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[INLINE] | Catapults were siege machines that could shoot arrows or hurl heavy rocks with great force and for considerable distances. Used by the ancient Greeks, catapults changed little in basic principle or design through the conquests of the Roman Empire and the battles of medieval Europe. Two major types of catapults were built: a double-armed machine (for example, the Roman ballista) that was essentially a large, mounted crossbow whose cord of twisted sinew or hair was pulled back by a winch; and a single-armed hurling lever, often with a sling attached to its end, that was cocked by a heavy, winch-pulled cord. The Roman onager, mounted on a massive, wheeled platform, was an example of the latter type. The projectiles most often used for catapults were darts or arrows about 1 m (3 ft) long or stones weighing perhaps 5 kg (11 lb). Few catapults had a range of more than 450 m (1,475 ft). |
Bibliography: Warry, John, Warfare in the Classical World (1981).
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