For the curious, the term for 'clever trick in war' is a 'strategem' and multiple ancient writers wrote books listing them, most notably Frontinus and Polyaenus, whose works are both titled Strategemata ('Strategems').
Read those, pick one that fits the situation and go for it.
Read those, pick one that fits the situation and go for it.
August 4, 2026 at 5:18 AM
For the curious, the term for 'clever trick in war' is a 'strategem' and multiple ancient writers wrote books listing them, most notably Frontinus and Polyaenus, whose works are both titled Strategemata ('Strategems').
Read those, pick one that fits the situation and go for it.
Read those, pick one that fits the situation and go for it.
istg this is real its from like polyaenus' strategems or something
July 19, 2026 at 12:26 PM
istg this is real its from like polyaenus' strategems or something
Tomyris led her armies to defend against an attack by Cyrus the Great of the Achaemenid Empire, and she defeated and killed him in 530 BC. Tomyris is mentioned by several ancient writers, including Herodotus, Strabo, Polyaenus, Cassiodorus, and Jordanes.
September 12, 2026 at 1:41 PM
Tomyris led her armies to defend against an attack by Cyrus the Great of the Achaemenid Empire, and she defeated and killed him in 530 BC. Tomyris is mentioned by several ancient writers, including Herodotus, Strabo, Polyaenus, Cassiodorus, and Jordanes.
you couldn't call your kid Polyaenus today
May 19, 2024 at 8:24 PM
you couldn't call your kid Polyaenus today
An in-situ fragment for #FragmentFriday. Peaking out of the binding of a small Greek edition of Polyaenus the Macedonian (G 5077) are fragments of 2 works. The colourful one is a comment on canon law (chapter "De disciplina in officinis servanda"). The smaller fragments are difficult to determine.
September 12, 2025 at 7:41 AM
An in-situ fragment for #FragmentFriday. Peaking out of the binding of a small Greek edition of Polyaenus the Macedonian (G 5077) are fragments of 2 works. The colourful one is a comment on canon law (chapter "De disciplina in officinis servanda"). The smaller fragments are difficult to determine.
Also according to Athenaeus of Naucratis, Hieronymus of Rhodes and Polyaenus.
June 12, 2026 at 9:43 PM
Also according to Athenaeus of Naucratis, Hieronymus of Rhodes and Polyaenus.
POLYAENUS 1691 STRATEGEMATUM Vellum WAR GREEK ROMAN MILITARY Prize LATIN
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bit.ly/40xNmgM
July 7, 2025 at 10:41 AM
POLYAENUS 1691 STRATEGEMATUM Vellum WAR GREEK ROMAN MILITARY Prize LATIN
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bit.ly/40xNmgM
#books #antiquarian #17thcentury #war #strategy #vellum #prize #Greek #Latin #Roman #military #Polyaenus #classics #hisory #bookauction #Haarlem #bookauction
bit.ly/40xNmgM
That was one of the rationales behind the Theban Sacred Band, yes (explicit, for instance, in Polyaenus' understanding of the unit, 2.5.1). It's not necessarily a universal Greek belief, but clearly a present strain in Greek thinking.
June 13, 2026 at 8:37 PM
That was one of the rationales behind the Theban Sacred Band, yes (explicit, for instance, in Polyaenus' understanding of the unit, 2.5.1). It's not necessarily a universal Greek belief, but clearly a present strain in Greek thinking.
Polyaenus writes, "Cynane... was famous for her military knowledge: she conducted armies, and in the field charged at the head of them. In an engagement with the Illyrians, she with her own hand slew Caeria their queen; and with great slaughter defeated the Illyrian army."
July 18, 2026 at 2:42 PM
Polyaenus writes, "Cynane... was famous for her military knowledge: she conducted armies, and in the field charged at the head of them. In an engagement with the Illyrians, she with her own hand slew Caeria their queen; and with great slaughter defeated the Illyrian army."
Similar tactics can be found throughout classical naval warfare. Polyaenus discusses the tactic of double ramming. Octavian has many ships after Actium dragged to shore. Towing and ramming until completely broken apart is found in Caesar, Thucydides, Diodorus, Aeschylus, etc.
July 24, 2025 at 3:26 AM
Similar tactics can be found throughout classical naval warfare. Polyaenus discusses the tactic of double ramming. Octavian has many ships after Actium dragged to shore. Towing and ramming until completely broken apart is found in Caesar, Thucydides, Diodorus, Aeschylus, etc.
(That's Polyaenus, Strat. 2.38.2).
By the first century BC, the Romans seem to be making regular use of smaller engines as field artillery or support - they show up in Caesar a fair bit.
By the first century BC, the Romans seem to be making regular use of smaller engines as field artillery or support - they show up in Caesar a fair bit.
August 1, 2024 at 12:19 AM
(That's Polyaenus, Strat. 2.38.2).
By the first century BC, the Romans seem to be making regular use of smaller engines as field artillery or support - they show up in Caesar a fair bit.
By the first century BC, the Romans seem to be making regular use of smaller engines as field artillery or support - they show up in Caesar a fair bit.
That said, early on we do see smaller engines used as field artillery. At one point, Polyaenus reports onomarchus, fighting Philip II (of Macedon, Alexander's father) positions catapults to break up the Macedonian phalanx with stone-throwers and it works.
August 1, 2024 at 12:18 AM
That said, early on we do see smaller engines used as field artillery. At one point, Polyaenus reports onomarchus, fighting Philip II (of Macedon, Alexander's father) positions catapults to break up the Macedonian phalanx with stone-throwers and it works.
Ἐλπὶς ἀεὶ βιότου κλέπτει χρόνον· ἡ πυμάτη δὲ
ἠὼς τὰς πολλὰς ἔφθασεν ἀσχολίας.
Anticipation always steals the time of our life, and the last dawn
surprises us with many projects unaccomplished.
Julius Polyaenus (first century BC?), Greek Anthology 9.8
ἠὼς τὰς πολλὰς ἔφθασεν ἀσχολίας.
Anticipation always steals the time of our life, and the last dawn
surprises us with many projects unaccomplished.
Julius Polyaenus (first century BC?), Greek Anthology 9.8
August 27, 2025 at 10:07 AM
Ἐλπὶς ἀεὶ βιότου κλέπτει χρόνον· ἡ πυμάτη δὲ
ἠὼς τὰς πολλὰς ἔφθασεν ἀσχολίας.
Anticipation always steals the time of our life, and the last dawn
surprises us with many projects unaccomplished.
Julius Polyaenus (first century BC?), Greek Anthology 9.8
ἠὼς τὰς πολλὰς ἔφθασεν ἀσχολίας.
Anticipation always steals the time of our life, and the last dawn
surprises us with many projects unaccomplished.
Julius Polyaenus (first century BC?), Greek Anthology 9.8
Julius Caesar was said to have done by Polyaenus in Stratagems, 8.23.5. JC used it to cross a river. P said it was the first one there. The Britons fled.
November 3, 2025 at 3:11 PM
Julius Caesar was said to have done by Polyaenus in Stratagems, 8.23.5. JC used it to cross a river. P said it was the first one there. The Britons fled.
This is a fantastic short article! I've always been curious about how lights were used at night, both on ships and along the shore, and this really helped clarify things. Polyaenus’ Stratagems gives several interesting examples that now make a lot more sense in relation to the article:
On the Use of Lights as Night Navigation Aids During Antiquity
Published in International Journal of Nautical Archaeology (Ahead of Print, 2025)
www.tandfonline.com
August 1, 2025 at 6:14 AM
This is a fantastic short article! I've always been curious about how lights were used at night, both on ships and along the shore, and this really helped clarify things. Polyaenus’ Stratagems gives several interesting examples that now make a lot more sense in relation to the article:
Dunblane’s historic Leighton Library has 1589 edition of “Poluainou Strategematon” which has Latin translations (by Swiss scholar Isaac Casaubon, born #OnThisDay 1559) beside original Greek in parallel columns of 2nd-century Macedonian author Polyaenus’ “Stratagems in War.”
February 18, 2026 at 7:16 AM
Dunblane’s historic Leighton Library has 1589 edition of “Poluainou Strategematon” which has Latin translations (by Swiss scholar Isaac Casaubon, born #OnThisDay 1559) beside original Greek in parallel columns of 2nd-century Macedonian author Polyaenus’ “Stratagems in War.”
Do not grieve over those who die (for this is a necessary thing), but over those who meet a shameful end. - Polyaenus the Epicurean
April 14, 2025 at 4:13 PM
Do not grieve over those who die (for this is a necessary thing), but over those who meet a shameful end. - Polyaenus the Epicurean
Mine is from Polyaenus. Agathocles is working with a general who likes young men, so he sends his own handsome son to distract him for a few days. While he's distracted and most of his troops are out foraging, Agathocles attacks, kills the general, and absorbs the now leaderless army into his own.
August 5, 2026 at 3:00 PM
Mine is from Polyaenus. Agathocles is working with a general who likes young men, so he sends his own handsome son to distract him for a few days. While he's distracted and most of his troops are out foraging, Agathocles attacks, kills the general, and absorbs the now leaderless army into his own.
This wild painting by Paul-Marie Lenoir (1872) depicts the Battle of Pelusium 525 BC, during which the Persians, according to a legend by Polyaenus, used cats as an early form of psychological warfare.
February 15, 2025 at 8:46 PM
This wild painting by Paul-Marie Lenoir (1872) depicts the Battle of Pelusium 525 BC, during which the Persians, according to a legend by Polyaenus, used cats as an early form of psychological warfare.
(21) PHerc. 1067 - POLYAENUS OF LAMPSACUS ON STRATAGEMS ◊ˢᵀᴿᴬᵀᴬᴳᴱᴹᴬ Actual Herculaneum Papyrus Reconstruction The Third Epicurean Scholarch's Lost Military Mathematics
latinum.substack.com/p/pherc-1067...
latinum.substack.com/p/pherc-1067...
PHerc. 1067 - POLYAENUS OF LAMPSACUS ON STRATAGEMS ◊ˢᵀᴿᴬᵀᴬᴳᴱᴹᴬ Actual Herculaneum Papyrus Reconstruction The Third Epicurean Scholarch's Lost Military Mathematics
TEXT 133: PHerc.
latinum.substack.com
September 23, 2025 at 6:07 PM
(21) PHerc. 1067 - POLYAENUS OF LAMPSACUS ON STRATAGEMS ◊ˢᵀᴿᴬᵀᴬᴳᴱᴹᴬ Actual Herculaneum Papyrus Reconstruction The Third Epicurean Scholarch's Lost Military Mathematics
latinum.substack.com/p/pherc-1067...
latinum.substack.com/p/pherc-1067...
Vous ne décevrez jamais votre maman autant que Pausanias l'a fait.
![Extract from the Wikipedia page for the Spartan general Pausanias.
According to Thucydides, Diodorus and Polyaenus, Pausanias, pursued by the ephors, took refuge in the temple of Athena "of the Brazen House" (Χαλκίοικος, Chalkioikos) (located in the acropolis of Sparta). Pausanias' mother Theano (Ancient Greek: Θεανώ) immediately went to the temple, and laid a brick at the door saying: "Unworthy to be a Spartan, you are not my son" (according to Diodorus). Following the mother's example, the Spartans blocked the doorway with bricks and forced Pausanias to die of starvation. After Pausanias' body was turned over to relatives for burial, the divinity through the Oracle of Delphi showed displeasure at the violation of the sanctity of supplicants. The oracle said that Athena demanded the return of the supplicant. Unable to carry out the injunction of the goddess, the Spartans set up two bronze statues of Pausanias at the temple of Athena. [19][20][21]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:qzkkps73qu3yqldfnmk2pu6n/bafkreiajlgnojqiei62rrbrdxipd6v6tirj4z7b3siymnrezahfljswscu)
July 6, 2025 at 11:11 PM
Vous ne décevrez jamais votre maman autant que Pausanias l'a fait.
Does orientalism explain the preference for Sun Tzu over, say, Polyaenus? Or is it that the former purports to be a singular vision while the latter collects exempla from other outstanding generals.
September 19, 2025 at 3:46 PM
Does orientalism explain the preference for Sun Tzu over, say, Polyaenus? Or is it that the former purports to be a singular vision while the latter collects exempla from other outstanding generals.
letters proving the great humanity and kindness of the early Epicurean master Polyaenus—he was nice to children (fr. 5 col. X XIII), and even to Stoics (fr. 5 col. XXIV)"!😀
September 7, 2024 at 2:26 PM
letters proving the great humanity and kindness of the early Epicurean master Polyaenus—he was nice to children (fr. 5 col. X XIII), and even to Stoics (fr. 5 col. XXIV)"!😀
Artemisia I of Caria (fl. 480 BC)
The Ancient Greek Queen of Halicarnassus, ruled during the late 5th century BC. She was an ally to the King of Persia, Xerxes I, and fought for him during the second Persian invasion of Greece, commanding 5 ships at the Battle of Salamis.
The Ancient Greek Queen of Halicarnassus, ruled during the late 5th century BC. She was an ally to the King of Persia, Xerxes I, and fought for him during the second Persian invasion of Greece, commanding 5 ships at the Battle of Salamis.
January 25, 2025 at 7:57 AM
Artemisia I of Caria (fl. 480 BC)
The Ancient Greek Queen of Halicarnassus, ruled during the late 5th century BC. She was an ally to the King of Persia, Xerxes I, and fought for him during the second Persian invasion of Greece, commanding 5 ships at the Battle of Salamis.
The Ancient Greek Queen of Halicarnassus, ruled during the late 5th century BC. She was an ally to the King of Persia, Xerxes I, and fought for him during the second Persian invasion of Greece, commanding 5 ships at the Battle of Salamis.