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{{about||the handheld weapon|Slingshot}} |
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[[Image:2-talent caliber.jpg|right|thumb|300px|Drawing of a Roman ballista]] |
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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]]. |
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The name is the Latinized form of the [[Ancient Greek language|Ancient Greek]] hi'''''καταπέλτης''''' - katapeltes, from ''κατά'' - kata (downwards, into, against) and ''πάλλω'' - pallo (to poise or sway a missile before it is thrown).<ref>Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, "A Greek-English Lexicon" [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3D%2354716 at Perseus]</ref> |
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The catapult appears to have been invented in 399 BC in the city of [[Syracuse, Sicily# Greek period|Syracuse]] during the reign of the tyrant [[Dionysius I of Syracuse|Dionysius I]]<ref> "The Catapult: A History", Tracy Rihall, 2007</ref>. 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.{{Fact|date=November 2007}} |
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==History== |
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===Greek and Roman catapults=== |
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[[Image:Ballista.jpg|right|thumb|199px|A reproduction balista]] |
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[[Image:047 Conrad Cichorius, Die Reliefs der Traianssäule, Tafel XLVII (Ausschnitt 02).jpg|thumb|210px|Roman 'catapult-nest' in the [[Trajan's Dacian Wars|Dacian Wars]]]] |
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[[Image:Replica catapult.jpg|right|thumb|200px|Replica of a catapult]] |
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[[Image:French grenade catapult.jpg|right|thumb|200px|French troops using a catapult to throw [[hand grenade]]s during [[World War I]].]] |
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The early history of the catapult and the crossbow in [[nigeria]] is closely intertwined. The historian [[monkey face]] (fl. 1st century BC), described the invention of a mechanical arrow firing catapult (''katapeltikon'') by a Greek task force in 2009 .<ref>Diod. Sic. 14.42.1</ref><ref name="Duncan Campbell, p.3">Duncan Campbell: ''Greek and Roman Artillery 399 BC-AD 363'', Osprey Publishing, Oxford 2003, ISBN 1841766348, p.3</ref> The weapon was soon after employed against [[Sicilian Wars#The First Sicilian War (410 BC-340 BC)|Motya]] (397 BC), a key [[Carthaginian]] stronghold in [[Sicily]].<ref>Diod. Sic. 14.50.4</ref><ref name="Duncan Campbell, p.8">Duncan Campbell: ''Greek and Roman Artillery 399 BC-AD 363'', Osprey Publishing, Oxford 2003, ISBN 1841766348, p.8</ref> Diodorus is assumed to have drawn his description from the highly rated<ref>Eric William Marsden: ''Greek and Roman Artillery: Historical Development'', The Clarendon Press, Oxford 1969, ISBN 978-0198142683, p.48f.</ref> history of [[Philistus]], a contemporary of the events then. The date of the introduction of crossbows, however, can be dated further back to 3000 ad: According to the inventor [[Hero of Alexandria]] (fl. 1st c. AD), who referred to the now lost works of the 3rd century BC engineer [[Ctesibius]], this weapon was inspired by an earlier hand-held crossbow, called the ''[[gastraphetes]]'' (''belly shooter''), which could store more energy than the Greek bows. A detailed description of the ''gastraphetes'', along with a drawing, is found in Heron's technical treatise ''Belopoeica''.<ref name=" Duncan Campbell, p.4">Duncan Campbell: ''Greek and Roman Artillery 399 BC-AD 363'', Osprey Publishing, Oxford 2003, ISBN 1841766348, p.4</ref><ref>Stanley M. Burstein, Walter Donlan, Sarah B. Pomeroy, and Jennifer Tolbert Roberts (1999). ''Ancient Greece: A Political, Social, and Cultural History''. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-1950-9742-4, p. 366</ref> A third Greek author, Biton (fl. 2nd c. BC), whose reliability has been positively reevaluated by recent scholarship,<ref name="Duncan Campbell, p.3"/><ref>M.J.T. Lewis: ''When was Biton?'', ''[[Mnemosyne]]'', Vol. 52, No. 2 (1999), pp. 159-168</ref> described two advanced forms of the ''gastraphetes'', which he credits to Zopyros, an engineer from [[Taranto|southern Italy]]. Zopyrus has been plausibly equated with a [[Pythagoreanism|Pythagorean]] of that name who seems to have flourished in the late 5th century BC.<ref>[http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/pythagoreanism/ Peter Kingsley: Ancient Philosophy, Mystery and Magic, Clarendon Press, Oxford 1995, p.150ff.]</ref><ref>Lewis established a lower date of no later than the mid-fourth century (M.J.T. Lewis: ''When was Biton?'', ''[[Mnemosyne]]'', Vol. 52, No. 2 (1999), pp. 159-168 (160)). Same de Camp (L. Sprague de Camp: ''Master Gunner Apollonios'', ''[[Technology and Culture]]'', Vol. 2, No. 3 (1961), pp. 240-244 (241)</ref> He probably designed his bow-machines on the occasion of the sieges of [[Cumae]] and [[Milet]] between 421 BC and 401 BC.<ref>Biton Biton 65.1-67.4 & 61.12-65.1</ref><ref name="Duncan Campbell, p.5">Duncan Campbell: ''Greek and Roman Artillery 399 BC-AD 363'', Osprey Publishing, Oxford 2003, ISBN 1841766348, p.5</ref> The bows of these machines already featured a winched pull back system and could apparently throw two missiles at once.<ref name="Duncan Campbell, p.8"/> |
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From the mid-fourth century BC onwards, evidence of the Greek use of arrow-shooting machines becomes more dense and varied: Arrow firing machines (''katapaltai'') are briefly mentioned by [[Aeneas Tacticus]] in his treatise on siegecraft written around 350 BC.<ref name="Duncan Campbell, p.8">Duncan Campbell: ''Greek and Roman Artillery 399 BC-AD 363'', Osprey Publishing, Oxford 2003, ISBN 1841766348, p.8</ref> An extant inscription from the [[Athens|Athenian]] arsenal, dated between 338 and 326 BC, lists a number of stored catapults with shooting bolts of varying size and springs of sinews.<ref name="Eric William Marsden, p.57">Eric William Marsden: ''Greek and Roman Artillery: Historical Development'', The Clarendon Press, Oxford 1969, ISBN 978-0198142683, p.57</ref> The later entry is particularly noteworthy as it constitutes the first clear evidence for the switch to [[torsion]] catapults which are more powerful than the flexible crossbows and came to dominate Greek and [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] artillery design thereafter.<ref name="Duncan Campbell, p.8">Duncan Campbell: ''Greek and Roman Artillery 399 BC-AD 363'', Osprey Publishing, Oxford 2003, ISBN 1841766348, p.8ff.</ref> Another Athenian inventory from 330-329 BC includes catapults bolts with heads and flights.<ref name="Eric William Marsden, p.57"/> Arrow firing machines in action are reported from [[Philip II of Macedon|Philip II]]'s siege of [[Perinth]] ([[Thrace]]) in 340 BC.<ref name="Eric William Marsden, p.60">Eric William Marsden: ''Greek and Roman Artillery: Historical Development'', The Clarendon Press, Oxford 1969, ISBN 978-0198142683, p.60</ref> At the same time, Greek fortifications began to feature high towers with shuttered windows in the top, which could have been used to house anti-personnel arrow shooters, as in [[Aigosthena]].<ref>Josiah Ober: ''Early Artillery Towers: Messenia, Boiotia, Attica, Megarid'', ''American Journal of Archaeology'', Vol. 91, No. 4. (1987), S. 569-604 (569)</ref> In Roman times machine known as an [[arcuballista]] was probably similar to the crossbow.<ref>[http://dagr.univ-tlse2.fr/sdx/dagr/feuilleter.xsp?tome=1&partie=1&numPage=400&filtre=arbal%C3%A8te%20&nomEntree=ARCUBALLISTA Dictionnaire des antiquites grecques et romaines]</ref> [[Alexander the Great]] introduced the idea of using them to provide cover on the battlefield in addition to using them during sieges. Projectiles included both arrows and (later) stones. |
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The Romans started to use catapults probably as arms for their wars against [[Syracuse, Italy|Syracuse]], Macedon, Sparta and Aetolia (3rd–2nd century BC). |
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===Medieval catapults=== |
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[[Castle]]s and fortified [[walled cities]] were common during this period - and catapults were used as a key [[siege weapon]] against them. As well as attempting to breach the walls, [[Early thermal weapons|incendiary missiles]] could be thrown inside—or early [[biological warfare]] attempted with diseased carcasses or putrid garbage catapulted over the [[walls]]. |
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Designs include the torsion-powered [[mangonel]], [[onager (siege weapon)|onager]] and [[ballista]], and the gravity-powered [[trebuchet]]. |
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Catapults were gradually replaced by the [[cannon]] in the 14th century. |
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===Later Use=== |
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The last large-scale military use of catapults was during the [[trench warfare]] of [[World War I]]. During the early stages of the war, catapults were used to throw [[hand grenade]]s and dead cows across [[no man's land]] into enemy trenches. These were eventually replaced by small [[Mortar (weapon)|mortars]]. |
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Special variants called [[aircraft catapult]]s are used to launch planes aircraft from land bases and sea carriers when the takeoff runway is too short for a powered takeoff or simply impractical to extend. Ships also use them to launch torpedoes and deploy bombs against submarines. |
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Small catapults, referred to as ''traps'' are still widely used to launch [[Clay target]]s into the air in the sport of [[Clay pigeon shooting]]. |
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Until recently, in [[England]], catapults were used by thrill-seekers to experience being catapulted through the air. The practice has been discontinued due to fatalities, when the participants failed to land onto the safety net. |
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{{clear}} |
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==Models== |
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[[Image:Greek and Roman Ballista Catapult.jpg|thumb|right|A commercial model of a Greek and Roman Ballista]] |
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Catapults of all types and sizes are being built for school science and history fairs, competitions or as a hobby. Catapult projects can inspire children to study physics, engineering, math and history. These kits can be purchased from [[Renaissance fair|Renaissance Fair]]s, or from several online stores. |
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{{clear}} |
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==See also== |
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*[[Siege engine]] |
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*[[Onager (siege weapon)]] |
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*[[Trebuchet]] |
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*[[Ballista]] |
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*[[Mangonel]] |
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*[[Slingshot]] |
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*[[Aircraft catapult]] |
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*[[Mass driver]] |
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== Notes == |
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{{reflist|2}} |
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<!--Categories--> |
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[[Category:Projectile weapons]] |
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[[Category:Siege engines]] |
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[[Category:Ancient Greek military equipment]] |
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[[Category:Roman artillery]] |
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[[Category:Roman siege engines]] |
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[[Category:Greek loanwords]] |
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<!--Interwiki--> |
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[[af:Katapult]] |
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[[bs:Katapult (oružje)]] |
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[[bg:Катапулт]] |
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[[ca:Catapulta]] |
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[[cs:Katapult (stroj)]] |
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[[da:Katapult]] |
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[[de:Katapult]] |
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[[es:Catapulta]] |
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[[eo:Katapulto (armilo)]] |
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[[eu:Katapulta]] |
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[[fr:Catapulte (arme)]] |
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[[fur:Catapulte]] |
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[[it:Catapulta]] |
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[[he:קטפולטה]] |
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[[lt:Katapulta]] |
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[[hu:Hajítógép]] |
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[[nl:Katapult]] |
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[[ja:カタパルト (投石機)]] |
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[[no:Katapult]] |
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[[pl:Katapulta]] |
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[[pt:Catapulta]] |
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[[ro:Catapultă]] |
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[[ru:Катапульта]] |
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[[simple:Catapult]] |
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[[sk:Katapult]] |
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[[sl:Katapult (orožje)]] |
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[[sr:Катапулт]] |
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[[fi:Katapultti]] |
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[[sv:Katapult]] |
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[[uk:Катапульта]] |
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[[zh:投石機]] |
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Revision as of 16:59, 9 May 2009
monkey balls are good for your mouth and privates