The Persian Cathapract please read

[Maksimus]

Can you tell me something more about Diad - the famos constructor of siege for Alexander.. I know about him and what he was doing in general, but I always consider him to be a genius.. Well, was he? And what happend to him after Alex died? For who was he working after .. in didadokhoi wars?

Thank you in advance

[KARTLOS]

indeed.

[The Persian Cataphract]

I am the wrong person to ask on the matter of Alexander's retinue, unfortunately. Events such as the siege of Tyre, or the storming of the Soghdian Rock are all quite well-documented, but the details are obscure to me; I pay more attention to the Iranian matters therein in the accounts, and details on the general cultural history. When it comes to obscure personalities, such as Alexander's chief engineer of siege-craft, all I can say is that the core of the artillery available to the Successor kingdoms, were all inherited from an extensive Achaemenid knowledge of siege-work, applied with a Graeco-Macedonian twist to the matter, by introducing arrow-projectors in addition to stone-throwers (Catapults), siege towers, battering rams and various sapping techniques. This knowledge by itself was not unique to the Persians at all; They merely refined it.

By and large, the Graeco-Macedonians basically inherited an ancient tradition which was brought to mastery already during the age of the Assyrian hegemony. Like the Achaemenids did it, the Successors merely refined and polished what already was available to them. A process which was inherited by the Romans, and later found an equal among the Sassanians. This doesn't exactly answer your question, but it provides a brief and generalized background in the availability of siege-craft. Hopefully this widened your horizons a bit.

[Maksimus]

What I know about him is now redirected from Wikipedia:

Diades of Pella (greek:Διάδης ο Πελλαίος),(ο Πολιορκητής,the Poliorcetes,the Besieger), macedonian inventor of many siege engines,student of Philip's military engineer Polyidus of Thessaly.

He lived in 4th century BC. Diades accompanied Alexander the Great in his warfare on East. He constructed (or improved) movable towers, battering rams, scaling engines used to scale walls and battering crane used for the destruction of city walls.

He wrote a treatise on machinery. (Vitruvius vii, introduction)

Vitruvius writes about Diades book that is not saved up to this date - I think Vitruvius wrote about some ilustrated book of Diades that is based on siege illustrations and constuction guides..

What I would very much like to know his, what happend to Diades of Pella?
Did he went back to Macedonia. I think that he did and that he is one to be blamed for Demetrias successes in siege's of Cities?

I think that Diades of Pella trait would be very nice.. It is said that Diades of Pella was the one who realy passed the siege construction plans and improvments to Successor States.. I even think (belive acctually) that one of his worth was important in Monoftalms campaigns?

What do you think 'Persian'? Would the trait such as Diades be nice? I am so sure that he constructed the Heliopolis at Rhodos.. No?

This is the reference from TEHNOLOGY MUSEUM OF THESSALONIKY
http://www.tmth.edu.gr/en/aet/5/37.html




Diades was an engineer who accompanied Alexander the Great on his expedition. A pupil of Polyides of Thessaly, he invented many siege engines for his patron and is cited by Athenaeus and Vitruvius. These include:

- Movable towers: Siege engines carried in sections and assembled before the walls.

- Battering ram: Siege engine designed to breach a wall, similar in construction to the "tortoise". Like the catapults and ballistae, it had a central groove within an upright frame; this was 23.10 metres long and 0.46 metres tall, and supported a cross-wise winch. A pair of pulleys on either side of the front end operated the battering ram, which was fitted with an iron head. Small cylinders lining the groove made it easy to speed up or slow down the action of the ram.

- Scaling engine: A device to enable besiegers to scale walls more easily.

- Battering crane: A kind of wrecking ball.

- Wheel-mounted battering ram: A description of this construction still survives. It was at least 27.72 metres tall and 7.85 metres wide, and tapered, so that the top was one fifth the sectional dimension of the base. The supporting beams in the base were 23 x 23 cm, and the swivel beam 15 cm. The tower was ten storeys high and each level had window-type openings. These siege towers were covered with untanned hides to protect them and the soldiers inside.

- Tortoise- ram: A construction 7.39 m tall and 14.78 m wide, with a small three-storey tower on top. The upper levels were equipped with slings and catapults, while the lower carried a store of water in case the construction caught fire. The battering ram was housed inside the "tortoise". It was slung from a drum, which facilitated the back-and-forth movement of the ram.

- Boarding platform: A kind of portable bridge for boarding enemy ships during naval engagements. It is described by Vito and cited by Athenaeus the Peripatetic. Given the similarity of their descriptions, Cicorius thinks that both authors drew on the writings of Agesistratus.




PLEASE PERSIAN! LOOK AT THIS::

http://www.mlahanas.de/Greeks/war/Helepolis.htm

http://www.tmth.edu.gr/en/aet/5.html