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Main information about ancient artillery comes from the five surviving Greek and Roman sources:
two treatises by [[Heron of Alexandria]], Belopoeika and Cheiroballistra, and from the books by [[Biton of Pergamon]], [[Philo of Byzantium]] and [[Vitruvius]]<ref name="Treatises">{{cite book|
first=E.A.|last=Marsden|title=Greek and Roman artillery. Technical treatises|publisher=Oxford at the Clarendon press|year=1971|ISBN=0198142692}}</ref>
Ancient artillery consisted of elasticity-driven devices for shooting projectiles 
(arrows, bolts, stones etc.)
which evolved from the [[composite bow]].

The earilest artillery pieces, like [[Gastraphetes|gasrtaphetes]] were driven by a composite bow. According
to Marsden's analysis of ancient sources, 
they were invented in [[Syracuse, Sicily|Syracuse]] in 399 BC,
when [[tyrant]] [[Dionysius I of Syracuse|Dionysius I]] gathered there an assembly of expert craftsmen to conduct
a research on new armament.<ref name="Diodorus">{{cite book|last=[[Diodorus Siculus]]|title=Historical library
}}</ref> XVI.41.1-3. 
.<ref name="Marsden">{{cite book|first=E.A.|last=Marsden|title=Greek and Roman Artillery. Historical development|
year=1969|publisher=Oxford at the Clarendon Press}}</ref> [[Diodorus Siculus|Diodorus]] says that these were the first
catapults, and describes the impression new weapons made during the [[siege of Motya]] by Dionisius.
These catapults were arrow shooting and it is conjectured that they were powered by a composite bow.

More powerful pieces were driven by [[torsion (mechanics)|torsion]] of a spring made of an appropriate organic
material, usually [[sinew]] or hair, human or horse. Torsion-powered pieces were
probably invented in Macedonia, shortly before the times of [[Alexander the Great|Alexander III]].
According to Philo, [[Ctesibius]] experimented with metal springs and pneumatically-powered machines, but there is
no record of their actual use.<ref name="Marsden"/> The reason is that metal springs were not
sufficiently resilent at that time. In the Middle Age metal springs were successively used
in [[crossbow]]s.

The stone-throwing machines were torsion-powered, and their first recorded use is in the 
[[Siege of Tyre (332 BC)|siege
of Tyre]] by Aexander.<ref name="Tarn">{{cite book|first=W.|last=Tarn|title=Hellenistic naval and military developments|publisher=Ares Publ.|place=Chicago|year=1975}}</ref>

Torsion artillery reached its highest development in the [[Hellenistic period]], probably at the time of [[Demetrius I of Macedon|Demetrius Polyorcetes]]. No improvement, except in details,
were ever made upon the catapults of Demetrius.<ref name="Tarn"/>
The Romans obtained their knowledge from the Greeks, and employed the Greek specialists.
Torsion artillery was used until after the spread of gunpowder.

==Nomenclature==

The names of the artillery pieces changed with time. Though all inventions in the field
of artillery were made by the Greeks, the best known are the Latin names,
ballista and catapulta. ''Catapulta'' (καταπελτης οξνβελης) originally meant an arrow- or bolt- throwing engine.
A ''ballista'' (καταπελτης  λιτοβολος or πετροβολος) was a more powerful machine primarily designed for throwing stones. Sometimes
ballistae were used to fire extraordinary projectiles, like pots with snakes, or even parts
of dead bodies, with the purpose of terrifying the enemy. For example, the Romans catapulted to the camp of [[Hannibal]] [[Hasdrubal (Barcid)|the head of his brother]] Hasdrubal.
Artillery was also used as flame carriers. During the last night of [[Demetrius I of Macedon|Demetrius]] attack on Rhodes the Rhodians fired 800 cylinders with some incendiary
substance; the cylinders being subsequently collected and counted; they managed
to set fire on Demetrius' [[Helepolis|armored tower]].

At some time between 100 CE and 300 CE a change occurred in the nomenclature. Thus in the 4th century CE catapulta indicates a one-armed stone-throwing engine, also known as [[Onager (siege weapon)|onager]], while ballista means a two-armed piece which shoots bolts only.

The authors of Greek treatises classified artillery pieces into two categories:
''euthytones'' and ''palintones''. Hero writes that eutitones were arrow-throwing,
while palintones usually stone throwing, but sometimes could also shoot arrows or both.
The precise meaning of these terms is disputed.<ref>{{cite news|first=Duncan|last=Campbell|
title=Ancient catapults: some hypotheses reexamined|journal=Hesperia|volume=80|year=2011|pages=677–700}}</ref> According to Schramm, Marden and their followers, this distinction reflects the
difference in the shape of the detail of the frame which is called "hole carrier".<ref name="Marsden"/>  According to the so-called "French school", the arms of an eurhytone
extended outside the frame, while the arms of a palintone moved inside the frame.<ref>{{cite web|author=Heron d'Alexandrie|title=La Chiroballiste (French translation by V. Prou)|url=  http://remacle.org/bloodwolf/erudits/heronalexandrie/chirobaliste.htm#_ftnref42}}</ref>
The problem arises because the ancient descriptions that we have do not contain original pictures, and the meaning of certain technical terms is unclear.

==Dimensions, materials and performance==

Much research was done by Hellenistic Greek scientists and craftsmen on the design of artillery
pieces. The main parameter that determines the sizes of all parts of the machine is the
weight of the projectile or the length of the bolt (arrow).
The fundamental size characteristic is called the hole diameter; it is the same as the diameter
of the spring (which is a bunch of sinew rope). Vitruvius gives the following formulas for
the hole diameter: it is the length of the bolt divided by 9 for the bolt-throwing machines, or
: <math> 1.1 (100W)^{1/3},</math>
for the stone-throwing machines, where W is the weight of
the projectile in Attic minas (1 mina=436.6 g), and the hole diameter is measured in dactyls (1 dactyl=19.3&nbsp;mm). Then the dimensions of all parts are defined as fixed multiples of the hole
diameter, for example the length of the arm is 7 hole diameters.

Most of the frame detail were made in the Hellenistic period of wood. 
Hero of Alexandria proposed metal frame and metal cylinders to enclose the springs.
Depictions on [[Trajan's column]] and archelogical evidence indicate that these
metal artillery pieces were widely used by the Romans.

An important detail, washer used in the stretching
of the spring was always made of metal, 
and these washers are the only pieces of Hellenistic artillery, besides the stone balls
and arrowheads
which are found by archeologists.

The preferred material for the springs was sinew and human hair.
Horse hair was considered an inferior substitute. In 250 BC, [[Rhodes]] sent to [[Sinop, Turkey|Sinope]]
for her war with [[Mitridates]] about 3/4 of a ton of women's hair. In 225 BC [[Seleucus III Ceraunus|Seleucus]]
gave Rhodes a present of hair weighting 1000 talents.<ref name="Tarn"/><ref name="Morrison">
{{cite book|first=J.S.|last=Morrison|title=Greek and Roman oared warships|year=1996|publisher=
Oxbow books|place=Oxford|page=355}}</ref> This gift was a part of
international relief program after a catastrophic [[226 BC Rhodes earthquake|earthquake]].
This shows that a large trade in human hair existed in Hellenistic period.

A typical ballista could throw a stone weighting 1 [[talent (measurement)|talent]] (60 minae = 26.2&nbsp;kg) at the distance
of 400 yards. There existed heavy ballistae able to throw stones weighting 3 talents and more.

Much longer ranges were claimed by [[Athenaeus Mechanicus]] ''...a three-span catapult shot 700 yards (three and half stades); its springs weighted twelve minae. A four-cubit palintone engine shot 800 yards (four stades)''.<ref name="Marsden"/>

Athenaeus mentions a catapulte designed by [[Archimedes]] which could throw a three talent stone
at the distance of one stade. This catapult was installed on a ship.<ref>{{cite web|author=Athenaeus|
title=The deipnosophists|page=V.43|url= http://www.attalus.org/old/athenaeus5b.html}}</ref>
[[Polybius]] (VIII,7,9) writes that catapults used to defend Syracuse during the [[Siege of Syracuse (214–212 BC)|siege]] by [[Marcus Claudius Marcellus|Marcellus]] were throwing
stones of 10 talents (262&nbsp;kg).
The largest weight of projectiles mentioned in Vitruvius is 460 pounds.

When describing the [[Siege of Jerusalem (70)|siege of Jerusalem]] by [[Titus]], [[Josephus]] writes that
''the stone balls that were being hurled weighted one talent and traveled two or more stades
(400 yards)''.

Philo of Byzantium writes that the stone walls have to be at least 10 cubits (about 3 meters) thick to be
unaffected by stone-shot.

According to Schramm, the best arrow-throwing catapults could be trusted to kill a man at 100 yards,
so the accuracy was better than of an early 19th century musket.<ref name="Tarn"/>

==Use==

The main use of artillery was in the siege of fortified places. The heavy stone-throwing pieces were
used to destroy the walls, while the lighter arrow-shooting pieces to clear the walls from
the enemy defending them<ref name="Marsden"/>

Several attempts to use artillery in the field are recorded but they were mostly unsuccessful,
except when the artillery could be deployed in some protected place. For example, in the 
[[Battle of Jaxartes]] Alexander used catapults to clear the further bank of the river.

The artillery pieces were transported in disassembled state, and it took long time to
assemble, install and adjust them. In many cases only few essential parts of artillery pieces were
transported, the rest could be made on the place of a siege if timber was available.

Artillery was used in naval battles, as mentioned in Diodorus,<ref name="Diodorus"/> book XX.
Both Alexander and Demetrius mounted
catapults on ships for the purpose of attacking fortresses.<ref name="Tarn"/>

==Testing modern replicas==

Many attempts were made in modern times to reproduce the ancient artillery pieces, following
their ancient descriptions, and to test them. The first success was due to German general E. Schramm
in collaboration with A. Rehm.<ref>
{{cite book|first=E.|last=Schramm|title=Die antiken Geschutze der Saalburg|place=Berlin|year=1918}}</ref> They used horse hair for the springs, and achieved the distance of over 300 m with 1 pound lead shot, and using another machine, 370 meters with 1 meter bolt. This bolt penetrated an iron-plated shield 3&nbsp;cm thick to half of the bolts length.

Nowadays many working replicas of various types exist.<ref>{{cite web|
title=Catapulta and onager|url=http://www.legionxxiv.org/catapulta}}</ref>

==See also==

*[[Ballista]]

*[[Catapulta]]
*[[Carroballista]]
*[[Cheiroballistra]]
*[[Hellenistic armies]]
*[[Lithobolos]]
*[[Polybolos]]
*[[Scorpio (weapon)]]
*[[Torsion siege engine]]

==References==

<references />

==External links==
* {{cite web|last=[[Diodorus Siculus]]|title=Historical Library |url=http://www.attalus.org/info/diodorus.html}}

*{{cite web|last=[[Polybius]]|title=The histories|url=http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Plb.+toc&redirect=true}}

{{Uncategorized|date=February 2014}}