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[[File:Ancient Mechanical Artillery. Pic 01.jpg|thumb|Arsenal of ancient mechanical artillery in the [[Saalburg]], Germany; left: polybolos reconstruction by the German engineer Erwin Schramm (1856–1935)]]
[[File:Ancient Mechanical Artillery. Pic 01.jpg|thumb|Arsenal of ancient mechanical artillery in the [[Saalburg]], Germany; left: polybolos reconstruction by the German engineer Erwin Schramm (1856–1935)]]


The polybolos would have differed from an ordinary ballista in that it had a wooden magazine over the mensa (the cradle that holds the bolt prior to firing) capable of holding several dozen bolts. The mechanism is unique in that it is driven by a [[Flat chain|flat-link chain]] connected to a [[windlass]].
The polybolos would have differed from an ordinary ballista in that it had a wooden magazine over the mensa (the cradle that holds the bolt prior to firing) capable of holding several dozen bolts. The mechanism is unique in that it is driven by a [[Flat chain|flat-link chain]] connected to a [[windlass]]. THe mensa itself was a sliding plank (similar to that on the gastraphetes) containing the claw latches used to pull back the drawstring and was attached to the chain link. When loading a new bolt and spanning the drawstring, the windlass is rotated counterclockwise with the trigger claw raised; this drives the mensa forward towards the bow string, where a metal lug pushes the trigger under the trigger claw, which is closed over the string.
When loading a new bolt, the windlass is rotated counter-clockwise with the trigger claw raised; this drives the mensa forward towards the bow string, where a metal lug pushes the trigger under the trigger claw, which is closed over the string.


⚫
Once the string is locked into the trigger mechanism, the windlass is then rotated clockwise, drawing the mensa back, drawing the bow string with it. At the same time, a round wooden pole in the bottom of the magazine is rotated via a spiral groove being driven by a rivet in the mensa; dropping a single bolt from a carved notch in the pole. With the drawstring pulled back and a bolt loaded on the mensa, the polybolos is ready to be fired. As the windlass is rotated further back, the claws on the mensa meets another lug like the one that locked the string into position. This one pushes the trigger and automatically fires the polybolos, and the process is repeated. The repetition provides the weapon's name, in [[Greek language|Greek]] {{lang|grc|πολυβόλος}}, "throwing many missiles",<ref>[http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Dpolubo%2Flos πολυβόλος], Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, ''A Greek-English Lexicon'', on Perseus Digital Library</ref> from {{lang|grc|πολύς}} ({{transl|grc|polys}}), "multiple, many"<ref>[http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Dpolu%2Fs πολύς],
Once the string is locked into the trigger mechanism, the windlass is then rotated clockwise, drawing the mensa back, drawing the bow string with it.

⚫
A round wooden pole in the bottom of the magazine is rotated down toward the mensa as it is drawn to the back of the polybolos, dropping a single bolt into the tray, ready to be fired. As the mensa is twisted farther back, it meets another lug like the one that locked the string into position. This one pushes the trigger and automatically fires the polybolos, and the process is repeated. The repetition provides the weapon's name, in [[Greek language|Greek]] {{lang|grc|πολυβόλος}}, "throwing many missiles",<ref>[http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Dpolubo%2Flos πολυβόλος], Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, ''A Greek-English Lexicon'', on Perseus Digital Library</ref> from {{lang|grc|πολύς}} ({{transl|grc|polys}}), "multiple, many"<ref>[http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Dpolu%2Fs πολύς],
Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, ''A Greek-English Lexicon'', on Perseus Digital Library</ref> and {{lang|grc|-βόλος}} ({{transl|grc|-bolos}}) "thrower", in turn from {{lang|grc|βάλλω}} ({{transl|grc|ballo}}), "to throw, to hurl",<ref>[http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Dba%2Fllw βάλλω], Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, ''A Greek-English Lexicon'', on Perseus Digital Library</ref> literally a repeating weapon.
Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, ''A Greek-English Lexicon'', on Perseus Digital Library</ref> and {{lang|grc|-βόλος}} ({{transl|grc|-bolos}}) "thrower", in turn from {{lang|grc|βάλλω}} ({{transl|grc|ballo}}), "to throw, to hurl",<ref>[http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Dba%2Fllw βάλλω], Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, ''A Greek-English Lexicon'', on Perseus Digital Library</ref> literally a repeating weapon.


Revision as of 00:57, 8 March 2020

Polybolos, meaning "multi thrower" in Greek,[1] was an ancient Greek repeating ballista reputedly invented by Dionysius of Alexandria, a 3rd-century BC Greek engineer at the Rhodes arsenal,[2][3] and used in antiquity.

Philo of Byzantium encountered and described a weapon similar to the polybolos, a catapult that like a modern machine gun could fire again and again without a need to reload.[4] Philo left a detailed description of the gears that powered its chain drive, the oldest known application of such a mechanism,[2] and that placed bolt after bolt into its firing slot.

Mechanism

Arsenal of ancient mechanical artillery in the Saalburg, Germany; left: polybolos reconstruction by the German engineer Erwin Schramm (1856–1935)

The polybolos would have differed from an ordinary ballista in that it had a wooden magazine over the mensa (the cradle that holds the bolt prior to firing) capable of holding several dozen bolts. The mechanism is unique in that it is driven by a flat-link chain connected to a windlass. THe mensa itself was a sliding plank (similar to that on the gastraphetes) containing the claw latches used to pull back the drawstring and was attached to the chain link. When loading a new bolt and spanning the drawstring, the windlass is rotated counterclockwise with the trigger claw raised; this drives the mensa forward towards the bow string, where a metal lug pushes the trigger under the trigger claw, which is closed over the string.

Once the string is locked into the trigger mechanism, the windlass is then rotated clockwise, drawing the mensa back, drawing the bow string with it. At the same time, a round wooden pole in the bottom of the magazine is rotated via a spiral groove being driven by a rivet in the mensa; dropping a single bolt from a carved notch in the pole. With the drawstring pulled back and a bolt loaded on the mensa, the polybolos is ready to be fired. As the windlass is rotated further back, the claws on the mensa meets another lug like the one that locked the string into position. This one pushes the trigger and automatically fires the polybolos, and the process is repeated. The repetition provides the weapon's name, in Greek πολυβόλος, "throwing many missiles",[5] from πολύς (polys), "multiple, many"[6] and -βόλος (-bolos) "thrower", in turn from βάλλω (ballo), "to throw, to hurl",[7] literally a repeating weapon.

In 2010 a Mythbusters episode was dedicated to building and testing a replica by the crew of MythBusters, who concluded that it was a possible weapon. However, the machine MythBusters built was prone to breakdowns.[8]

See also

References

  1. ^ Prenderghast, Gerald (March 2018). Repeating and Multi-Fire Weapons: A History from the Zhuge Crossbow Through the AK-47. McFarland. p. 14. ISBN 978-1476666662.
  2. ^ a b Werner Soedel, Vernard Foley (March 1979). "Ancient Catapults". Scientific American. 240 (3): 124–125. Archived from the original on 2019-05-20.
  3. ^ Alan Wilkins (2003). Roman Artillery. Osprey Publishing. p. 8. ISBN 978-0-7478-0575-5.
  4. ^ Philo of Byzantium, "Belopoeica", 73.34
  5. ^ πολυβόλος, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseus Digital Library
  6. ^ πολύς, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseus Digital Library
  7. ^ βάλλω, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseus Digital Library
  8. ^ Episode 152: Arrow Machine Gun. mythbustersresults.com, November 3, 2010.

Media related to Polybolos at Wikimedia Commons

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