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Roman Artillery by Gaius Vedennius Moderatus, Architectus
The formidable firepower of the Roman army was
achieved by hand thrown weapons (pila;slingshots), hand drawn longbows
and composite bows, mechanical crossbows (arcuballistae), and
winched bolt-shooting and stone-throwing catapults.
The Romans adopted the torsion artillery
invented by Greek engineers - catapults powered by highly tensioned
and twisted rope springs.Greek and Roman artillery is the best understood
of all branches of ancient applied technology because of the remarkable
survival of a collection of technical manuals written by engineers.
The Society's artillery officer, Moderatus, is engaged in long-term
research on these texts and on the growing number of archaeological
finds of catapult parts. This enables the Society's professional
engineer, Fatalis, to build full size reconstructions, which are
put through a programme of tests designed to assess the weapons'
capabilities
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This ballista is a
palintone or stone throwing machine. "Bestia" represents
the smallest stone thrower in the Roman army. It is a 2 libra (
2 pounder ). The stones would not be capable of knocking down walls,
but would be ideal if used against groups of warriors or being dropped
into hill forts or towns. |
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The Three-span or Larger
Scorpion bolt-shooter, is constructed from the description
by Vitruvius, Augustus' catapult engineer, and from finds such
as the iron frame discovered at Caminreal, Spain. The scorpion's
accuracy is praised by Caesar, and it was the standard legionary
catapult at the time of the Roman invasion of Britain.
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By AD 101 the
Roman army had redesigned the bolt-shooter, replacing its rather
clumsy iron-plated wooden frame with a brilliantly engineered metal
framework that increased the power and allowed an unobstructed view
of the target. A few parts from machines of this type have
been found, and an illustrated text survives describing the smallest
version of this new design, the Manuballista or
LesserScorpion Modern reconstructions of the Manuballista
as a stomach-bow ignore the categorical statement by Heron
that torsion catapults were so powerful that they required
winches. |
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Stone-throwing catapults
A much revised version of the standard two-arm
stone-throwing catapult, as described by Philon, Heron and Vitruvius,
is under construction. No parts of this type of catapult have
yet been found. |
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A semi-automatic catapult
A detailed verbal description is given by Philon
of the Polybolos ("multi-shooter"), a repeating bolt-shooting
catapult designed by Dionysius of Alexandria in the 3rd
century BC. This remarkable catapult is worked by a windlass
driving a double chain drive, by catches that automatically lock
and release the trigger, and by a cam mechanism that feeds bolts
from a magazine. The first full reconstruction has been
built by Moderatus for the BBC2 series "What the Romans did for
us." It offers a rate of fire at least three times
that of a standard scorpion, and it could be locked onto a target.
The Roman army would have known of this machine and may well have
used it. |
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The Society's reconstructions
of Roman artillery displayed at public events are based on the
most up to date information and research. Their strike-power
and accuracy are demonstrated in Adam Hart-Davis' programme "Invasion"
in the above BBC2 series.
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Alan Wilkins
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