page_title: Ballista
section_title: Polybolos
hierarchical_section_title: Ballista / Roman weaponry / Eastern Roman Empire / Polybolos
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Rekonstruktionen antiker mechanischer Artillerie im Saalburg-Museum in Hessen (Deutschland) Links stehend: Polybolos, ein semi-automatisches Katapult aus dem 3. Jh. v. Chr. (Rekonstruktion des deutschen Ingenieurs Erwin Schramm (1856–1935)) Rechts stehend: Philons Chalkotonon, ein Geschütz mit bronzenen Federn (von Schramm als "Erzspanngeschütz" rekonstruiert) Unten Mitte: Hölzerner Kettenantrieb des Polybolos Unten rechts: Philons Aerotonon, ein pneumatisches Katapult ausgestellt ohne Dreifuß (von Schramm als "Luftspanngeschütz" rekonstruiert) Hintergrund, an der Wand: Gastraphetes, eine griechische Armbrust English: Reconstructions of ancient mechanical artillery in the Saalburg Museum, Hesse, Germany Left standing: Polybolos, a 3rd century BC repeating catapult (reconstruction by the German engineer Erwin Schramm (1856–1935)) Right standing: Philo's Chalkotonon, a bronze-spring catapult (reconstructed by Schramm as "Erzspanngeschütz") Bottom center: Wooden chain-drive mechanism of the Polybolos Bottom right: Philo's Aerotonon, a pneumatic catapult displayed without tripod stand (reconstructed by Schramm as "Luftspanngeschütz") Background, on wall: Gastraphetes, a Greek crossbow
context_page_description: The ballista, plural ballistae, sometimes called bolt thrower, was an ancient missile weapon that launched either bolts or stones at a distant target.
  Developed from earlier Greek weapons, it relied upon different mechanics, using two levers with torsion springs instead of a tension prod. The springs consisting of several loops of twisted skeins. Early versions projected heavy darts or spherical stone projectiles of various sizes for siege warfare. It developed into a smaller precision weapon, the scorpio, and possibly the polybolos.
context_section_description: It has been speculated that the Roman military may have also fielded a 'repeating' ballista, also known as a polybolos. Reconstruction and trials of such a weapon carried out in a BBC documentary, What the Romans Did For Us, showed that they "were able to shoot eleven bolts a minute, which is almost four times the rate at which an ordinary ballista can be operated". However, no example of such a weapon has been found by archaeologists.
caption: Reproductions of ancient Greek artillery, including catapults such as the polybolos (to the left in the foreground) and a large, early crossbow known as the gastraphetes (mounted on the wall in the background)
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