Catapulta

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A catapulta was a Roman machine for throwing arrows and javelins, 12 feet (3.7 m) or 15 feet (4.6 m) long, at the enemy. The name comes from the Greek (katapeltes), because it could pierce or 'go through' (kata) a shield (pelta). The design was probably inherited, along with the ballista, from Greek armies.

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Sources

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domainChambers, Ephraim, ed. (1728). "article name needed". Cyclopaedia, or an Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences (first ed.). James and John Knapton, et al. 


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