Aeneas Tacticus

Aeneas Tacticus^[1] (Ancient Greek: Αἰνείας ὁ Τακτικός, romanized: Aineías ho Taktikós; fl. 4th century BC) was one of the earliest Greek writers on the art of war and is credited as the first author to provide a complete guide to securing military communications.^[2] Polybius described his design for a hydraulic semaphore system.^[3][4]

Part-title page of the first printed edition of Aeneas Tacticus, by Isaac Casaubon, an appendix to his edition of Polybius (Cologne, 1609)

Aeneas Tacticus
Native name	Αἰνείας ὁ Τακτικός
Occupation	Writer
Nationality	Greek
Period	4th century BC
Subject	Art of war
Notable works	How to Survive under Siege

A reconstruction of the hydraulic telegraph of Aeneas Tacticus in Kotsanas Museum of Ancient Greek Technology, Athens, Greece.

According to Aelianus Tacticus and Polybius, he wrote a number of treatises (Ὑπομνήματα) on the subject. The only extant one, How to Survive under Siege (Ancient Greek: Περὶ τοῦ πῶς χρὴ πολιορκουμένους ἀντέχειν, Perì toû pôs chrḕ poliorkouménous antéchein), deals with the best methods of defending a fortified city. An epitome of the whole was made by Cineas, minister of Pyrrhus, king of Epirus. The work is chiefly valuable as containing a large number of historical illustrations.^[5]

Aeneas was considered by Isaac Casaubon to have been a contemporary of Xenophon and identical with the Arcadian general Aeneas of Stymphalus, whom Xenophon (Hellenica, vii.3) mentions as fighting at the Battle of Mantinea (362 BC).^[5]