Onager (weapon)
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The onager was a Roman torsion-powered siege engine. It is a type of catapult commonly depicted with a bowl, bucket, or sling at the end of its throwing arm. The onager was first mentioned in 353 AD b
Onager with a bowl bucket
Sketch of an onager with a sling, a later improvement that increased the length of the throwing arm, from Antique technology by Diels.
Trebuchet
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A trebuchet is a type of catapult that uses a hinged arm with a sling attached to the tip to launch a projectile. It was a common powerful siege engine until the advent of gunpowder. The design of a t
Onager (weapon)
…in 353 AD by Ammianus Marcellinus, who described onagers as the same as a scorpion. The onager is often confused with the later mangonel, a "traction trebuchet" that replaced torsion powered siege engines in the 6th century AD. According to two authors of the later Roman Empire who wrote on military affairs…
Replica counterweight trebuchets at Château de Castelnaud
Counterweight trebuchet used in a siege from the Jami' al-tawarikh, c. 1306–1318
Wheeled whirlwind traction trebuchet from the Wujing Zongyao