Been listening to podcasts at night, mostly ancient or medieval history. Somewhat less disturbing than much of the daytime news. The ancients may have done appalling things to each other but it was a long time ago and no need to worry about it now. Also much of the information is new to me (unlike J who knows far more and remembers it better). I can hear about some far off conflicts with suspense in waiting to discover which side won.
But, technicalities apart, human nature seems depressingly unchanged. Hence last night’s account of the siege of Istanbul, also known variously
as Constantinople and Byzantium. (Incidentally Greek Cypriot news reporters in the South still refer to the city as Constantinople rather than Istanbul). Long, if not always accurate, memories here in the Middle East).
No nuclear weapons in those days but they did their best. And there were weapons manufacturers. A Hungarian engineer by the name of Orban (presumably unrelated to the current Hungarian president of the same name) said he would build a cannon “such as the world has never seen” to use in the siege. Not that he had particular Ottoman loyalties - he had previously offered his services to the Byzantines but they couldn’t meet his price and in any case distrusted his ability to fulfill the contract.
The cannon, duly completed in three months, was made of bronze and christened Basilica. It was over ten metres long and weighed so much that it had to be dragged to the walls of Constantinople by a crew of four hundred men with the help of sixty oxen at a rate of four metres a day.
Not much element of surprise, as they could obviously be seen coming, but plenty of shock and awe all the same. Basilica was horrifically inaccurate and could only be fired three times a day, as it had to be cooled down with olive oil, but when it did hit the huge balls of marble (iron ones not yet developed) weighing three quarters of a ton and travelling over a mile did massive damage to the city walls. Spoiler alert - the city fell.
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