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The roman army pax romana
Physics of catapults
Roman army tactics and modern warfare
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The Roman military was great and powerful, but didn’t just end up that way over night. They worked hard and, as the Romans are known for their excellent engineering skills, tried to stay one step ahead of the enemy. One way they did this was siege weapons, which was how the seized castles and lands. Siege engines ingeniously used both potential energy, kinetic energy and rotational kinetic energy to throw things very far, fast, and even accurately. Besiegers could fire 100-200 pound stones up to 1,000 feet. The main siege weapons were catapults. The catapult was used to destroy buildings and walls inside and outside of the castle, and it could also destroy an enemies morale by throwing severed heads of comrades.
The earliest model was the trebuchet. It started by using a large weight on one end of a pivoting arm. The arm was pulled back the missile was placed and then let go. The weight went down, the arm went, and the missile launched. The later model gained its power from a tightly wound skein of rope, hair, and skin. the skeins were twisted incredibly tight and then had a wooden arm up to sixty feet long placed in between them. The arm was pulled back using pulleys and rope, the missile was placed in the wood cup and then the arm was released. The arm sprang to a 90 degree angle where it was stopped by a large padded piece of wood. The arm was then brought back down and fired again.
Onagers were used by the Roman army, each centurion had them. When their rocks were hurled, whole sections of stone walls collapsed. They were great for sieges.
The ballista was like a much larger version of the crossbow used by besiegers. It got it’s power from being fired with sinew ropes and had two arms. Although the ballista was a great weapon it was hard to construct, therefore the Romans developed a new version called the Mangonel. It, like the Ballista also got it's power from sinew ropes but unlike the ballista which used two arms, the Mangonel only used one arm. To make the Mangonel easier to transport the Romans added wheels. It was very light and could hurl objects such as rocks and even burning projectiles.
Another type of catapult is the Onager. Onagers were used right up to the middle ages with the Trebuchet, when gunpowder and the Cannon were invented and eventually replaced the catapults.
Earlier models just used a large weight on one end of a pivoting arm. The arm was pulled back the missile was placed and then let go.
According to the video BC Battles: Caesar Super Siege the Roman military was so successful because they were a nearly professional, very large army consisting of more than 50,000 soldiers, between 10 legions. The Roman military used their technological advances to forge innovative armor and weapons, such as the gladius, a small stabbing sword. They had siege weapons, ballistae, which fires a lead shot, and used catapults to pummel the enemy from afar. They created obstacles for their enemies like sharpened sticks that acted as barbed wire on their walls. They utilized booby traps, such as wooden spikes, and placed them at the bottom of the trenches. They had cavalry, mounted troops, which was very effective against ground soldiers. In the battle of Alesia, Caesar decided to build a 12-foot wall around the
According to Chevedden et al., (2002) the Latin word for trebuchet was “ingenium” and those who designed, made and used them were called inginators. These early engineers kept modifying the trebuchet to increase the range and impact force. One of the improvements engineers made was varying the length of the sling ropes so the shot left the machine at a ? angle of 45 degrees to the vertical (shown in the figure above), which produces the longest trajectory (Chevedden et al.,
First came the advanced weapons, the Greeks didn't have very many weapons but the ones that they did have were very powerful. Take their spears for example, they were very sturdy and sharp. And because they knew how to use them they succeeded in many of their battles. The Romans on the other hand had quite a variety of weapons. They had short swords, spears, giant darts, bows and flawless armor. This made them quite the force to be reckoned with, and anyone that stood in their way was crushed. The Greeks were very famous for their navy while the Romans didn't really have one. Most of the ancient navy's were made up of giant ships that would ram and then sink each other. But the Romans preferred hand to hand combat so they used swords more than they did spears. The Greeks had more of a frontal attack with large shields that protected them while they stabbed. Greek Armor was very weak, so they wore very little if they wore any at all. But Roman Armor had to be impeccable at all times according to Philopoemen. “Bright armour inspired dismay in the enemy” pg.6.
In an attempt to better understand the components of the trebuchet and to permit the viewer a better idea of the manner in which the firing of a trebuchet occurs, a trebuchet constructed entirely of K-nex was built this past week. The counterweight consisted of 5000 steel bb's wrapped in plastic and duct tape, while the sling itself was made of duct tape and twine. The remaineder of the trebuchet, including the throwing arm, were constructed purely from K-nex.
which was made out of small pieces of wood that had small rope attached to them, and to start
Crossbows can vary a lot in design and construction. They range from 50 to 400 lbs. in draw weight. They can be very small hand held pistols or rifles, which can fire rapidly and accurately with pinpoint accuracy up to 60 yards and kill ranges up to 100 yards. The larger bows with 400lb. draw weights could have ranges of over 400 yards they could fire large arrows, rocks and other types of projectiles accurately while staying well out of range of most enemy fire. These bows were built of large beams and sat on wheels so that 2 men could change the position of the bow easily. These bows were very powerful but were also very slow in loading and firing. They had mechanical winches, which were hand cranked to draw the bowstring back. It took two men to run these bows called siege machines.
...e went into motion. Possible projectiles of the trebuchet were living prisoners, jugs of Greek fire, rocks, and animals. Another large weapon of siege was used primarily in storms, the battering ram. In its early stages, the ram was no more than a hefty beam with a mass of metal attached to the end. Men would hoist the cumbersome boom onto their shoulders and run into a wall or door as many times as needed until the surface under attack gave way. In the Middle Ages, it was developed into more of a machine, for the ram hung from the center of a tent under which the men operating the ram could hide. The ram could be swung like a pendulum much more easily than having to constantly run back and forth. Also, castle guards often poured hot oil or other things onto the ram and its engineers. The tent, which was on wheels, protected the men and the battering ram as well.
The strength of the Roman military was the string that held the Roman Empire together for as long as it lasted. The military was made up of strictly disciplined men whom were ready and willing to serve their emperor.
The trebuchet is used with a long wooden arm refreshed on a hinge point, which acted as a big level. A bullet was placed on one end and soldiers in this earlier form of the trebuchet pushed on slings devoted to the other end to fundamentals swing the arm around and throw the
The canister shot was a wooden cartridge carrying iron balls and when fired would explode like a shotgun for shorter range personnel. The cannons were mostly low trajectory as opposed to the mortars which were high trajectory and fire bomb shells. The mortar was based on a wooden platform and a wedge of wood was used to incline the front of the barrel. There were land service mortars and sea service mortars. The land service being more mobile and the sea service much heavier and were permanently positioned on ships.
Throughout history, no other era was more significant than that of the Roman Empire. The power and influence of the Roman government and it=s rule over the world was accomplished by the Roman Army. The Roman army was the ultimate weapon of war because of the well trained men, their effective weapons and their brilliant battle tactics.
The Romans discovered many things that would aid the construction of their great civilization. The Romans discovered that a particular mixture of volcanic rock rubble and water could be used to create very strong structures; their concrete mixture could even be used in underwater applications. The Romans used concrete to make foundations for large buildings as well as bridges. They also used concrete as mortar to hold together the stones that made up roads, walls, and bridges. The Romans discovery of concrete allowed them to build very large structures that have survived many centuries.
The empire that the Roman’s built can be argued to have been the greatest in world history. The Roman Empire controlled the largest land area in European history and influenced a huge region, acting as a cultural center for the entire continent of Europe. Their strength derived from their prowess and skill on the battlefield. The Roman Army was extremely effective and became the basis of our military structure today by utilizing technological advances in strategy and weaponry, and simply having more discipline.
The system and technique of supplying an arrow with kinetic energy through the tension of limbs has been improved with the crossbow. The big catapults took up once again the principle of throwing stones. It all changed with the invention of the gunpowder. Cannons, guns and handheld weapons assumed the role of bow and arrow. Now, the warlike intention behind the long-distance effect went even more into the foreground.