls up the man should be a chain for the first three feet from
the noose, so that it cannot be cut through; the hauling end
should be of rush rope. The whole apparatus is let down and
hauled up from inside the walls, by ropes or swing-beams. If the
enemy try to cut the rope, the defenders reply by letting it down
with a run by means of the swing-beams, to prevent them from
doing so: the use of the chains [for the whole length] to prevent
such an occurrence is undesirable, for they are troublesome
things and awkward to handle, and also not worth the expense.
40. [Garrisoning a City]

1. If the city is a large one and the inhabitants too few to guard
the whole circuit of the walls, but you nevertheless wish to
guard it securely with the men you have, use any available
material to build up high such parts of the wall as are easy of
access from outside. Then, if any of the enemy make their way
up either by stealth or by force, they will find themselves in an
unfamiliar position, and will not be able to jump down from
such a height, but will have to go back because they cannot find
a way down. Such men as are available should be posted here
and there along the parts that have been built up, to dispatch any
who dare to make the jump.
2. Dionysius once wished to occupy a city which he had
conquered: some of its inhabitants were dead and some were in
exile, and it was too large to be defended by a small garrison. 3.
He therefore left behind him a few men whom he could spare to
look after the city, and married some of the slaves of the most
prominent citizens to the daughters, wives and sisters of their
masters: this, he thought, would make them most bitterly hostile
to their masters and increase their loyalty to himself.
4. Again, the men of Sinope, when at war with Datamas, were in
a critical position and in want of men. They therefore disguised
and armed the fittest of their women, so as to make them look as
much as men as they could, gave them jars and similar brass
utensils to represent armour and helmets, and marched them
round the walls in full view of the enemy. 5. They were not
allowed to throw anything: for you can tell a woman a long way
off by the way she throws. And they took care to prevent the
betrayal of the stratagem by deserters.
6. If you wish rounds on the wall to appear stronger than they
really are, they should march round two abreast, the front rank
carrying their spears on their left shoulders, the second rank on
their right shoulders: in this way they will look as if they were
four abreast. 7. If the patrol is a file of three men, the first man
should have his spear on his right shoulder, the second on his left
shoulder: in this way they will look as if they were two abreast.
8. As to the provision of food when there is no corn, shortage of
supplies during a siege, and the way to render water fit for
drinking, these matters have been discussions in my Preparations

for Defence. And since they have been dealt with, I shall
proceed to naval arrangements.
A fleet may be equipped in two ways.
(This is where the text breaks off it seems that the last sentence
is the start of a treatise on a naval theme).