Online Encyclopedia

Alexander's successors in Greece. They are usually classed as (a) catapults and (b) ballistae (XtOoI36AOC). The former were smaller and were used with arrows for what is now called See also:

DIRECT

direct See also:

FIRE (in O. Eng. f j'r; the word is common to West German languages, cf. Dutch vuur, Ger. Feuer; the pre-Teutonic form is seen in Sanskrit pu, pavaka, and Gr. irup; the ultimate origin is usually taken to be a root meaning to purify, cf. Lat. purus)

fire (i.e. at See also:

low angles of See also:

ELEVATION

elevation); the latter were large siege engines discharging heavy bolts or stones at a high See also:

ANGLE (from the Lat. angulus, a corner, a diminutive, of which the primitive form, angus, does not occur in Latin; cognate are the Lat. angere, to compress into a bend or to strangle, and the Gr. ayKOS, a bend; both connected with the Aryan root ank-, to

angle of elevation, like the See also:

MODERN

modern See also:

HOWITZER (derived, through an earlier form howitz, and the Ger. Haubitz, from the Bohemian houfnice = catapult, from which come also, through the Ital. obiza or obice, the French forms obus = shell and obusier = howitzer)

howitzer. They were, of course, principally siege engines, but the smaller natures of catapult appear in See also:

field warfare from See also:

time to time, and eventually, during the early principate, they are found as See also:

PART

part of the regulation equipment of See also:

INFANTRY

infantry See also:

units. Both were constructed on the same principle. The essential parts of the catapult (see See also:

ILLUSTRATION

illustration) were the See also:

FRAME

frame, the propelling See also:

GEAR (connected with " garb," properly elegance, fashion, especially of dress, and with " gar," to cause to do, only found in Scottish and northern dialects; the root of the word is seen in the Old Tent. garwjan, to make ready)

gear, the trough (corresponding to the modern See also:

BARREL (a word of uncertain origin common to Romance languages; the Celtic forms, as in the Gaelic baraill, are derived from the English)

barrel) and the See also:

PEDESTAL (Fr. piedestal, Ital. piedestallo, foot of a stall)

pedestal. The frame consisted of two See also:

HORIZONTAL

horizontal beams forming See also:

TOP (cf. Dan. top, Ger. Topf, also meaning pot)

top and bottom sills, and four strong upright bars mortised into 'them.

The three open spaces or compartments, resembling narrow windows, between these four uprights carried the propelling and laying gear. The propelling gear occupied the two See also:

OUTER

outer " windows." In each a thick skein of See also:

CORD (derived through the Fr. corde, from the Lat. chorda, Gr. xop(5rt, the string of a musical instrument)

cord or sinews was fastened to the top and bottom sills and tightly See also:

TWISTED

twisted. Two stiff wooden arms were inserted in the two skeins, and a specially strong bowstring joined the tips of these arms. In the See also:

MIDDLE

middle compartment was the hinged fore-end of the trough, which was at right angles to the frame and at the back of it. The trough could be laid for elevation by a movable prop, the upper end of which was hinged to the trough, while the See also:

LOWER

lower ran up and down a sort of trail fastened to the pedestal. The whole equipment was laid for " See also:

LINE

line " by turning the frame, and with it the trough, prop and trail by a See also:

PIVOT (Fr. pivot; probably connected with Ital. pivolo, peg, pin, diminutive of piva, pipa, pipe)

pivot in the See also:

head of the pedestal. Sliding up and down in the trough was a See also:

block, fitted with a trigger mechanism, through which passed the middle of the bowstring. The pedestal was a strong and solid upright resting upon, and strutted to, a framework on the ground; its upper end, as mentioned above, took the pivot of the frame and the head of the trail. On coming into See also:

ACTION

action the See also:

machine was laid for direction and elevation. The block and with it the bowstring was next forced back against the resistance of the twisted skeins to the See also:

REAR

rear end of the trough, this being effected by a windlass See also:

ATTACHMENT

attachment. The trigger being then pressed or struck with a See also:

HAMMER, FRIEDRICH JULIUS (1810-1862)

hammer, the bowstring was released from the block, the stiff arms were violently brought back to the frame by the untwisting of the skeins, and the arrow was propelled through the centre " window" with See also:

GREAT

great velocity. A small machine of the type described weighed about 85 lb, and sent a " three-span " (26-in.) arrow weighing 1 lb at an effective See also:

man-killing velocity somewhat over 400 yds.

The ballista was considerably larger and more expensive than this. In Scipio's siege train, at the attack of New Carthage (See also:

LIVY [Thus L1v1us] (59 B.C.—A.D: 17)

Livy xxvi. 47. 5), the number of the ballistae was only one-See also:

SIXTH

sixth that of the catapults. In the ballista the rear end of the trough (which projected in front of the frame) always rested upon the ground, or rather was fixed to the framework of the pedestal—which was a heavy trestle construction—and the trough was thus restricted to the angle of elevation, giving the maximum range (450). Even so the range was not appreciably greater than that of a catapult, and in the See also:

case of the largest ballistae (ninety pounder) it was much less. These enormous engines, which, once in position, could not be laid on any fresh See also:

target, were used for propelling beams and stones rather than for See also:

SHOOTING

shooting arrows, that is, more for the destruction of material than for man-killing effect. The skeins that supplied the See also:

MOTIVE (from Lat. movere, to move)

motive force of all these engines were made of the sinews of animals, twisted raw hide, horsehair rope, and, in at least one celebrated case, of See also:

WOMEN

women's See also:

HAIR (a word common to Teutonic languages)

hair. In 146 B.C., the authorities of Carthage having surrendered their engines to the Romans in the vain See also:

hope of staying their advance, new ones were hurriedly constructed, and the women and virgins of the See also:

CITY (through Fr. cite, from Lat. civitas)

city cut off their hair to See also:

SUPPLY (through Fr. from Lat. supplere, to fill up)

supply the needed skeins. The modern See also:

IMPLEMENT (Lat. implementum, a filling up, from implere, to fill)

implement known as a " catapult " is formed by a forked stick, to the forks of which are attached the ends of a piece of elastic. To the middle of this elastic a See also:

POCKET

pocket is fitted to contain a See also:

BULLET (Fr. boulet, diminutive of boule, ball)

bullet or small See also:

stone. In use the forked stick is held in the See also:

LEFT

left See also:

hand and the pocket See also:

DRAWN

drawn back with the right.

Aim is taken and, the pocket being released, the missile flies through the See also:

FORK (Lat. furca)

fork of the stick. Though classed as a See also:

toy, this weapon can do considerable See also:

EXECUTION (from Lat. ex-sequor, exsecutus, follow or carry out)

execution among birds, &c., when skilfully used. The name of " catapult " has also been given to a See also:

BOWLING (Lat. bulla, a globe, through O. Fr. boule, ball)

bowling machine which is used for See also:

cricket practice.

End of Article: CATAPULT (Lat. catapulta, Gr. KaraafXrfls)

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.

» Add information or comments to this article.

Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.

Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
CATAPHYLL (Gr. Kara, down, 0b)

[next]
CATARACT (from the Lat. form cataracta of the Gr. K...