[ ~ Ee Greek and Roman Artillery 399 BC-AD 363 uncan B Campbell - Illustrated by Brian DelfDUNCAN B CAMPBELL is ‘specialist in ancient Greek and oman warfare. He published his frst paper in 1984 as an undergraduate at Glasgow University and produced a complete re-assessment of Roman siegecratt for his PhO. ‘Over the years his work has appeared in several International journals. He lives near the Antonine Wall in Scotland with his wife and son. BRIAN DELF began his career working in a London art studio producing artwork for advertising and commercial publications. Since 1972, he has worked as a freelance lustrator on a variety of subjects including natural history, architecture and technical cutaways. Some of his recently illustrated books have been published in over 20 countries. Brian lives and works in Oxfordshire. CONTENTS INTRODUCTION * The invention of the © The gastraphetes Advanced bow-machines (Plate A) * Early artillery fortifications? apult THE ARROW-FIRING CATAPULT OF THE GREEKS 8 #4th-century developments # The arrow-firer in the $rd century (Plate B) # The design of the arrow-firer: the spring-frame # The design of the arrow-firer: the stock and stand * The design of the arrowfirer: the washers THE STONE-PROJECTING CATAPULT OF THE GREEKS * Early developments he design of the stone-projector: the spring-frame and stock # The design of the stone-projector: the washers # The stone-projector from Alexander to Demetrius (Plate C) # The ealibres of stone missiles ROMAN ARTILLERY: THE REPUBLIC AND EARLY EMPIRE # The legacy of the Greeks * Antillery in the Republic © Vitruvius’s arrovefirer # Vitruvius’s stone-projector * Artillery in the early Empire (Plate D) # Roman artillery missiles THE ROMAN ARTILLERY REVOLUTION © The iron-framed arrow-irer (Plate E) # Heron's cheivoballistra © The design of the arrow-firing ballista: the field-frames # The design of t ng balliste: the spring. # The stone-projecting ballista (Plate F) * The stone-projecting onager (Plate G) CONCLUSION REFERENCES COLOUR PLATE COMMENTARY INDEX 15 22 37 43 43 45 48New Vanguard + 89 OSPREY Greek and Roman Artillery 399 BC-AD 363 | Duncan B Campbell « Illustrated by Brian DelfFist published in Great Bran n 2003 by Osprey Publishing, Elms Cou, (Chapel iy, ties, Oxers OX2 LP, Unt Kingcom. mal nfoGespreypublshne.com (©2003 Osprey Pubishing Li ‘Aghts rsered Apart rom alk dealing fer the purpose of private sty, resoach, ela or eviaw, as parted unser the Copyright. Designs ard Patents Act 1088, no ato his publication maybe reproduced, sored na rebieal systan,ortaramitd in any forn of by ary aan tector, ‘ecirical, chemical, mechanical, optical, photocopying, recorng or chro “arto he pir writen pormission ofthe copyant owner. Enqures should be acchwese tthe Publis, ISN 1 asr766a4 8 story los Publehing. Oxford, UX (wanatospubishing com) Design: Massa Orr Suan Inge by Atson Wortogton ‘ngnatac by ecole Page Company, Cambran, UK Prined China tough Wes Prt Li ca ob 05 06 07 10987854921 A.C catalogue rece ors book is avaliable Hom the Btsh Library. Fora catalogue ofall books pushed by Ospeey Mitary ng Alton please contact (spray Okect UK, RO. Box 140, Welingboough, Northants, NN 2, UK mal: niodospreyct co. Csray Dect USA, 2/6 MBI Publehing. FO Box 1 728 Proapect Ave, Osceola, Wt 54020, USA al ntoBoupreycrectua com wm ospreypubishingcom t’s note acl may cae to nat hat he orga pings frm which te colour plats inthis book were propre ee avaliable or pevate sale. The Publishers retain all eproducton copyght whatcoove. Al enguas chou be addrested i ‘an De, 7 Burcot Park, Bure, Aoingdon, Oxon OX SDH, UK ‘Ts Planers prt Matthey can enter nto no correspondence upon ts A note on measurements ‘Acugh the Romans imposed a standard ym of weights ang measures ‘270s tar arte vera ite systems ha! west nthe Greek Wor For expe, the Grea tot, subctvided int 16 dak, hasbeen four to vary ‘between 27 and 360m, depending upon the geographical region. However, an Intermediate vaiue of 30.88em was wldaly employe and maybe deemed an acceptable average, The stancarc foot ofthe Romans, by conta, measured ‘2a.S7om: twas smarty esodvided eto 16th eae cits, he Lt orm ot the Grane diy or vo 12s ‘Several wight stanaurss were employed inthe Greck world, al based on the {60-mina alent, However, the Atic standard uted at Athens, with mina of 496.63, was pre erent The Roman system was based on the pound His) (0122789, whlch was exactly tree-quaers ofthe At mina. ‘Greek weights and measurements: 60 mina = talon = 26.249 ‘2A cays =2 soars = 1 cub = 6.240m 16 dake = 18 = 30.886r FRomen weights and measurements: 80 ae = 1 tet = 26.249 24.3gte= 2 spane~ 1 cub = 48.350 Acknowledgements | am pleased te achronedge te genecay of sever ineiduas in upeling erations forte Book: Det Baul: Megan Doyon (Yale University At ‘Gallery; Chr's Hanes (Eine Soot Guat JO Vieente Red: and Alan ‘Wikis owe a greater debt to Prt. Dr Bate, who has paint nsiered my _quanee ove he ast 20 years an whose publication of he Hata base frst ‘ira my interest nance rir. For his reason | eepoctuly dedicate this book toi, Fn, & would ba eis of me not otha Eas Det an my ‘tar, Marcus Cowper, or hl patience in corwarting my notes and sketches Int Boe sere of colour plates.GREEK AND ROMAN ARTILLERY Schramm’s reconstruction of tho gastraphet6s incorporated a steel bow, which is now Considered to be wrong. The ‘manufacture of an authontic composite bow of this sizo was a highly specialised business that might have taken up to a year to complete. (Author's photo) 399 BC-AD 363, INTRODUCTION The invention of the catapult The historian Diodorus Siculus writes that, in 399 nc, the catapult (katapeltikon) was invented under the patronage of Dionysius I, tyrant of Syracuse. However, the weapon did not suddenly arrive out of the blue In a work entitled Ciesibius’s manufacture of missite weapons (Kiesibiow Belopoitka), the Roman engineer Heron of Alexandria explains that the catapult was inspired by an earlier mechanical weapon, the ‘belly shooter’ (gastraphetés). Another author, Biton, who is often unjustly diser ited asa fraud, describes two advanced forms of the gastraphetés, he credits these to Zopyrus, an engineer from Tarentum in southern Italy who may have been active towards the end of the 5th century Bc Developments made by Zopyrus brought this mechanical hand-weapon into the realm of crewed artillery and allowed the development of the catapult The gastraphetés In its original form, the gastraphetés consisted of a powerful composite bow, mounted transversely on a stock so that it vaguely resembled the later crossbow, It took its name, ‘belly shooter’, from the concave rest at its rear end, against which the (or pon archer braced his stomach while drawiny spanning’) the bow. The stock of the we comprised two features that were crucial to the development of the catapult: the syrinx (or ‘pipe’) and the didstra (‘slider’). The syrinx was the body of the weapon; the bow was fixed to the front of it the concave rest to the rear, The didsira was a somewhat shorter board, dovetailed on top of the syrinx so that it could slide forwards and backwards freely; attached to its rear end was a mechanism, which incorporated a ‘claw’ for gripping the bowstring and a trigger to release it again. With the weapon at rest, the archer slid the didstra forwards along the syrinx until the trigger mechanism fell level with the bow-string, whereupon the ‘claw’ was engaged. Propping the front of the didstra against an immovable object, such as the ground or a wall, the archer then brought his whole weight to bear on the stomach rest. The archer’s weight forced the didsira backalong the syrinx, pulling the bowstring with it, and thus spanning the bow. This was necessary because the bow was too powerful to be drawn by hand, With the bow at full ray, the weapon could be lifted into a fi This must usually have involved propping it on a z position. wall, given the weight and bulk of the machine; oth- erwise, the archer would have required a portable prop, similar to those used by musketeers in the 17th century. ILonly rem: place the arrow on the ined to didstra, which had a ready- FS made groove cut along its full length, Pulling the trigger caused the claw to release the bow-string, thus firing the arrow. The whole process could then be repeat The classicist Sir William Tarn believed that it was this weapon that Dionysius’s engineers had invented, an assumption with which the British scholar Eric Marsden underpinned his study of ancient artillery. However, the German artillery officer Major General Erwin Schramm preferred to take Diodorus at his word when he placed the invention of the ‘catapult’ in the opening years of the 4th century, For Schramm, this was the full-blown torsion catapult, not its composite bow-based predecessor. There is a third possibility, though. Biton actually calls the 50cm Heron drew his description of the gastraphetés from the work of Ctesibius, who worked in Alexandria around 275 wc. Unfortunately, Heron omits all ‘measuroments, but as a hand weapon the gastraphetés wat probably slightly shorter than a ‘metro, (Author's drawing) ‘The trigger mechanism of the ‘gastraphetés, mounted at the roar of the slider. On either side, @ paw! engaged with a linear ratchet to hold the slider in position and prevent it shooting forwards unexpectedly. Here, the trigger can be seen wedged beneath the claw, forcing It to ‘tip the bow-string. Pulling the trigger allowed the claw to flip, up, releasing the bow-string. (© D. Baatz)