![]() ![]() A man could thus draw the bowstring and discharge a missile with much greater power than was possible with the traditional hand-drawn bowstring. At the end of the stock was a concave rest that the operator placed against his stomach and, with the front of the bow fixed on the ground, allowed him to withdraw the slider, attach the string to the trigger, load a missile, and discharge it. ![]() On each side of the case was a straight ratchet with two curved bars, or pawls, fitted into the ratchets and attached to a claw-like trigger mechanism. The upper section (or slider), of approximately the same dimensions as the case, fitted into a dove-tailed groove in the case and was able to slide freely back and forth. The lower section, the case, was fixed solidly to the bow. It consisted of a heavy stock, made in two sections. However, the difference between the handheld weapon and the gastraphetes was its power, supplied by the latter’s elaborate stock apparatus. It was, in fact, not much different, although larger, from the handheld composite bow, which by the fourth century BCE had been known for several centuries. This, using a sinew bowstring, supplied the propulsive force to the missile. The flexibility of the weapon came from the material of the bow itself, which was a composite of wood, horn, and animal sinew: a wood core covered by a tension layer of sinew in front and a compression layer of horn in the back. In essence the gastraphetes (which in Greek means “belly-bow”) was little more than a large, powerful, and flexible bow. ![]() Among these was the first non-torsion artillery piece, the gastraphetes. In 399 in Syracuse, King Dionysius I, threatened by the Carthaginians and other enemies, assembled a large group of engineers to create an arsenal of weapons. The first catapult may have been invented in the early fourth century BCE. The word catapult is a generic term used to describe all ancient and medieval non-gunpowder propelled missile-throwing artillery. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |