Scale models and the coastal fortifications of Malta

Abstract

Building fortifications and preparing for war has always demanded a good deal of planning. From around the sixteenth century onwards, a large part of the military engineers’ planning efforts came to be increasingly invested in acquiring an understanding of the landscape in order to ensure the most efficient exploitation of its features. To this end, meticulous scientific surveying and the creation of detailed maps and plans became a sine qua non of all military endeavours, critical in both in the implementation of defensive schemes as well as in the preparation of offensive campaigns.