Medieval weapons list catapu lt9/12/2023 ![]() ![]() In parabolic shooting, the range is greater, with distances up to 400 meters, and the firing rate is higher (3 to 4 shots per minute). In precision shooting, it was a weapon of marksmanship capable of cutting down any foe within a distance of 100 meters. The bolt-firing scorpio had mainly two functions in a legion. The carroballista could be synonymous with, or very similar to, the scorpio mounted (and not merely transported) on a cart. These, which match Vitruvius's description and the depictions on Trajan's Column and the Column of Marcus Aurelius, he describes as mule-drawn, armour-piercing ballistae which "are to be used not only for defending the camp, but also in the field". According to Vegetius, the Roman Empire ideally fielded fifty-five carroballistae per legion, one for every century, of whom ten men would be deputed to operate the machine. The late third or early fifth century Roman author Vegetius described weapons like the scorpion mounted on carts for campaign use. In 52 BC, during the siege of Avaricum in the war against the Gauls, Julius Caesar mentions the scorpio in use as an anti-personnel weapon against the Gallic town's defenders. Unlike the onager, the scorpion only required one man to operate it. While this type of technology continued to be used in the Byzantine Empire, which was the continuation of the Roman Empire through the Middle Ages, it had disappeared in the Middle Ages in Western Europe. The complexity of construction and in particular the torsion springs (which the Romans referred to as tormenta) led to great sensitivity to any variation in temperature or moisture, which limited their use. ![]() The fourth century army officer and historian Ammianus Marcellinus witnessed the use of scorpiones during several engagements in the Persian wars of Constantius II, and described the one-armed version as synonymous with the onager, with the vertical upraised arm as the 'scorpion's sting'. An arm made of wood known as the stilus with iron hooks at the end was used to hold the stone which was used as ammunition. Spring holes were drilled into the sides of the beams to allow for ropes to be placed in thus allowing them to serve as sinew-springs. The scorpion was made of a ground frame made of two beams joined together with crossbeams. Two versions are known: a horizontal two-armed variety like a ballista and a one-armed, vertical version otherwise referred to as an onager. See also: Torsion siege engine, Onager (weapon), Ballista, and Polybolos ![]()
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