Morton Amanda S. Unconventional Weapons, Siege Warfare, and the Hoplite Ideal

Ohio State University, 2011. — 68 p.This thesis examines the introduction of unconventional siege tactics, namely the use of chemical and biological weapons, during the Peloponnesian War in an effort to add to an existing body of work on conventional and unconventional tactics in Greek hoplite warfare. The thesis argues that the characteristics of siege warfare in the mid-fifth century exist in opposition to traditional definitions of Greek hoplite warfare and should be integrated into the ongoing discussion on warfare in the fifth century. Additionally, this paper suggests that these unconventional characteristics have precedents that can be found in the military history of the greater Mediterranean region and in Greek literature dating back to Homer. Over the course of the Peloponnesian War, the use of siege warfare in Greece expanded dramatically, as Greek armies combined this knowledge and developed new siege techniques that differed from earlier Greek uses of blockade tactics, utilizing fire, poisonous gasses and new types of siege machinery that would eventually lead to a Hellenistic period characterized by inventive and expedient developments in siege warfare.