MEDIAEVAL COPY OF AN ANCIENT TECHNICAL DRAWING
(Palintonon: heavy stone-thrower, two-armed torsion catapult)

Text figure from Heron, Belopeica:
construction drawing of a palintonon
 

Heron wrote the Belopoeica (catapult manual) in the first century AD. The original manuscript did nor survive; there are only mediaeval handwritten copies. The accompanying text figures have also been copied at that time. The illustration of the palintonon displayed here has been taken from a manuscript of the 11/12th century AD, preserved in the Bibliothèque National, Paris (Codex Parisinus gr. 2442). The mediaeval copier, presumably a monk, had no knowledge of the subject and did not really know what he copied. But in spite of this the main components of the palintonon are clearly recognizable.

The palintonon is shown from the back and from above. Some components are seen directly from above, others in a still imperfect perspective at an angle from above. Some parts have been marked by their greek names proper, others are marked by greek letters only, which are repeated and explained in the accompanying text.
 
 
 

General information about text illustrations in ancient technical texts:
A. Stückelberger, Bild und Wort. Das illustrierte Fachbuch in der antiken Naturwissenschaft, Medizin und Technik (Mainz 1994). There is also a coloured print of the illustration shown here: pl. 34b.
 

Information about the palintonon                                                                                                     Back
© D. Baatz, D-64297 Darmstadt, Germany                                                                                       Vers. 22 June,  2001