Ancient Catapults: Some Hypotheses Reexamined

by Duncan B. Campbell

Hesperia, Volume 80, Issue 4
Page(s): 677-700
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2972/hesperia.80.4.0677
Year: 2011
VIEW ONLINE

ABSTRACT:

Recent summaries and overviews of the development of ancient catapults have mistaken working hypotheses for established fact. Key areas of misunderstanding include the invention of the catapult, the development of the torsion principle, the meaning of the terms euthytone and palintone, and the possible use of sling bullets as catapult missiles. A critical reexamination of these questions, setting them within the framework of the known facts, reveals the fragility of the accepted history of the catapult, as currently presented in general handbooks.