Lorica Hamata being pierced by arrows

[Sean Manning]

In actual ancient combat, archers were using bows in excess of 100 pounds draw-weight, and such a bowman was incredibly formidable.

Do you have any evidence of any ancient bow with a draw weight of 100 lbs or more? We have quite a lot of evidence for bows with half that draw force (the reconstructions of Tut's bows, reconstructions of Scythian bows, and Blyth's work on how much energy could be delivered by reed arrows with Scythian points before the shafts buckled) and some ancient arrows had quite short shafts which also limits energy. I think that some people are too quick to assume that all bows used in war were like 16th century English, Turkish, or Japanese bows.

As an archery instructor, I think that you know all the reasons why flight shooting with flight arrows does not tell much about the performance of a bow with war arrows at short range. I think that Anaxagoras would have been quick to say that he, his bow, and his arrows were exceptional; if most archers could do what he did there would be no need to put up a stele.