- Cheiroballistra
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Military of ancient Rome (portal)
753 BC – AD 476Structural history Roman army (unit types and ranks, legions, auxiliaries, generals) Roman navy (fleets, admirals) Campaign history Lists of wars and battles Decorations and punishments Technological history Military engineering (castra, siege engines, arches, roads) Political history Strategy and tactics Infantry tactics Frontiers and fortifications (limes, Hadrian's Wall) The cheiroballistra (Greek) or manuballista (Latin), which translates in all its forms to 'hand ballista', was a late Roman siege engine. Designed by Hero of Alexandria around the year 100 and mostly composed of metal (the spring mechanism and the skeins), it fired bolts that were smaller than those in other forms of ballista and generally made of metal. It was the next major improvement after the Scorpio.[1]
The name of the weapon implies that portable versions might also have existed, similar to crossbows.
References
- ^ Warry, J. (1995). Warfare in the Classical World. Pg.178 Salamander Books Ltd., London: United Kingdom. ISBN 0-8061-2794-5
External links
Ancient mechanical artillery and hand-held missile weapons Generic terms Crew-served arrow-shooters Crew-served stone-projectors Hand-held weapons Cheiroballistra · Crossbow · Gastraphetes This artillery-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.