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Quote:There is a well preserved Gastraphetes in the Classical Greek exhibit in the War Museum of Athens.
No offense at all intended, but flatly I do not believe that. It must be either a modern reconstruction or another type of ancient or medieval crossbow. There are some here, who would jump out of joy in a triangle, if you were correct. Do you have pics or other kind of evidence?
Stefan (Literary references to the discussed topics are always appreciated.)
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Well, my friend. You may be correct. It's not identical to Classical Gastraphetes but here goes:
[size=75:wtt9v943]Susanne Arvidsson
I have not spent months gathering Hoplites from the four corners of the earth just to let
some Swedish pancake in a purloined panoply lop their lower limbs off! - Paul Allen, Thespian
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Quote:Well, my friend. You may be correct. It's not identical to Classical Gastraphetes but here goes:
Errr...where?
wink:
Stefan (Literary references to the discussed topics are always appreciated.)
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Did you click on the attachment? For some reason the image itself just won't appear in the thread.
[size=75:wtt9v943]Susanne Arvidsson
I have not spent months gathering Hoplites from the four corners of the earth just to let
some Swedish pancake in a purloined panoply lop their lower limbs off! - Paul Allen, Thespian
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A reconstruction....and of Heron's cheiroballistra, circa second half of 1st century A.D. and similar in design to the catapults on Trajan's column - the winch, pawls and base were not described in Heron's incomplete work, and it has been reconstructed in this case as a type of belly-bow/gastraphetes, which is unlikely since the machine was rather too powerful, being a torsion machine, to have been loaded/cocked by leaning on it.......unlike Zopyrus' gastraphetes of the early 4thC B.C. approximately, which had a composite bow which has been the subject of this thread.
"dulce et decorum est pro patria mori " - Horace
(It is a sweet and proper thing to die for ones country)
"No son-of-a-bitch ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country" - George C Scott as General George S. Patton
Paul McDonnell-Staff
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Quote:Did you click on the attachment? For some reason the image itself just won't appear in the thread.
Interesting. It is a torsion weapon, though, not a flexible bow as the gastraphetes featured. What does the museum's description say?
Stefan (Literary references to the discussed topics are always appreciated.)
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Gastefetes and other war machines exist as scale model reconstructions.
The large crossbow is a Venetian 16th century steel crossbow from Cyprus.
Kind regards
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Quote:It would be nice to know what archaeological finds they based their torsion-springs (kambestria) on. Anyone near the Athens War Museum?
I say we should really estabilsh a corner in the forum, where users can announce museum trips and exchange / ask for this kind of information. We have so many people here visiting regularly museums, why not coordinate things a bit for the benefit of all?
Stefan (Literary references to the discussed topics are always appreciated.)
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The ones in the foreground are Schramm's original reconstructions. The gastraphetes looks like Schramm's stock with a new bow. I wonder when they did that?