05-07-2005, 12:27 PM
Instead of getting people confused about what's a ballista and where's the catapulta, I'd suggest "catapults" as a generic term for torsion artillery, and "bolt shooter" and "stone thrower" to differentiate between both, which is definitely more clear for people who are not specialist ballistarii....
Also.. I just was thinking about it.
I've seen several working replicas of catapults , from small hand held models to big stone throwers. I've also read that sinew was used for the torsion springs. Knowing a bit the characteristics of sinew regarding its resistance to torsion I wonder if someone has ever tried it on a reconstruction.. So far, I've only seen rope, but maybe I'm wrong.
I suspects the results achieved with sinew would be truly impressive.
Also.. I just was thinking about it.
I've seen several working replicas of catapults , from small hand held models to big stone throwers. I've also read that sinew was used for the torsion springs. Knowing a bit the characteristics of sinew regarding its resistance to torsion I wonder if someone has ever tried it on a reconstruction.. So far, I've only seen rope, but maybe I'm wrong.
I suspects the results achieved with sinew would be truly impressive.
Pascal Sabas
