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. This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... A projectile is any object sent through space by the application of a force. ... 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).^[1] The Greek language (Greek Ελληνικά, IPA // – Hellenic) is an Indo-European language with a documented history of some 3,000 years. ...

The catapult appears to have been invented in 399 BC in the city of Syracuse during the reign of the tyrant Dionysius I^[2]. 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.^{[citation needed]} Syracuse (Italian Siracusa, Sicilian Sarausa, Greek , Latin Syracusae) is an Italian city on the eastern coast of Sicily and the capital of the province of Syracuse. ... Dionysius I or Dionysius the Elder (ca. ... The ballista (Latin, from Greek ballistēs, from ballein to throw, plural ballistae) was a powerful ancient crossbow, although employing several loops of twisted skeins to power it, it used torsion (instead of a prod). ...

History

Greek and Roman catapults

Roman reenactors operating a reproduction balista

In Europe, the first catapults appeared into Greek times around 400 BC–300 BC^[3]. 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. A larger version of this was called an oxybeles and is the precursor to the ballista. Biton attributes creation of this catapult to one Zopyrus from Taranto, in southern Italy. Reenactors of the American Civil War Historical reenactment is an activity in which participants recreate some aspects of a historical event or period. ... The Celtics claim Vienna, Austria. ... Centuries: 4th century BC - 3rd century BC - 2nd century BC Decades: 350s BC 340s BC 330s BC 320s BC 310s BC - 300s BC - 290s BC 280s BC 270s BC 260s BC 250s BC Years: 305 BC 304 BC 303 BC 302 BC 301 BC - 300 BC - 299 BC 298 BC... The gastraphetes (Greek γαστραφέτης, lit. ... The Oxybeles (Οξυβόλος, literally bolt shooter) Category: ... This article or section should be merged with Kleobis and Biton In Greek mythology, Biton and Cleobis were Argives, the sons of Cydippe. ... Taranto is a coastal city in Apulia, southern Italy. ...

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. Projectiles included both arrows and (later) stones. They began launching iron balls in the 5th century AD. This page is about Dionysius the tyrant of Syracuse. ... For the film of the same name, see Alexander the Great (1956 film). ...

The Romans started to use catapults probably as arms for their wars against Syracuse, Macedon, Sparta and Aetolia (3rd–2nd century BC). Syracuse (Italian, Siracusa, ancient Syracusa - see also List of traditional Greek place names) is a city on the eastern coast of Sicily and the capital of the province of Syracuse, Italy. ...

Medieval Catapults

French troops using a catapult to throw hand grenades during World War I.

In the Medieval times, when the trebuchet was introduced a relatively short time before the advent of gunpowder, the catapult became basically obsolete. Cannons soon replaced catapults as the standard siege weapon in Europe in the 14th century. Image File history File links French_grenade_catapult. ... Image File history File links French_grenade_catapult. ... Grenade redirects here. ... “The Great War ” redirects here. ... The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times, beginning with the Renaissance. ... For the typeface, see Trebuchet MS. Trebuchet at Château des Baux, France A trebuchet is a siege engine employed in the Middle Ages either to smash masonry walls or to throw projectiles over them. ... A modern black powder substitute for muzzleloading rifles in FFG size Gunpowder (also called black powder) is a pyrotechnic composition, an explosive mixture of sulfur, charcoal and potassium nitrate (also known as saltpetre or saltpeter) that burns rapidly, producing volumes of hot solids and gases which can be used as... For other uses, see Cannon (disambiguation). ... This 14th-century statue from south India depicts the gods Shiva (on the left) and Uma (on the right). ...

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. More commonly, incendiary missiles were thrown. This article concerns the mid fourteenth century pandemic. ...

Later Use

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 grenades across no man's land into enemy trenches. These were eventually replaced by small mortars. {{subst:empty template|}} {{Copyviocore |url= |month = {{subst:CURRENTMONTHNAME}} |day = {{subst:CURRENTDAY}} |year = {{subst:CURRENTYEAR}} |time = {{subst:CURRENTTIME}} |timestamp = {{subst:CURRENTTIMESTAMP}}}} Trench warfare is a form of warfare where both combatants have fortified positions and fighting lines are static. ... “The Great War ” redirects here. ... Grenade redirects here. ... 29th Infantry Battalion, 2nd Division, Canadian Corps. ... US soldier loading a M224 60-mm mortar. ...

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 pigeons in an automatic thrower. ... 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. ...

Until recently, in England, catapults were used by thrill-seekers as human catapults 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. For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ...

Models

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. An actress playing the role of Mary Queen of Scots in 2003. ...

See also

• Siege engine
• Onager (siege weapon)
• Trebuchet
• Ballista
• Mangonel
• Slingshot
• Aircraft catapult
• Mass driver

Replica battering ram at Château des Baux, France. ... Sketch of an Onager, from Antique technology by Diels. ... For the typeface, see Trebuchet MS. Trebuchet at Château des Baux, France A trebuchet is a siege engine employed in the Middle Ages either to smash masonry walls or to throw projectiles over them. ... The ballista (Latin, from Greek ballistēs, from ballein to throw, plural ballistae) was a powerful ancient crossbow, although employing several loops of twisted skeins to power it, it used torsion (instead of a prod). ... A mangonel was a type of catapult or siege machine used in the medieval period to throw projectiles at a castles walls. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... u suk usuk u suk u suk u suk u suk u suk u suk u suk u suk usuk suk suk suk suk suk suk suk suk suk suk suk suk suk suk suk suk{| class=wikitable |- ! header 1 ! header 2 ! header 3 |- | row 1, cell 1 | row 1... A mass driver for lunar launch (artists conception) A mass driver or electromagnetic catapult is a method of spacecraft propulsion that would use a linear motor to accelerate payloads up to high speeds. ...

References

1. ^ Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, "A Greek-English Lexicon" at Perseus
2. ^ "The Catapult: A History", Tracy Rihall, 2007
3. ^ Catapult History. Retrieved on 2007-10-16.

Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... is the 289th day of the year (290th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Catapult

• Catapult Plans from CatapultStore.com featuring Catapult, Trebuchet and Science Project Plans and Trebuchet Kits (commercial site).
• Catapult Kits from RLT Industries featuring Trebuchets, Onagers, Ballistae, and science project kits (commercial site).
• Ancient Greek Artillery Technology
• Sunward Aerospace, feature a working Catapult Model Kit
• Offers catapults for science projects and engineering courses on experimentation (commercial site)
• Catapult Plans and Design
• Medieval Catapult Articles
• Chinese Siege Warfare: Mechanical Artillery & Siege Weapons of Antiquity - An Illustrated History
• Video of Spring Trebuchet in Action
• A modern slinging catapult for competition & entertainment, features photos and videos of a pumpkin hurling and appliance tossing catapult
• The official web site of the Chateau des Baux, catapult shootings every day