Ballista
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The ballista, plural ballistae or ballistas, sometimes called bolt thrower, was an ancient projectile weapon that launched either bolts or stones at a distant target.
Reconstructed small Roman ballista
![One talent ballista (26 kg [57 lb] weight projectile) was typical for Roman era ballista. The heaviest version ever made was built by Archimedes, and](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/68/Bal_BBC1.jpg/500px-Bal_BBC1.jpg)
One talent ballista (26 kg [57 lb] weight projectile) was typical for Roman era ballista. The heaviest version ever made was built by Archimedes, and used stones up to three talents (78 kg [172 lb]).
Roman 'catapult-nest' on Trajan's Column
Ballista bolt heads
Scorpio (weapon)
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The scorpio or scorpion was a type of Roman torsion siege engine and field artillery piece. It was described in detail by the early-imperial Roman architect and engineer Vitruvius in the 1st century B
Ballista
…versions projected heavy darts or spherical stone projectiles of various sizes for siege warfare. It developed into a smaller precision weapon, the scorpio, and possibly the polybolos. The early ballistae in Ancient Greece were developed from two weapons called oxybeles and gastraphetes. The gastraphetes…
A modern reconstruction of the scorpio.
Modern reconstruction of a Scorpio
Scorpio mounted on walls