Alexander : a history of the origin and growth of the art of war from ...

18 ORIENTAL CITIES.a wood or river. An unfortunate turn in a battle eould notbe retrieved.The capital cities were splendidly fortified.Nineveh, Bab-Median Scythed Chariot.ylon, Ecbatana, had stone walls of extraordinary thicknessand height. Those of Nineveh were still one hundred andfifty feet high in Xenophon's time.Babylon had two walls,an outer one statedAssyrian Archer.by Herodotus as three hundred and thirty-fivefeet high and eighty-five feetthick, and by Ctesias at almost thesedimensions, and ^vith a correspondinglywide ditch.The citadel was a marvelof strength, so far as massiveness wasconcerned. The art of engineering, asapplied tosieges, was not highly developed.which was death or slavery.The mechanical means of the daywere not as well adapted for besiegingas for fortification, and the defense ofa city was rendered desperate by the uniformpenalty of its surrender or capture,The Assyrians are said to havefortified their temporary camps, generally in circular form.Jeios.— Among the Jews, every man over twenty years ofage, with certain stated exceptions, was a warrior. The