Hero of Byzantium (or Heron of Byzantium or sometimes Hero the Younger) (Greek: Ἥρων) is a name used to refer to the anonymous Byzantine author of two treatises, commonly known as Parangelmata Poliorcetica and Geodesia, composed in the mid-10th century and found in an 11th-century manuscript in the Vatican Library (Vaticanus graecus 1605).[1] The first is a poliorketikon, an illustrated manual of siegecraft; the second is a work in practical geometry and ballistics, which makes use of locations around Constantinople to illustrate its points. The manuscript consists of 58 folios and 38 colored illustrations.
Following a seventh-century defeat by the Arabs in the east and the Germanic and Slavic powers in the west, the Byzantine Empire found itself gutted of much of its territory and needed to re-establish its military excellence. "Recent research has suggested that the empire first survived, and later expanded, by retaining and adapting military theories and practices from late antiquity."[2] Hero's treatises were part of this process of recovery and adaptation.
- ^ Sullivan, Dennis F., ed. (2000). Siegecraft: Two Tenth-Century Instructional Manuals by "Heron of Byzantium". Dumbarton Oaks Studies XXXVI. Washington, DC: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection. pp. 1, 3–4. ISBN 978-0-88402-270-1.
- ^ Holmes, Catherine (2001). "Review of Siegecraft: Two Tenth-Century Instructional Manuals by 'Heron of Byzantium'". War in History. 8 (4): 479. doi:10.1177/096834450100800407. S2CID 162851289.