THE BESIEGED: ROLE AND PLACE OF CIVILIAN POPULATION DURING A SIEGE AS PRESENTED IN MILITARY TREATISES OF LATE ANTIQUITY
THE BESIEGED: ROLE AND PLACE OF CIVILIAN POPULATION DURING A SIEGE AS PRESENTED IN MILITARY TREATISES OF LATE ANTIQUITY

Summary/Abstract: The purpose of the article is to present the psychological aspects of defending a city in Late Antiquity, with particular focus on the role of civilians during a siege, according to the military treatises. The analysis covered mostly fragments of Book IV of Vegetius’ work, Book X of Strategikon and passages from Syrianus Magister. The results clearly indicate that the authors of treatises knew well the significance of the soldiers’ morale and mental strength in a siege, seeing them as key components in ensuring the success of military operations and preventing the surrender of the defended positions. The analyzed writings also emphasize the involvement of civilians, who were supposed to not only seek protection from soldiers, but actually had a clearly defined role in the defense efforts. The authors also understood that civilians, much more vulnerable to external stress factors than soldiers, were untrustworthy and more likely to give in to despair, which was to be prevented by various tricks meant to manipulate their psychology.

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