Polyidus of Thessaly
Encyclopedia
Polyidus of Thessaly was an ancient Greek
military engineer of Philip
, who made improvements in the covered battering-ram (testudo arietaria, poliorceticus krios
) during Philip's siege of Byzantium
in 340 BC. His students were Diades of Pella
and Charias, who served in the campaigns of Alexander the Great. Polyidus was the inventor of Helepolis
.
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek is the stage of the Greek language in the periods spanning the times c. 9th–6th centuries BC, , c. 5th–4th centuries BC , and the c. 3rd century BC – 6th century AD of ancient Greece and the ancient world; being predated in the 2nd millennium BC by Mycenaean Greek...
military engineer of Philip
Philip II of Macedon
Philip II of Macedon "friend" + ἵππος "horse" — transliterated ; 382 – 336 BC), was a king of Macedon from 359 BC until his assassination in 336 BC. He was the father of Alexander the Great and Philip III.-Biography:...
, who made improvements in the covered battering-ram (testudo arietaria, poliorceticus krios
Crius
In Greek mythology, Crius, Kreios or Krios was one of the Titans in the list given in Hesiod's Theogony, a son of Uranus and Gaia. The least individualized among them, he was overthrown in the Titanomachy. M.L...
) during Philip's siege of Byzantium
Byzantium
Byzantium was an ancient Greek city, founded by Greek colonists from Megara in 667 BC and named after their king Byzas . The name Byzantium is a Latinization of the original name Byzantion...
in 340 BC. His students were Diades of Pella
Diades of Pella
Diades of Pella , , was a Thessalian inventor of many siege engines, student of Philip II's military engineer Polyidus of Thessaly....
and Charias, who served in the campaigns of Alexander the Great. Polyidus was the inventor of Helepolis
Helepolis
Helepolis was an ancient siege engine invented by Polyidus of Thessaly and improved by Demetrius I of Macedon and Epimachus of Athens for the unsuccessful siege of Rhodes, based on an earlier, less massive design used against Salamis...
.
Sources
- VitruviusVitruviusMarcus Vitruvius Pollio was a Roman writer, architect and engineer, active in the 1st century BC. He is best known as the author of the multi-volume work De Architectura ....
. x. 19. s. 13. §3. - Campbell, Duncan B. Greek and Roman Siege Machinery 399 BC-AD 363. Osprey Publishing, 2003. ISBN 1841766054