Catapult: The Greeks invented catapults in about 400 B. C.E. Philip was the first commander to use siege weapons on the battlefield, and Alexander adopted the same practice. His soldiers used smaller, mobile catapults to fire large arrows aimed at individual soldiers and stones, or bags of stones, capable of killing or wounding a number of men with a single shot.
Catapults were still in use in the 20th century. In World War I, soldiers in trenches made catapults by hand. They would use them to propel grenades and poison gas canisters at the enemy. Since World War II, catapults have been used to launch jets from aircraft carriers. During that war catapults were hydraulic, but later the British invented a steam-powered catapult. Commonly used today, the steam-powered catapult launches a jet fighter at full throttle, giving it the power to accelerate from zero to 165 miles in two seconds— enough to get it airborne from the relatively short distance of the aircraft carrier's deck. In the 21st century experimentation is in progress with even more sophisticated and powerful catapults.
Battering Ram: The battering rams used by ancient armies were most often made of the largest tree trunk possible, which had been hacked to a point at one end. The tree trunk would then be set on wheels, or sometimes carried by men, and rammed through the doors and walls of fortresses and castles.
Sometimes a battering ram was slung in a support frame so that it could be repeatedly swung against the barricade.
Modern battering rams are usually used by police forces, most often by special paramilitary units known as SWAT (special weapons and tactics) teams, which are specially trained for dangerous missions. Sometimes these battering rams are attached to cars or other heavy vehicles and sometimes they are smaller, operated by just two or three officers to break down a door.
Ballistae: Ballistae were giant crossbows powerful enough to shoot huge darts or arrows, singly or in bunches. Ballistae were generally designed on a horizontal plane with arms of wood. Human hair or animal sinew was wrapped around each arm and acted like a spring to send the darts or arrows hurtling forward. Ballistae were extremely accurate in hitting intended targets but had the disadvantage of not being able to travel very far.
The Greek word ballista originates from another Greek word, ballei, meaning "to throw." These words are also the ancient roots of our modern word ballistics, the science of the way projectiles move in flight, or more specifically, the study of what happens when firearms are fired. Most people today have heard of ballistic missiles. These are one of the more destructive modern equivalents of ancient projectile weaponry.
World History
