Page 80 - All About History - Issue 18-14

MACHINESOFWAR

5. SIGHT
Early crossbows came
with no sight, requiring
theusertomerelylook
down its body for sighting
purposes. Basic iron sights
were later affixed, making
the weapon even deadlier.
BRUTALSNIPER The earliest 3. CRANK
form of this
is thought to A crucial part of the crossbow’s
KILL EFFICIENCY: have been designwasthecrank.Thissmall
mechanism, which came in many
COLLATERAL DAMAGE: developed formsincludingwindlass,rackand
SHOCK FACTOR: for the pinion as well as push and pull lever,
allowed the weapon to be armed
Greek tyrant
ENGINEERING GENIUS: Dionysius of with little physical input.
Syracuse, in
around400BCE.Theballistawasaweapondesigned
tothrow26-kilogram(57-pound),metal-tippedlances
at high velocity toward – and through – humans. 4. STIRRUP HOOP 2. QUIVER
However, the ballista’s brutal mechanism was not the Despite requiring Theboltsforthebowcould
only reason it was so feared upon the battlefield – it little physical be held in a variety of ways,
strength to cock, ranging from narrow arrow-like
wasitsexcellentrangeandaccuracy.Theballistawas crossbows were quivers through to chunkier
thefirsttruesniperweapon,withthelargestvariants still large and wooden and metal containers.
capableofhittingsingletargetsfromover450metres cumbersome
weapons to
(1,475 feet) away. Historical records from Roman
handle, so many
timesindicatethatskilledoperatorscouldpickoff designs were
enemy archers even with them in an advantageous equipped with a
position, such as on battlements. The ballista was foot stirrup.
soeffectivethankstoitsutilisationofthetorsion
spring,whichhadbeeninventedinthelastdecades
of Ancient Greece. Torsion springs were wrapped BOWKILLER
around the weapon’s bow arms, with the arms in
turn attached to the lance-throwing bowstring. As the KILL EFFICIENCY:
torsion springs were winch-twisted by the weapon’s 1. COMMON CLASS COLLATERAL DAMAGE:
operators, extreme amounts of energy could be stored
Unlike longbowmen, crossbowmen
and harnessed. required little training to operate the SHOCK FACTOR:
weapon effectively, progressing to ENGINEERING GENIUS:
full competence within a week.
Sometimes bigger is better, but in the case fire. However, the crossbow could be placed
of the crossbow, smaller was not just better, in anyone’s hands and fired with little effort,
butfarmoredeadly.Bytakingtheprinciples transforming even the weakest individuals
and engineering of the ballista, and then into cold-blooded killers.
shrinking it, this refined killing machine The crossbow spread from East Asia into
placed the power of life and death in more theWestintheearlycenturiesCE,becoming
hands than ever before in history. establishedastheprimaryformofranged
Simpletooperate,cheaptobuildand weaponry in numerous European armies by
easy to operate, the crossbow changed the 12th century. The result was that many
the entire culture and tactics of ranged established military roles were rendered
combat.Priortoitsinventionthebowand obsolete, such as the heavily armoured
arrow had been the only form of hand-held, knight class who were vulnerable to the
long-rangedweaponry,andtheyrequired high-velocitycrossbowboltsandthusno
considerable skill, strength and training to longer as useful.

FOLLOWOURCOMPREHENSIVETIMELINEOFSOMEOFHISTORY’SOTHERKILLINGMACHINES

30000BCE
O Shortbow O Spoke-wheeled O Battering ram O Siege tower O Greek fire
Afterthespearand chariot Developed in A large, armoured, Mixtures of chemical
dart, the oldest The backbone of Ancient Assyria, mobile tower in which components,
weapon to be created many ancient armies, the battering ram soldiers could climb up including pine resin,
by humankind was thesebattletaxis went on to be a key tothelevelofacity’s naphtha, sulphur and
thebowandarrow, could cut down machineofwarfor walls’ fortifications and nitrewereusedto
which proceeded to men and animals any army, allowing then surmount them. make an incendiary
be used in hunting as well as provide the doors of castles Thesiegetowerwasa weapon that rained
and warfare for mobile command and andcitiestobe passive but specialised down burning liquid
several millennia. archery platforms. broken down. machineofwar. fire on its enemy.
30000 BCE 2000 BCE 1000 BCE 900 BCE 673 CE

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