11-02-2007, 06:59 PM
Quote:... the wood framed manuballista / scorpio minor (still not sure what to call the thing).What you have there, frater -- and very nice it is, too! -- is a Hellenistic-style catapulta. Livy would've called it a scorpio, probably. (Definitely not a ballista of any description -- different construction.)
This is the machine that Sulla would've used at Piraeus in 87 BC and Pompey at Jerusalem in 63 BC. Very nice!
The distinctive features are the twin inner stanchions which grip the stock. The later Roman-style catapulta that Caesar would've used (as described by Vitruvius) had a single, solid "middle" stanchion.
By the way, what diameter of spring-hole are you using?
I'm green with envy. (We really need more emoticons, Jasper! :mrgreen: )
(I am what we call in Scotland "handless", which means that my woodworking skills are non-existent.)
