What was a catapult used for?

Answer 1

A catapult was used as a weapon of seige. In other words a catapult was used to launch object into a city on at its walls. In one case catapults launched plague victims into a bedeiged city to poison the residents. The more common usage was to launch boulders at city walls to destroy them.

Answer 2

Question : How do ancient Romans's catapults work?

Okay, first they build a big structure then they tie a rope to a wheel.

it is almost like a sling shot but it is just bigger . So once the Romans finish the catapult they pull the long rope that is attacted to two other ropes then with a stone on the curve shape of the rope then the Romans pull then let go . With such i mighty pull and such a force the stone can go flying for about around 150km an hour depending on how far they pulled the rope and how flexible the wood is and also one more thing go to the greatest world record and you see that the fastest and most best catapult was traveling at 150km an hour.

Answer 3

The Romans adopted the Greek ballista in the 2nd century BC, and greatly improved on it. Although it is usually referred to as a catapult, it was more like a large crossbow. It could fire missiles or stone balls. Initially it was used only as a siege machine deployed on siege towers or at the edge of the battlefield.

The bow of the ballista was mounted on wooden frame held together by iron plates. It had a long stand which had a slider attached to a pair of winches and a claw at the back. The bolt or stones were loaded on the slider and the winch stretched the bowstring backwards for firing. Torsion springs made of ropes of animal sinew were twisted around the arms of the bow. When the bowstring was drawn back, this twisted the springs which were already very taut, thus creating larger torsion energy for firing. The torsion springs were attached to by frame iron or bronzed clasps which could be moved to different holes and secured with pins. This allowed make adjustments the symmetrical balance of the arms of the bows or adaptations for the weather conditions.

The metal components were transported, but the wooden frame and other wooden components were built on the spot using local wood. All the wooden parts were later replaced with iron, which made the ballista smaller and lighter and gave it even more firing power. It also made maintenance easier.

Later the ballista was also developed it into more of a field weapon by making smaller versions. A joint in the stand was developed to adjust the trajectory of the bolt and to change firing direction. Several versions of were developed. The carroballista was a cart-mounted version. This made the ballista much more flexible and mobile, allowing it to follow the troops as the battle developed and making it a much better battlefield weapon. The manuballista was a smaller, handheld version made entirely of iron.

The ancient sources said that the Romans developed the polybolos, a repeating' ballista' which shot 11 shots a minute. This was at least four times the rate of an ordinary ballista. However, none has been found by archaeologists. The bolts were kept in a magazine and after a shot a rotating cam placed the next bolt on the shaft were the bolts were fired.

The ballista was a very effective weapon. It was very accurate and its operators could hit a man Projectiles could be fired over walls. It could reach over 500 yards (460 m), but it could be used effectively in battle at 300 m. The making of the bowstring and torsion springs was very complicated. The Ropes were made of highly intertwined strands and they had to be assembled at a very high level of tension, making this a specialised job.

The onager was more like the medieval catapult. It the largest projectile firing weapon and which the Romans developed later. To transport it was dismantled and it was carried on oxen-pulled wagons. It was used to hurl stones at walls at it was so effective that it was also used against tightly packed infantry formations. It was used as defensive batteries of towns and forts of the late Empire because it was effective to destroy siege works and siege towers.