What is the history of the catapult?

Answer 1

History of Catapults

In Europe, the first catapults appeared in later Greek times around 400 BC-300 BC. According to Roman engineer Heron of Alexandria, the first types derived from by the earlier gastraph�tes ("Belly shooter"), constisting in camposite bow mounted trasversely on a stock. Biton attributes the creation of the first crewed catapult to one Zopyrus from Taranto, in soutern 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 (Poliork�tika) 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.

Romans started to use catapults probably as booty from their wars against Syracuse, Macedon, Sparta and Aetolia (3rd-2nd century BC). Standard use of artillery (ballista and onager) is attested only from the time of Julius Caesar, however.

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.

During medieval times, catapults and related siege machines were the first weapons used for biological warfare. The carcasses of diseased animals and those who had perished from the Black Death or other diseases were loaded onto the catapult and then thrown over the castle's walls to infect those barricaded inside. There have even been recorded instances of beehives being catapulted over castle walls.

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.

At the present, in England, trebuchets are sometimes used by thrill-seekers as human catapults to experience being catapulted through the air. There has been at least one fatality, when the participant failed to land onto the safety net.

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Answer 2

The catapult was first documented in Greece as early as the 4th century BC. It was later adopted by the Romans. By the middle ages of Europe the catapult had become a popular siege weapon.