CATAPULTS  IN  GREEK  AND  ROMAN  ANTIQUITY

SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY

Abbreviations, general introduction
Schramm 1918        E. Schramm, Die antiken Gesch�tze der Saalburg (Bad Homburg 1918, Reprint 1980)
Marsden 1969         E.W. Marsden, Greek and Roman Artillery I. Historical Development (Oxford 1969)
Marsden 1971         E.W. Marsden, Greek and Roman Artillery II. Technical Treatises  (Oxford 1971)
Baatz 1978               D. Baatz, Recent Finds of Ancient Artillery. Britannia 9, 1978, 1-17
Mil. Equipm. 1993 M.C. Bishop/J.C.N. Coulston, Roman military equipment (London 1993)
Feug�re 1993          M. Feug�re, Les armes des romains (Paris 1993)
Baatz 1994               D. Baatz, Bauten und Katapulte des r�mischen Heeres (Stuttgart 1994)

Representations of catapults in ancient art
Balustrade relief from Athena sanctuary, Pergamon: Schramm 1918, 35 fig. 9; Marsden 1969, pl.3;
    Baatz, Mitt. DAI Athen 97, 1982, pl. 45,1
Cupid gem: Baatz, Mitt. DAI Athen 97, 1982, pl. 46,1;  W. Barthel, Mitt. DAI Rom 24, 1909, 100-108.
Reliefs from Rome, Armilustrium(?): Schramm 1918, 38-9 fig. 12-13;  J. W. Crous,
    Mitt. DAI Rom 48, 1933, 1-119; 77 type 15.
Tombstone of Vedennius, Rome: Marsden 1969, 185; pl. 1;  Baatz, Mitt. DAI Rom 87, 1980, 296f. pl. 90,2
Reliefs on Trajan�s Column, Rome: Marsden 1969, pl. 9-13;  Baatz 1978, pl. 4B;  C. Cichorius, Die Reliefs
    der Trajanss�ule (1896-1900)

Ancient technical text figures
The ancient catapult treatises were illustrated with text figures. The original drawings are not preserved, but there are mediaeval copies, see drawing of a  palintonon.
Reproductions:C. Wescher, Poliorc�tique des Grecs (Paris 1867);
Schramm 1918, 11-13 fig.1-2.   -  Emphasizing the significance of the ancient text figures:
M. Hassall, Perspectives on Greek and Roman catapults; in: Archaeology International ( Institute of
Archaeology, London) 1999, 23-26.

Archaeological finds of catapult components
Several find reports are collected in: Baatz 1994
Sunion, Attika (Greece):      H. Williams, Classical Views NS. 11, 1992, 181-187
Ephyra (Greece):     Baatz, Mitt. DAI Athen 97, 1982, 211-233
Ampurias (Spain):     Schramm 1918, 40-46; pl. 11
Azaila, Teruel (Spain):     J. Cabr�, Archivo Espagnol de Arte y Arqueologia 1, 1925, 14 fig. 13; id., Ceramica
    de Azaila (Madrid  1944) 7;  M. Beltr�n Lloris, Arqueologia e Historia  de las Civdades des Cabezo
    de Alcal� de Azaila (Zaragoza 1976) 17 note 207, pl. 6,3778.3788.
La Caridad, Caminreal, Teruel (Spain): J. D. Vicente, M. Pilar Punter and B. Ezquerra, Journal of Roman Military Equipment Studies 8, 1997 (1999) 167-199.
Mahdia (Tunisia):    Baatz, Arch. Anz. 1985, 679-691
Auerberg, Bavaria (Germany):    Baatz in: G. Ulbert, Der Auerberg I. (M�nchen 1994) 173-187
Cremona (Italy):    Baatz, Mitt. DAI Rom 87, 1980, 283-299
Elginhaugh (Great Britain):     unpublished
Bath (Great Britain):     Baatz, in: B.  Cunliffe, The Temple of Sulis Minerva at Bath 2. The Finds from the
    Sacred Spring (Oxford 1988) 7-9 fig. 4,6; pl. 5-7
Hatra  (Iraq):     Baatz 1978, 3-9; id., Antike Welt 9/4, 1978, 50-57
Lyon (France):    Feug�re and Baatz, Gallia 39, 1981, 207-209
Pergamon (Turkey):     W. Gaitzsch in: C. Dobiat (ed.), Festschrift O.-H. Frey. Marburger Studien
    z. Vor- u. Fr�hgesch. 18 (Marburg 1994) 235-242
Gornea, Orsova (Romania):   Gudea and Baatz, Saalburg-Jahrb. 31, 1974, 50-72;  Baatz 1978, 9-16
Pityus (Georgia):     Baatz, Saalburg-Jahrb. 44, 1988, 59-64
Sala, Volubilis (Maroc):     Ch. Boube-Piccot, Les bronzes antiques du Maroc IV. L��quipement militaire
   et l�armement (Paris 1994) 188-197 pl. 49-50

Catapult missiles
Catapult arrows and bolts
Baatz, Mitt. DAI Athen 97, 1982, 229-231 fig. 7, pl. 45,2 (Ephyra, Greece; hellenistic catapult arrowheads)
W. Zanier, Germania 72, 1994, 587-596 (Oberammergau, Germany; stamped augustan arrowhead of Legio XIX)
E. Schramm, Mitt. Altertumskomm. Westfalen 4, 1905, 121-124 (Haltern, Germany; augustan catapult arrowheads and arrow foreshaft fragments)
Ch. Unz and E. Deschler-Erb, Katalog der Militaria aus Vindonissa (Brugg 1997) 24 no. 434; pl. 22,434 (Vindonissa, Switzerland; first half of first cent. AD catapult arrow foreshaft with iron arrowhead)
S. James and J. Taylor, Saalburg-Jahrb. 47, 1997, 93-98 (Qasr Ibrim, Egypt; first half of first cent. AD catapult arrow foreshaft)
Rostovtzeff, Bellinger, Hopkins and Welles, The Excavations at Dura-Europos. Prelim. Rep. of  Sixth Season of Work (New Haven 1936) 455-6 pl. 24,2 (Dura-Europos, Syria; mid-third cent. AD complete catapult bolt)
S. James, Saalburg-Jahrb. 39, 1983, 142-3 (Dura-Europos, Syria; mid-third cent. AD iron incendiary arrowhead of catapult bolt)
S. Sievers, Journal of Roman Military Equipment Studies 8, 1997, 271-276
(Alesia, France and Osuna, Spain; iron weapon heads including some catapult arrow heads)
Stone balls
E. Boehringer in: von Szalay and Boehringer, Die hellenistischen Arsenale. Altert�mer von Pergamon 10
(Berlin 1937) 48-54 pl. 31 (Pergamon, Turkey; hellenistic)
L. Laurenzi in: Studi Annibalici (Cortona 1964) 141-154 (Rhodos, Greece; hellenistic)
B. Rathgen, Zeitschr. f. histor. Waffenkunde 5, 1909-11, 236-244 (Carthage, Tunisia; 2nd cent. BC; function of these stone balls discussed, see Marsden 1969, 79-80)

Catapult emplacements
Greek towns
F. Krischen, Die Stadtmauern von Pompeji und griechische Festungsbaukunst in Unteritalien und Sizilien. Die hellenistische Kunst in Pompeji 7 (Berlin 1941) 29-30 pl. 11-13. 19. 41-43 (heavy forward catapult emplacement at Selinus, Sicily);  Marsden 1969, 116-163;  A. W. Lawrence, Greek Aims in Fortification (Oxford 1979) 43-49.
Roman towns and forts
M. Todd, The Walls of Rome (London 1978) 19-20 fig. 4 (cat. emplacement inserted in Servian Wall 87 BC) 
D. B. Campbell, Ballistaria in first to mid-third century Britain. Britannia 15, 1984, 75-84

Ranges and effects
Schramm 1918, 24-27   -   Marsden 1969, 86-98     -     Baatz 1994, 136-145

Catapult reconstructions
There are many groups now reconstructing catapults, but only few documentation. Reconstructing catapults began in the 19th century in France by Dufour and de Reffye under encouragement of Napoleon III.  Some fine reconstructions have been built in Germany by E. Schramm from 1904 until 1916, published with construction plans in:  Schramm 1918. Many of Schramm�s reconstructions are still extant in the Saalburgmuseum, Bad Homburg, Germany.  Some recent experiments and calculations: Marsden 1971, 232-236 (reproduction of cheiroballistra); A. Wilkins, Reconstructing the cheiroballistra. Journ. Roman Mil. Equipment 6, 1995, 5-59 (with quite different result); J. G. Landels, Engineering in the Ancient World (London 1978) 99-132;V.G. Hart and M.J.T. Lewis, Mechanics of the Onager. Journ. of Engineering and Mathematics 20, 1986, 345-365 (mathematical model of the onager) 

Greek and Roman hand-held mechanical weapons ("crossbows")
Composite bow weapons
Gastraphetes:   Schramm 1918, 16. 47-49, corrected by Marsden 1969,  5-12   -   Marsden 1971, 21-23
Roman hunting crossbow: Baatz, Die r�mische Jagdarmbrust. Arch. Korrbl. 21, 1991, 283-290
Feug�re 1993, 213-214
Torsion spring weapons
Hellenistic types: in the Ephyra and Mahdia finds very small modioli prove the existence of  such weapons
Roman imperial period: Bath and Elginhaugh finds also with very small modioli
D. B. Campbell, Bonner Jahrb. 186, 1986, 126f. (mechane of Roman cavalry: composite bow or torsion spring weapon?)
Late Roman period, cheiroballistra and  manuballista:   see Gornea find, Baatz 1978, 14-17
Text of Ps.-Heron, Cheiroballistra:   Marsden 1971, 206-231

Roman Imperial Artillery
Marsden 1969, 174-198   -   Mil. Equipm. 1993,  55-57. 80-81. 114-115. 139-141. 160-167 -  Feug�re 1993, 104-107. 205--223  -  Baatz 1994, 127-135

Late Roman catapults
D. Baatz, Katapulte und mechanische Handwaffen des sp�tr�mischen Heeres. Journal of Roman Military Equipment
Studies 10, 1999 (2001), 5-19 (‘Catapults and hand-held mechanical weapons of the Late Roman Army’)
D.E. Chevedden, Artillery in Late Antiquity;  in: Corfis and Wolfe (ed.), The medieval city under siege
(Woodbridge 1995) 131-173.  See also Marsden 1969 and 1971;  Baatz 1994.

Mediaeval torsion catapults
B. Rathgen, Das Gesch�tz im Mittelalter (Berlin 1928) 578-609
V. Schmidtchen, Mittelalterliche Kriegsmaschinen (Soest 1983)

� D. Baatz,  D-64297 Darmstadt, Germany                  Back Vers. 18 October, 2001