siege Copy link Outline 1. oppugnātio (most gen. and comprehensive term, but implying active attack of a place)2. obsĭdio, obsessio (which denote sitting down before a place and investing it without active attack). to compel an enemy to raise the s. of a place, (urbem) obsidione liberare, Caes. B. G. 4, 193. later, obsĭdium, in same sense4. circumsessio (hostile investment • siege: 1. oppugnātio (most gen. and comprehensive term, but implying active attack of a place): concerning s.s of towns, (as a branch of the military art), de oppidorum o., Cic. de Or. 1, 48, 210: Liv.: to raise a s., o. dimittere, Caes. B. G. 7, 17; omittere, id. B. C. 3. 24 (obsessionem o.): relinquere, Tac. A. 15, 16. Also the verb oppugno may often expr. the subs.: the s. of Saguntum began ..., S. oppugnari coeptum est, Liv. 21, 15 the s. of Saguntum had already begun, S. jam oppugnabatur, ib. C. 7. 2. obsĭdio, obsessio (which denote sitting down before a place and investing it without active attack). to compel an enemy to raise the s. of a place, (urbem) obsidione liberare, Caes. B. G. 4, 19: v. blockade. 3. later, obsĭdium, in same sense: Tac. 4. circumsessio (hostile investment: rare): Cic. Phr.: to lay s. to, oppugnare: more fully, (urbem) operibus oppugnare, Liv. 37, 5; [hardly oppugnationem inferre in this sense, though it may be used with non-milit. meaning: cf. Cic. Coel. 9, init.], obsidēre (v. to blockade): circumsedēre (to invest), Liv. 21, 10. Relating to s.s:--(1.) oppugnātōrius (serving for attack of towns): I have now to speak of s. works, restat mihi de oppugnatoriis rebus (dicere), Vitr. 10, 12 (18). (2.) obsĭdiōnālis, e: esp. in phr. corona obsidionalis (crown given to a general for saving a city from s. or blockade), Gell. 5, 6.