Tribulus

[Matt Lukes]

I first learned of this neat little weapon watching a History Channel documetnary about the siege of Alesia, and have since collected enough photos of originals to see just how they're made; and today I gave it a go- here's my result:



A very simple but elegant design- split a short iron bar down both ends, separate the arms to form an 'X', lengthen and pont the arms, then bend one pair of opposite arms (across the X) up, and one pair down, adjusting the angle until you get a tetrahedron.

Not something I'd want to accidently step on...

[M. CVRIVS ALEXANDER]

Nice...

[M. Demetrius]

Aren't those also called caltrops?

[Matt Lukes]

Well that's a later term, yes

[M. Demetrius]

Horses and elephants didn't like them. Neither did footsoldiers. No matter how ya toss 'em, they're a pain in the foot.

I've thought about making a couple in times past for a tabletop display item/paperweight. I figured just to take two rods, cross them and forge weld them in the middle, then bend them. Ends up the same way. Don't know which would be quicker. You can be sure that whichever was the easier for the smith is how it was done.

[Gaius Julius Caesar]

I saw one, I think in Edinburgh museum. I was surprised at how small they were!

[Robert Vermaat]

Very nice! How small is it, btw?

Now wrap a plumbata around it to get a plumbata et tribulata. :wink:

[brennivs - tony drake]

Yes Vortigern I was going to do that but still wondering how to do it :? D cry:


This is what I carry it in I have stabbed myself enough on it :lol: :lol:
Regards Brennivs

[Matt Lukes]

I would think the size varied quite a lot depending on whether the tribulus was meant for infantry, cavalry or whatever. One picture I have shows tribuli varying in size by a factor of maybe as much as 40-50%. The one I chose is probably among the larger (ones made to protect from elephants, if such were ever made, notwithstanding). That's the one from Alesia. I had wondered about forge welding, but it seemed rather more difficult a method than this simple splitting, and bending of a single piece. It's interesting to hear that it was done as well.

[Gaius Julius Caesar]

You certainly wouldn't want to sit on one..... hock: :lol:

[Robert]

I would presume a small billet was split on a hot chisel, matter of minutes, then bent out to approx the correct shape and the ends hammered to a point. As they all point outwards, this is something you can do for each point in a single heat. Forge welding is a more difficult trick to master, but any apprentice smith could churn these out at an alarming rate with just very basic skills. Just the way Matt made his. Cool job, Matt, looks very believable!

[Libitina]

Ouch! Have thrown these whilst playing a Ninja on the PS2. Who says gaming isn't educational

You certainly wouldn't want to sit on one.....

Well that's what you get for sitting down during a battle :wink:

[Gaius Julius Caesar]

Ouch! Have thrown these whilst playing a Ninja on the PS2. Who says gaming isn't educational

You certainly wouldn't want to sit on one.....

Well that's what you get for sitting down during a battle :wink:

Oooow, et tu Libitina, :o roll:

[Matt Lukes]

LOL

And exactly what I figured Robert- I'm hardly a master smith and I made one :wink: - and ease of construction is important to an army in the field since a fair number would be necessary to provide good area denial or at least hold up an attack in force. It's not hard to imagine during the circumvellation of Alesia, how many tens or hundreds of thousands of these things that must have been made...

I was surprised too to read about how old a weapon it is- apparently they date back to the 3rd century BCE...

[Gaius Julius Caesar]

Wouldn't be surprised if the idea dates back to the stone age....
scatter sharp flint shards around the cave entrance to disuade intruders,
of 2 and 4 legged variety...? :roll: