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Drawing of a Roman ballista
Drawing of a Roman ballista
For the handheld Y-shaped weapon, see slingshot. A slingshot (also sometimes called a catapult, shanghai, or katty) is a small hand-powered projectile Weapon.

A catapult is any one of a number of non-handheld mechanical devices used to throw a projectile a great distance without the aid of an explosive substance—particularly various types of ancient and medieval siege engines. A projectile is any object propelled through space by the exertion of a force which ceases after launch A siege engine is a device that is designed to Break or circumvent City walls and other Fortifications in Siege warfare.

The name is the Latinized form of the Ancient Greek καταπέλτης - katapeltes, from κατά - kata (downwards, into, against) and πάλλω - pallo (to poise or sway a missile before it is thrown). The Ancient Greek language is the historical stage in the development of the Hellenic language family spanning the Archaic (c [1]

The catapult appears to have been invented in 399 BC in the city of Syracuse during the reign of the tyrant Dionysius I[2]. Syracuse (Siracusa Sicilian: Sarausa, Classical Greek: / transliterated Syrakousai) is a historic City in Dionysius I or Dionysius the Elder (ca 432&ndash367 BC Greek: Διονύσιος) Tyrant of Syracuse, conquered several cities Originally, "catapult" referred to a dart-thrower, while "ballista" referred to a stone-thrower, but the two terms swapped meaning sometime in the fourth century AD. The ballista ( Latin, from Greek βαλλίστρα - ballistra, from - βάλλω ballō, "to throw" plural ballistae

Contents

History

Greek and Roman catapults

Roman reenactors operating a reproduction balista
Roman reenactors operating a reproduction balista

In Europe, the first catapults appeared into Greek times around 400 BCE–300 BCE[3]. "Reenactment" redirects here For the 1968 Romanian film see The Reenactment. Greece (Ελλάδα transliterated: Elláda, historically, Ellás,) officially the Hellenic Republic (Ελληνική Δημοκρατία Events By place Persian Empire Artaxerxes II King of Persia appoints Tissaphernes to take over all the districts in Events By place Egypt Pyrrhus, the King of Epirus, is taken as a hostage to Egypt after the Battle of Ipsus According to Greek inventor Archimedes the first types derived from by the earlier gastraphetes ("Belly-bow"), consisting in composite bow mounted transversely on a stock, much like the crossbow. The gastraphetes (from Ancient Greek γαστραφέτης, English translation: "belly-bow" was a hand-held Crossbow used by the A larger version of this was called an oxybeles and is the precursor to the ballista. The oxybeles (Οξυβόλος literally "bolt shooter" was a weapon used by the Ancient Greeks starting in 375 BC Biton attributes creation of this catapult to one Zopyrus from Taranto, in southern Italy. Kleobis (Cleobis and Biton is the name of two human brothers in Greek mythology. Not to be confused with Toronto. Taranto ( Ancient Greek: Tarās; Modern Greek: Tarantas) is a coastal city in Italy (Italia officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest

Early adopters of the catapult design were Dionysius of Syracuse (who called it katapeltikon) and Onomarchus of Phocis. Katapaltai are mentioned in the Siegecraft (Poliorkētika) treatise of Aeneas Tacticus, from around 350 BC. It is probable that standard torsion-powered catapults entered in common use in Greek world and Macedon only around 330 BC. Alexander the Great introduced the idea of using them to provide cover on the battlefield in addition to using them during sieges. Alexander the Great ( or, Mégas Aléxandros; July 20 356 BC June 10 or June 11 323 BC also known as Alexander III of Macedon (el Ἀλέξανδρος Γ' Projectiles included both arrows and (later) stones. They began launching iron balls in the 5th century AD.

The Romans started to use catapults probably as arms for their wars against Syracuse, Macedon, Sparta and Aetolia (3rd–2nd century BC). Syracuse (Siracusa Sicilian: Sarausa, Classical Greek: / transliterated Syrakousai) is a historic City in

Medieval Catapults

French troops using a catapult to throw hand grenades during World War I.
French troops using a catapult to throw hand grenades during World War I. World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All

In the Medieval times, when the trebuchet was introduced a relatively short time before the advent of gunpowder, the catapult became basically obsolete. A trebuchet or trebucket is a Siege engine that was employed in the Middle Ages either to smash Masonry Walls or to throw Gunpowder is a an explosive mixture of Sulfur, Charcoal and Potassium nitrate (also known as saltpetre/saltpeter that burns rapidly producing volumes Cannons soon replaced catapults as the standard siege weapon in Europe in the 14th century. | NOTE Throughout this article "cannon" is used as BOTH the || singular and plural

During this period, catapults and related siege machines were the first weapons used for biological warfare. The carcasses of diseased animals or even diseased humans, usually those who had perished from the Black Death, were loaded onto the catapult and then thrown over the castle's walls to infect those barricaded inside. The Black Death, or the Black Plague, was one of the deadliest Pandemics in human history widely thought to have been caused by a bacterium named Yersinia More commonly, incendiary missiles were thrown. Early thermal weapons were devices or substances used in Warfare during the classical and medieval periods (approx 8th century BC until the mid-16th

Later Use

The last large-scale military use of catapults was during the trench warfare of World War I. Trench warfare is a form of warfare where both combatants have fortified positions and fighting lines are static World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All During the early stages of the war, catapults were used to throw hand grenades across no man's land into enemy trenches. No man's land is a term for land that is not occupied or more specifically land that is under dispute between countries or areas that will not occupy it because of fear or uncertainty These were eventually replaced by small mortars. A mortar is a muzzle-loading Indirect fire weapon that fires shells at low velocities short ranges and high-arcing ballistic trajectories

Small catapults, referred to as traps are still widely used to launch Clay targets into the air in the sport of Clay pigeon shooting. Clay pigeon shooting, formally known as Inanimate Bird Shooting is the art of shooting at special flying targets known as clay pigeons or clay targets with a Shotgun or any Clay pigeon shooting, formally known as Inanimate Bird Shooting is the art of shooting at special flying targets known as clay pigeons or clay targets with a Shotgun or any

Until recently, in England, catapults were used by thrill-seekers as human catapults to experience being catapulted through the air. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland The practice has been discontinued due to fatalities, when the participants failed to land onto the safety net.

Models

A commercial model of a Greek and Roman Ballista
A commercial model of a Greek and Roman Ballista

Catapults of all types and sizes are being built for school science and history fairs, competitions or as a hobby. Catapult projects are exceptionally good at inspiring kids to study physics, engineering, math and history. These kits can be purchased from Renaissance Fairs, or from several online stores. A Renaissance fair, Renaissance faire, or Renaissance festival is an outdoor weekend gathering usually held in the United States, open to the public and

See also

References

  1. ^ Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, "A Greek-English Lexicon" at Perseus
  2. ^ "The Catapult: A History", Tracy Rihall, 2007
  3. ^ Catapult History. A siege engine is a device that is designed to Break or circumvent City walls and other Fortifications in Siege warfare. The onager was a post-classical Roman Siege engine, which derived its name from the kicking action of the machine similar to that of an Onager (wild ass A trebuchet or trebucket is a Siege engine that was employed in the Middle Ages either to smash Masonry Walls or to throw The ballista ( Latin, from Greek βαλλίστρα - ballistra, from - βάλλω ballō, "to throw" plural ballistae A mangonel was a type of Catapult or Siege machine used in the medieval period to throw projectiles at a castle 's walls A slingshot (also sometimes called a catapult, shanghai, or katty) is a small hand-powered projectile Weapon. An aircraft catapult is a device used to launch Aircraft from Ships in particular Aircraft carriers as a form of Assisted take off. A mass driver or electromagnetic Catapult is a method of Non-rocket spacelaunch that would use a Linear motor to Accelerate Retrieved on 2007-10-16. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 456 - Magister militum Ricimer defeats the Emperor Avitus at Piacenza and becomes master of the western

External links

Dictionary

catapult

-noun

  1. A device or weapon for throwing or launching large objects, such as a mechanical aid on aircraft carriers designed to help airplanes take off from the flight deck.

-verb

  1. (transitive) To fire a missile from a catapult
  2. (transitive) To increase the status of something rapidly
  3. (intransitive) To be fired from a catapult
  4. (intransitive) To have one's status increased rapidly
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