![Ballista (PSF) vector](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3e/Ballista_%28PSF%29_vector.svg)
The ballista (
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
, from
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
βαλλίστρα ''ballistra'' and that from βάλλω ''ballō'', "throw"), plural ballistae, sometimes called bolt thrower, was an
ancient
Ancient history is a time period from the History of writing, beginning of writing and recorded human history to as far as late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the Sumerian language, Sumerian c ...
missile weapon
A ranged weapon is any weapon that can engage targets beyond hand-to-hand distance, i.e. at distances greater than the physical reach of the user holding the weapon itself. The act of using such a weapon is also known as shooting. It is someti ...
that launched either bolts or stones at a distant target.
Developed from earlier Greek weapons, it relied upon different mechanics, using two levers with
torsion
Torsion may refer to:
Science
* Torsion (mechanics), the twisting of an object due to an applied torque
* Torsion of spacetime, the field used in Einstein–Cartan theory and
** Alternatives to general relativity
* Torsion angle, in chemistry
Bio ...
springs instead of a tension prod (the bow part of a modern
crossbow
A crossbow is a ranged weapon using an elastic launching device consisting of a bow-like assembly called a ''prod'', mounted horizontally on a main frame called a ''tiller'', which is hand-held in a similar fashion to the stock of a long fi ...
). The springs consisted of several loops of twisted
skeins. Early versions projected heavy
darts
Darts or dart-throwing is a competitive sport in which two or more players bare-handedly throw small projectile point, sharp-pointed projectile, missiles known as dart (missile), darts at a round shooting target, target known as a #Dartboard, dar ...
or spherical stone projectiles of various sizes for
siege warfare
A siege is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition, or a well-prepared assault. This derives from la, sedere, lit=to sit. Siege warfare is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict characterized ...
. It developed into a smaller precision weapon, the ''
scorpio'', and possibly the ''
polybolos
The polybolos (the name means "multi-thrower" in Greek) was an ancient Greek repeating ballista, reputedly invented by Dionysius of Alexandria (a 3rd-century BC Greek engineer at the Rhodes arsenal,) and used in antiquity. The polybolos w ...
''.
Greek weapon
The early ballistae in
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece ( el, Ἑλλάς, Hellás) was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity ( AD 600), that comprised a loose collection of cult ...
were developed from two weapons called
oxybeles
The oxybeles ( el, οξυβελής) was a weapon used by the Ancient Greeks starting in 375 BC. The word is derived from Ancient Greek: οξύς (''oxys'' = sharp, pointed) and βέλος (''belos'' = arrow). The weapon was basically an oversize ...
and
gastraphetes
The gastraphetes ( grc, γαστραφέτης, , belly-releaser), also called belly bow or belly shooter, was a hand-held crossbow used by the Ancient Greeks. It was described in the 1st century AD by the Greek author Heron of Alexandria in his ...
. The gastraphetes ('belly-bow') was a handheld crossbow. It had a composite prod and was spanned by bracing the front end of the weapon against the ground while placing the end of a slider mechanism against the stomach. The operator would then walk forward to arm the weapon while a ratchet prevented it from shooting during loading. This produced a weapon which, it was claimed, could be operated by a person of average strength but which had a power that allowed it to be successfully used against armoured troops. The oxybeles was a bigger and heavier construction employing a winch, and was mounted on a tripod. It had a lower rate of fire and was used as a siege engine.
With the invention of
torsion spring
A torsion spring is a spring that works by twisting its end along its axis; that is, a flexible elastic object that stores mechanical energy when it is twisted. When it is twisted, it exerts a torque in the opposite direction, proportional ...
bundle technology, the first ballistae were built. The advantage of this new technology was the fast relaxation time of this system. Thus it was possible to shoot lighter projectiles with higher velocities over a longer distance. By contrast, the comparatively slow relaxation time of a
tension machine such as the oxybeles meant that much less energy could be transferred to light projectiles, limiting the effective range of the weapon.
The earliest form of the ballista is thought to have been developed for
Dionysius of Syracuse, 400 BC.
The Greek ballista was a
siege weapon
A siege engine is a machine, device that is designed to break or circumvent heavy castle doors, thick city walls and other fortifications in siege warfare. Some are immobile, constructed in place to attack enemy fortifications from a distance, whi ...
. All components that were not made of wood were transported in the baggage train. It would be assembled with local wood, if necessary. Some were positioned inside large, armoured, mobile
siege tower
A Roman siege tower or breaching tower (or in the Middle Ages, a belfry''Castle: Stephen Biesty's Cross-Sections''. Dorling Kindersley Pub (T); 1st American edition (September 1994). Siege towers were invented in 300 BC. ) is a specialized siege ...
s or even on the edge of a battlefield. For all of the tactical advantages offered, it was only under
Philip II of Macedon
Philip II of Macedon ( grc-gre, Φίλιππος ; 382 – 21 October 336 BC) was the king ('' basileus'') of the ancient kingdom of Macedonia from 359 BC until his death in 336 BC. He was a member of the Argead dynasty, founders of the ...
, and even more so under his son
Alexander
Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history.
Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...
, that the ballista began to develop and gain recognition as both a siege engine and field artillery. Historical accounts, for instance, cited that Philip II employed a group of engineers within his army to design and build catapults for his military campaigns.
There is even a claim that it was Philip II with his team of engineers who invented the ballista after improving Dionysius's device, which was merely an oversized slingshot.
It was further perfected by Alexander, whose own team of engineers introduced innovations such as the idea of using springs made from tightly strung coils of rope instead of a bow to achieve more energy and power when throwing projectiles.
Polybius
Polybius (; grc-gre, Πολύβιος, ; ) was a Greek historian of the Hellenistic period. He is noted for his work , which covered the period of 264–146 BC and the Punic Wars in detail.
Polybius is important for his analysis of the mixed ...
reported about the usage of smaller, more portable ballistae, called
scorpions
Scorpions are predatory arachnids of the order Scorpiones. They have eight legs, and are easily recognized by a pair of grasping pincers and a narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward curve over the back and always end ...
, during the
Second Punic War
The Second Punic War (218 to 201 BC) was the second of three wars fought between Carthage and Rome, the two main powers of the western Mediterranean in the 3rd century BC. For 17 years the two states struggled for supremacy, primarily in Ital ...
.
Ballistae could be easily modified to shoot both spherical and shaft projectiles, allowing their crews to adapt easily to prevailing battlefield situations in real time.
As the role of battlefield artillery became more sophisticated, a
universal joint
A universal joint (also called a universal coupling or U-joint) is a joint or coupling connecting rigid shafts whose axes are inclined to each other. It is commonly used in shafts that transmit rotary motion. It consists of a pair of hinges lo ...
(which was invented just for this function) was integrated into the ballista's stand, allowing the operators to alter the trajectory and firing direction of the ballista as required without a lengthy disassembly of the machine.
Roman weaponry
![Bal BBC1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/68/Bal_BBC1.jpg)
After the absorption of the Ancient Greek city-states into the
Roman Republic
The Roman Republic ( la, Res publica Romana ) was a form of government of Rome and the era of the classical Roman civilization when it was run through public representation of the Roman people. Beginning with the overthrow of the Roman Kin ...
in 146 BC, the highly advanced Greek technology began to spread across many areas of Roman influence. This included the great military machine advances the Greeks had made (most notably by Dionysus of Syracuse), as well as all the scientific, mathematical, political and artistic developments.
The Romans adopted the torsion-powered ballista, which had by now spread to several cities around the Mediterranean, all of which became Roman spoils of war, including one from
Pergamon
Pergamon or Pergamum ( or ; grc-gre, Πέργαμον), also referred to by its modern Greek form Pergamos (), was a rich and powerful ancient Greece, ancient Greek city in Mysia. It is located from the modern coastline of the Aegean Sea on a ...
, which was depicted among a pile of trophy weapons in relief on a balustrade.
The torsion ballista, developed by Alexander, was a far more complicated weapon than its predecessor and the Romans developed it even further, especially into much smaller versions, that could be easily carried.
Early Roman ballistae
The early Roman ''ballistae'' were made of wood, and held together with iron plates around the frames and iron nails in the stand. The main stand had a slider on the top, into which were loaded the
bolts or stone ''shot''. Attached to this, at the back, was a pair of '
winch
A winch is a mechanical device that is used to pull in (wind up) or let out (wind out) or otherwise adjust the tension of a rope or wire rope (also called "cable" or "wire cable").
In its simplest form, it consists of a spool (or drum) attache ...
es' and a 'claw', used to
ratchet
Ratchet may refer to:
Devices
* Ratchet (device), a mechanical device that allows movement in only one direction
* Ratchet, metonomic name for a socket wrench incorporating a ratcheting device
* Ratchet (instrument), a music instrument and a ...
the bowstring back to the armed firing position.
The slider passed through the ''field frames'' of the weapon, in which were located the ''torsion springs'' (rope made of animal
sinew
A tendon or sinew is a tough, high-tensile-strength band of dense fibrous connective tissue that connects muscle to bone. It is able to transmit the mechanical forces of muscle contraction to the skeletal system without sacrificing its ability ...
), which were twisted around the bow arms, which in turn, were attached to the bowstring.
Drawing the bowstring back with the winches twisted the already taut springs, storing the energy to fire the projectiles. The bronze or iron caps, which secured the torsion bundles were adjustable by means of pins and peripheral holes, which allowed the weapon to be tuned for symmetrical power and for changing weather conditions.
The ''ballista'' was a highly accurate weapon (there are many accounts of single soldiers being picked off by (
ballistarii
Ballistarius (plural ''ballistarii'') were infantrymen of the Roman army who handled ballistae. They were classed as immunes
The ''immunes'' were Ancient Roman soldiers who possessed specialized skills. They were exempt from the more tedious ...
), but some design aspects meant it could compromise its accuracy for range. The maximum range was over , but the effective combat range for many targets was far shorter.
The Romans continued the development of the ''ballista'', and it became a highly prized and valued weapon in the army of the
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...
.
It was used, just before the start of the Empire, by
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, and ...
during his conquest of
Gaul
Gaul ( la, Gallia) was a region of Western Europe first described by the Romans. It was inhabited by Celtic and Aquitani tribes, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, most of Switzerland, parts of Northern Italy (only during ...
and on both of his campaigns in subduing Britain.
First invasion of Britain
The first of
Caesar's invasions of Britain
In the course of his Gallic Wars, Julius Caesar invaded Great Britain, Britain twice: in 55 and 54 BC. On the first occasion Caesar took with him only two legions, and achieved little beyond a landing on the coast of Kent. The second invasion co ...
took place in 55 BC, after a rapid and successful initial conquest of Gaul, in part as an expedition, and more practical to try to put an end to the reinforcements sent by the native Britons to fight the Romans in Gaul.
A total of eighty means of transport, carrying two legions, attempted to land on the British shore, only to be driven back by the many British warriors assembled along the shoreline. The ships had to unload their troops on the beach, as it was the only one suitable for many miles, yet the massed ranks of British
chariot
A chariot is a type of cart driven by a charioteer, usually using horses to provide rapid motive power. The oldest known chariots have been found in burials of the Sintashta culture in modern-day Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia, dated to c. 2000&nbs ...
eers and javeliners were making it difficult.
Seeing this, Caesar ordered the warships – which were swifter and easier to handle than the transports, and likely to impress the natives more by their unfamiliar appearance – to be removed a short distance from the others, and then be rowed hard and run ashore on the enemy’s right flank, from which position men on deck could use the slings, bows, and artillery to drive them back. This maneuver was highly successful.
Scared by the strange shape of the warships, the motion of the oars, and the unfamiliar machines, the natives halted and retreated. (Caesar, ''The Conquest of Gaul'', p.99)
Siege of Alesia
![Ballista-quadrirotis](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f7/Ballista-quadrirotis.jpeg)
In Gaul, the stronghold of
Alesia was
under a Roman siege in 52 BC, and was completely surrounded by a Roman fortification including a wooden
palisade
A palisade, sometimes called a stakewall or a paling, is typically a fence or defensive wall made from iron or wooden stakes, or tree trunks, and used as a defensive structure or enclosure. Palisades can form a stockade.
Etymology
''Palisade' ...
and towers. As was standard siege technique at the time, small ''ballistae'' were placed in the towers with other troops armed with
bows or
slings. The use of the ''ballista'' in the Roman siege strategy was also demonstrated in the case of the
Siege of Masada
The siege of Masada was one of the final events in the First Jewish–Roman War, occurring from 73 to 74 CE on and around a hilltop in present-day Israel.
The siege is known to history via a single source, Flavius Josephus, a Jewish rebel leade ...
.
Ballistae in the Roman Empire
During the conquest of the Empire, the ballista proved its worth many times in sieges and battles, both at sea and on land. It is from the time of the Roman Empire that many of the archaeological finds of ballistae date. Accounts by the finders, including technical manuals and journals, are used today by archaeologists to reconstruct these weapons.
After Julius Caesar, the ballista was a permanent fixture in the Roman army and, over time, modifications and improvements were made by successive engineers. This included replacing the remaining wooden parts of the machine with metal, creating a much smaller, lighter and more powerful machine than the wooden version, which required less maintenance (though the vital torsion springs were still vulnerable to the strain). The largest ballistae of the 4th century could throw a dart further than 1200 yards (1,100 m). The weapon was named ''ballista fulminalis'' in ''
De rebus bellicis
''De rebus bellicis'' ("On the Things of Wars") is an anonymous work of the 4th or 5th century which suggests remedies for the military and financial problems in the Roman Empire, including a number of fanciful war machines. It was written af ...
'': "From this ballista, darts were projected not only in great number but also at a large size over a considerable distance, such as across the width of the Danube River." Ballistae were not only used in laying siege: after AD 350, at least 22
semi-circular towers were erected around
the walls
The Walls are an Irish rock band. They were formed in 1998 by two ex-members of The Stunning – brothers Steve and Joe Wall. Their debut album ''Hi-Lo'' was released in 2000 and included the singles "Bone Deep", "Something's Wrong" and "Some ...
of
Londinium
Londinium, also known as Roman London, was the capital of Roman Britain during most of the period of Roman rule. It was originally a settlement established on the current site of the City of London around AD 47–50. It sat at a key cross ...
(
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
) to provide platforms for permanently mounted defensive devices.
Eastern Roman Empire
During the 6th century,
Procopius
Procopius of Caesarea ( grc-gre, Προκόπιος ὁ Καισαρεύς ''Prokópios ho Kaisareús''; la, Procopius Caesariensis; – after 565) was a prominent late antique Greek scholar from Caesarea Maritima. Accompanying the Roman gener ...
described the effects of this weapon:
But Belisarius placed upon the towers engines which they call "ballistae". Now these engines have the form of a bow, but on the under side of them a grooved wooden shaft projects; this shaft is so fitted to the bow that it is free to move, and rests upon a straight iron bed. So when men wish to shoot at the enemy with this, they make the parts of the bow which form the ends bend toward one another by means of a short rope fastened to them, and they place in the grooved shaft the arrow, which is about one half the length of the ordinary missiles which they shoot from bows, but about four times as wide...but the missile is discharged from the shaft, and with such force that it attains the distance of not less than two bow-shots, and that, when it hits a tree or a rock, it pierces it easily. Such is the engine which bears this name, being so called because it shoots with very great force...
The missiles were able to penetrate body-armour:
And at the Salarian Gate a Goth of goodly stature and a capable warrior, wearing a corselet and having a helmet on his head, a man who was of no mean station in the Gothic nation, refused to remain in the ranks with his comrades, but stood by a tree and kept shooting many missiles at the parapet. But this man by some chance was hit by a missile from an engine which was on a tower at his left. And passing through the corselet and the body of the man, the missile sank more than half its length into the tree, and pinning him to the spot where it entered the tree, it suspended him there a corpse.
Carroballista
![031 Conrad Cichorius, Die Reliefs der Traianssäule, Tafel XXXI (Ausschnitt 01)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8b/031_Conrad_Cichorius%2C_Die_Reliefs_der_Traianss%C3%A4ule%2C_Tafel_XXXI_%28Ausschnitt_01%29.jpg)
The carroballista was a cart-mounted version of the weapon. There were probably different models of ballista under the ''cheiroballistra'' class, at least two different two-wheeled models and one model with four wheels. Their probable size was roughly 1.47 m width, i.e., 5 Roman feet. The cart system and structure gave it a great deal of flexibility and capability as a battlefield weapon, since the increased maneuverability allowed it to be moved with the flow of the battle. This weapon features several times on
Trajan's Column
Trajan's Column ( it, Colonna Traiana, la, Columna Traiani) is a Roman triumphal column in Rome, Italy, that commemorates Roman emperor Trajan's victory in the Dacian Wars. It was probably constructed under the supervision of the architect Ap ...
.
Polybolos
![Ancient Mechanical Artillery](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5d/Ancient_Mechanical_Artillery._Pic_01.jpg)
It has been speculated that the Roman military may have also fielded a 'repeating' ballista, also known as a ''polybolos''. Reconstruction and trials of such a weapon carried out in a BBC documentary, ''What the Romans Did For Us'', showed that they "were able to shoot eleven bolts a minute, which is almost four times the rate at which an ordinary ballista can be operated". However, no example of such a weapon has been found by archaeologists.
Cheiroballistra and manuballista
The cheiroballistra and the manuballista are held by many archaeologists to be the same weapon. The difference in name may be attributable to the different languages spoken in the Empire. Latin remained the official language in the
Western Empire
The Western Roman Empire comprised the western provinces of the Roman Empire at any time during which they were administered by a separate independent Imperial court; in particular, this term is used in historiography to describe the period fr ...
, but the
Eastern Empire
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
predominantly used Greek, which added an extra 'r' to the word ballista.
The manuballista was a handheld version of the traditional ballista. This new version was made entirely of iron, which conferred greater power to the weapon, since it was smaller, and less iron (an expensive material before the 19th century), was used in its production. It was not the ancient
gastraphetes
The gastraphetes ( grc, γαστραφέτης, , belly-releaser), also called belly bow or belly shooter, was a hand-held crossbow used by the Ancient Greeks. It was described in the 1st century AD by the Greek author Heron of Alexandria in his ...
, but the Roman weapon. However, the same physical limitations applied as with the gastraphetes.
Archaeology and the Roman ballista
![Balista Cluj Museaum](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/10/Balista_Cluj_Museaum.JPG)
Archaeology, and in particular
experimental archaeology
Experimental archaeology (also called experiment archaeology) is a field of study which attempts to generate and test archaeological hypotheses, usually by replicating or approximating the feasibility of ancient cultures performing various tasks ...
has been influential on this subject. Although several ancient authors (such as
Vegetius
Publius (or Flavius) Vegetius Renatus, known as Vegetius (), was a writer of the Later Roman Empire (late 4th century). Nothing is known of his life or station beyond what is contained in his two surviving works: ''Epitoma rei militaris'' (also re ...
) wrote very detailed technical treatises, providing us with all the information necessary to reconstruct the weapons, all their measurements were in their native language and therefore highly difficult to translate.
Attempts to reconstruct these ancient weapons began at the end of the 19th century, based on rough translations of ancient authors. It was only during the 20th century, however, that many of the reconstructions began to make any sense as a weapon. By bringing in modern engineers, progress was made with the ancient systems of measurement. By redesigning the reconstructions using the new information, archaeologists in that specialty were able to recognize certain finds from Roman military sites, and identify them as ballistae. The information gained from the excavations was fed into the next generation of reconstructions and so on.
Sites across the empire have yielded information on ballistae, from Spain (the Ampurias Catapult), to Italy (the Cremona Battleshield, which proved that the weapons had decorative metal plates to shield the operators), to Iraq (the Hatra Machine) and even Scotland (Burnswark siege tactics training camp), and many other sites between.
The most influential archaeologists in this area have been
Peter Connolly
Peter William Connolly FSA (8 May 1935 – 2 May 2012) was a British scholar of the ancient world, Greek and Roman military equipment historian, reconstructional archaeologist and illustrator. He was a regular contributor to such periodicals as ...
and Eric Marsden,
[Marsden, E.W. (1971). ''Greek and Roman Artillery''. Technical Treatises (Oxford). Reprinted 1999 by Sandpiper] who have not only written extensively on the subject but have also made many reconstructions themselves and have refined the designs over many years of work.
Middle Ages
With the
decline of the Roman Empire
The fall of the Western Roman Empire (also called the fall of the Roman Empire or the fall of Rome) was the loss of central political control in the Western Roman Empire, a process in which the Empire failed to enforce its rule, and its vas ...
, resources to build and maintain these complex machines became very scarce, so the ballista was supplanted initially by the simpler and cheaper
onager
The onager (; ''Equus hemionus'' ), A new species called the kiang (''E. kiang''), a Tibetan relative, was previously considered to be a subspecies of the onager as ''E. hemionus kiang'', but recent molecular studies indicate it to be a distinct ...
and the more efficient
springald
A springald, or espringal, was a medieval torsion artillery device for throwing bolts. It is depicted in a diagram in an 11th-century Byzantine manuscript, but in Western Europe is more evident in the late 12th century and early 13th century. It wa ...
.
Though the weapon continued to be used in the
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
, it faded from popular use with the advent of the
trebuchet
A trebuchet (french: trébuchet) is a type of catapult that uses a long arm to throw a projectile. It was a common powerful siege engine until the advent of gunpowder. The design of a trebuchet allows it to launch projectiles of greater weigh ...
and
mangonel
The mangonel, also called the traction trebuchet, was a type of trebuchet used in Ancient China starting from the Warring States period, and later across Eurasia by the 6th century AD. Unlike the later counterweight trebuchet, the mangonel opera ...
in siege warfare.
While not a direct descendant mechanically, the concept and naming continues on as
arbalest
The arbalest (also arblast) was a late variation of the crossbow coming into use in Europe during the 12th century. A large weapon, the arbalest had a steel prod (the "bow" portion of the weapon). Since the arbalest was much larger than earlier ...
crossbows (''arcus'' 'bow' + ballista).
See also
*
Roman siege engines
Roman siege engines were, for the most part, adapted from Hellenistic siege technology. Relatively small efforts were made to develop the technology; however, the Romans brought an unrelentingly aggressive style to siege warfareGoldsworthy 2000: 1 ...
*
Roman military personal equipment
Roman military personal equipment was produced in large numbers to established patterns, and used in an established manner. These standard patterns and uses were called the ''res militaris'' or ''disciplina''. Its regular practice during the Roma ...
*
Roman infantry tactics
Roman infantry tactics refers to the theoretical and historical deployment, formation, and manoeuvres of the Roman infantry from the start of the Roman Republic to the fall of the Western Roman Empire. The focus below is primarily on Roman tactic ...
*
Harpax
The ''harpax'' or ''harpago'' ( ''lit.'' "grabber, seizer, robber"; GEN ''harpagos'') was a Roman catapult-shot grapnel created by Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa for use against Sextus Pompey during the naval battles of the Sicilian revolt.
The ha ...
Notes
References
* Caesar (tr Handforth), 1982, ''The Conquest of Gaul'', London: Penguin Books
* Campbell, D; 2003, ''Greek and Roman Artillery 399 BC – AD 363'', Osprey
* Connolly, P; 1975, ''The Roman Army'', Macdonald Educational
* Connolly, P; 1998, ''Greece and Rome at War'', Greenhill Books
* Feugère, M; 2002, ''Weapons of the Romans'', Arcadia
* Goldsworthy, A; 2003, ''The Complete Roman Army'', Thames and Hudson
* Marsden, E.W; 1971, ''Greek and Roman Technical Treatises'', Clarendon
* Warry, J.; 1995, ''Warfare in the Classical World'', Salamander Books Ltd., London: United Kingdom.
* Wilkins, A; 2003, ''Roman Artillery'', Shire Archaeology
External links
Roman Stone Throwing BallistaThe reconstruction of a full-size working ballista by BBC TV and the Discovery ChannelThe Ballista Project 2005 - 2007YouTubeWayback Machine
{{Authority control
Projectile weapons
Roman siege engines
Ancient Greek artillery
Roman artillery
Greek inventions