The polybolos (the name means "multi-thrower" in Greek[1]) was an ancient Greek repeating ballista, reputedly invented by Dionysius of Alexandria (a 3rd-century BC Greek engineer at the Rhodes arsenal,[2][3]) and used in antiquity. The polybolos was not a crossbow since it used a torsion mechanism, drawing its power from twisted sinew-bundles.[4]
Arsenal of ancient mechanical artillery in the Saalburg, Germany; left: polybolos reconstruction by the German engineer Erwin Schramm (1856–1935)
Philo of Byzantium (c. 280 BC – c. 220 BC) encountered and described a weapon similar to the polybolos, a catapult that could fire again and again without a need for manual reloading.[5] Philo left a detailed description of the gears that powered its chain drive (the oldest known application of such a mechanism[2]) and that placed bolt after bolt into its firing slot.[citation needed]
The polybolos would have differed from an ordinary ballista in that it had a wooden hopper magazine, capable of holding several dozen bolts, that was positioned over the mensa (the cradle that holds the bolt prior to firing). The mechanism is unique in that it is driven by a flat-link chain connected to a windlass. The mensa itself was a sliding plank (similar to that on the gastraphetes) containing the claw latches used to pull back the drawstring and was attached to the chain link. When loading a new bolt and spanning the drawstring, the windlass is rotated counterclockwise by an operator standing on the left side of the weapon; this drives the mensa forward towards the bow string. At the very front, a metal lug at the front trigger the latching claws into catching the drawstring.[citation needed]
Once the string is held firm by the trigger mechanism, the windlass is then rotated clockwise; pulling the mensa back and drawing the bow string with it. At the same time, a round wooden pole in the bottom of the magazine is rotated via a spiral groove being driven by a rivet attached to the sliding mensa; dropping a single bolt from a carved notch in the rotating pole. With the drawstring pulled back and a bolt loaded on the mensa, the polybolos is ready to be fired. As the windlass is rotated further back to the very back end, the claws on the mensa meets another lug like the one that pushed the claws into catching the string. This one causes the claws to disengage the drawstring and automatically fires the loaded bolt. Upon the bolt being fired, the process is repeated. The repetition provides the weapon's name, in Greekπολυβόλος, "throwing many missiles",[6] from πολύς (polys), "multiple, many"[7] and -βόλος (-bolos) "thrower", in turn from βάλλω (ballo), "to throw, to hurl",[8] literally a repeating weapon.[citation needed]
Popular culture
In 2010 a MythBusters episode was dedicated to building and testing a replica, and concluded that its existence as a historical weapon was plausible. However, the machine MythBusters built was prone to breakdowns that had to be fixed multiple times.[9]
^Prenderghast, Gerald (March 2018). Repeating and Multi-Fire Weapons: A History from the Zhuge Crossbow Through the AK-47. McFarland. p. 14. ISBN978-1476666662.
^ abWerner Soedel, Vernard Foley (March 1979). "Ancient Catapults". Scientific American. 240 (3): 124–125. Bibcode:1979SciAm.240c.150S. doi:10.1038/scientificamerican0379-150. from the original on 2019-05-20.
^πολυβόλος, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseus Digital Library
^πολύς, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseus Digital Library
^βάλλω, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseus Digital Library
^Episode 152: Arrow Machine Gun. mythresults.com, November 3, 2010.
Bibliography
Needham, Joseph (1994), Science and Civilization in China Volume 5 Part 6, Cambridge University Press
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Polybolos.
Reconstructed Polybolos in action 2013-12-02 at the Wayback Machine (clip)
December 30, 2022
polybolos, polybolos, name, means, multi, thrower, greek, ancient, greek, repeating, ballista, reputedly, invented, dionysius, alexandria, century, greek, engineer, rhodes, arsenal, used, antiquity, polybolos, crossbow, since, used, torsion, mechanism, drawing. The polybolos the name means multi thrower in Greek 1 was an ancient Greek repeating ballista reputedly invented by Dionysius of Alexandria a 3rd century BC Greek engineer at the Rhodes arsenal 2 3 and used in antiquity The polybolos was not a crossbow since it used a torsion mechanism drawing its power from twisted sinew bundles 4 Arsenal of ancient mechanical artillery in the Saalburg Germany left polybolos reconstruction by the German engineer Erwin Schramm 1856 1935 Philo of Byzantium c 280 BC c 220 BC encountered and described a weapon similar to the polybolos a catapult that could fire again and again without a need for manual reloading 5 Philo left a detailed description of the gears that powered its chain drive the oldest known application of such a mechanism 2 and that placed bolt after bolt into its firing slot citation needed Contents 1 Design 2 Popular culture 3 See also 4 References 5 Bibliography 6 External linksDesign EditThe polybolos would have differed from an ordinary ballista in that it had a wooden hopper magazine capable of holding several dozen bolts that was positioned over the mensa the cradle that holds the bolt prior to firing The mechanism is unique in that it is driven by a flat link chain connected to a windlass The mensa itself was a sliding plank similar to that on the gastraphetes containing the claw latches used to pull back the drawstring and was attached to the chain link When loading a new bolt and spanning the drawstring the windlass is rotated counterclockwise by an operator standing on the left side of the weapon this drives the mensa forward towards the bow string At the very front a metal lug at the front trigger the latching claws into catching the drawstring citation needed Once the string is held firm by the trigger mechanism the windlass is then rotated clockwise pulling the mensa back and drawing the bow string with it At the same time a round wooden pole in the bottom of the magazine is rotated via a spiral groove being driven by a rivet attached to the sliding mensa dropping a single bolt from a carved notch in the rotating pole With the drawstring pulled back and a bolt loaded on the mensa the polybolos is ready to be fired As the windlass is rotated further back to the very back end the claws on the mensa meets another lug like the one that pushed the claws into catching the string This one causes the claws to disengage the drawstring and automatically fires the loaded bolt Upon the bolt being fired the process is repeated The repetition provides the weapon s name in Greek polybolos throwing many missiles 6 from polys polys multiple many 7 and bolos bolos thrower in turn from ballw ballo to throw to hurl 8 literally a repeating weapon citation needed Popular culture EditIn 2010 a MythBusters episode was dedicated to building and testing a replica and concluded that its existence as a historical weapon was plausible However the machine MythBusters built was prone to breakdowns that had to be fixed multiple times 9 See also EditGastraphetes Repeating crossbow Rapid fire crossbow Chain gunReferences Edit Prenderghast Gerald March 2018 Repeating and Multi Fire Weapons A History from the Zhuge Crossbow Through the AK 47 McFarland p 14 ISBN 978 1476666662 a b Werner Soedel Vernard Foley March 1979 Ancient Catapults Scientific American 240 3 124 125 Bibcode 1979SciAm 240c 150S doi 10 1038 scientificamerican0379 150 Archived from the original on 2019 05 20 Alan Wilkins 2003 Roman Artillery Osprey Publishing p 8 ISBN 978 0 7478 0575 5 Needham 1994 p 172 173 Philo of Byzantium Belopoeica 73 34 polybolos Henry George Liddell Robert Scott A Greek English Lexicon on Perseus Digital Library polys Henry George Liddell Robert Scott A Greek English Lexicon on Perseus Digital Library ballw Henry George Liddell Robert Scott A Greek English Lexicon on Perseus Digital Library Episode 152 Arrow Machine Gun mythresults com November 3 2010 Bibliography EditNeedham Joseph 1994 Science and Civilization in China Volume 5 Part 6 Cambridge University PressExternal links Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to Polybolos The Repeating Catapult of Dionysius Reconstructed Polybolos in action Archived 2013 12 02 at the Wayback Machine clip Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Polybolos amp oldid 1094758168, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
