Greek and Roman Artillery Wiki
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Introduction[]

This bibliography page focuses on literary sources dedicated to Greek and Roman artillery. Whenever references such as Baatz 1978: 12 are made, the source should be listed here.

NOTE: Some references point to the the Bibliography page of the Crossbow Building Wiki. While the sources on that page rarely describe Greek and Roman artillery per se, they nevertheless contain tons of useful information, especially in the following areas:

  • Sinew processing
  • Bowstring making
  • Basic archery physics
  • Roman archery

The Crossbow Building Wiki is a sister site of this Wiki, founded by the same person.

Ancient manuscripts describing Greek and Roman Artillery[]

All of the original manuscripts can be found in digital format using a search engine.

  • Greek
    • ΒΙΤΩΝΟΣ ΚΑΤΑΣΚΕΥΑΙ ΠΟΛΕΜΙΚΩΝ ΟΡΓΑΝΩΝ ΚΑΙ ΚΑΤΑΠΑΛΤΙΚΩΝ (Biton's construction of war-machines)
    • ΗΡΩΝΟΣ ΚΤΗΣΙΒΙΟΥ ΒΕΛΟΠΟΙΙΚΑ (Heron's Belopoeica)
    • ΗΡΩΝΟΣ ΧΕΙΡΟΒΑΛΛΙΣΤΡΑ ΚΑΤΑΣΚΕΥΗ ΚΑΙ ΣΥΜΜΕΡΤΡΙΑ (Heron's cheiroballistra)
    • ΠΡΟΚΟΠΙΟΥ ΚΑΙΣΑΡΕΩΣ ΙΣΤΟΡΙΑΙ (Histories of Procopius)
    • ΤΑ ΦΙΛΩΝΟΣ ΒΕΛΟΠΟΙΙΚΑ (Philon's belopoeica)
  • Latin
    • AMMIANI MARCELLINI HISTORIAE (book 23)
    • DE REBUS BELLICIS (anonymous author)
    • FLAVI VEGETI RENATI VIRI INLUSTRIS COMITIS, EPITOMA REI MILITARIS (books 2 and 4)
    • MARCUS VITRUVIUS POLLIO, DE ARCHITECTURA (book 10)

Literary sources dedicated to Greek and Roman Artillery[]

The following are published academic articles and books:

  • Anstee, J. 1998. "Tours de Force". An experimental Catapult/Ballista. Studia Danubiana I. The RomanFrontier at the Lower Danube 4th-6th centuries. Bucharest 1998. Ed. Zahariade, M. 131-139.
  • Asmus, Bastian 2011. Herstellung der gegossenen Buchsen für die Rekonstruktion des in Xanten gefundenen Torsionskatapults. Die frühkaiserzeitliche Manuballista aus Xanten-Wardt. Band 18 der Reihe Xantener Berichte. Ed. Hans-Joachim Schalles. 153-162
  • Baatz, Dietwulf 1977. The Hatra ballista. Sumer, Vol. 33, p.. 141-151.
  • Baatz. Dietwulf 1978. Recent Finds of Ancient Artillery. Britannia, Vol. 9. 1-17. (Sold here)
  • Baatz, Dietwulf 1978b. Das Torsiongeschütze von Hatra. Antike Welt 4. 50-57.
  • Baatz, Dietwulf 1980. Ein Katapult der legio IV Macedonia aus Cremona. Mitteilungen des deutschen archäologischen Institut Röm. Abt. 87 (1980). 283-299.
  • Baatz, Dietwulf & Feugère, Michel 1981. Eléments d'une catapulte romaine trouvée à Lyon. Gallia. Tome 39 fascicule 2. 201-210.
  • Baatz, Dietwulf 1982. Hellenistische Katapulte aus Ephyra (Epirus). Athenische Mitteilungen 97. 146-233.
  • Baatz, Dietwulf 1994. Katapultfunde 1914-1988. Bauten und Katapulte des römischen Heeres. Mavors Roman Army Researches 11. 275-283.
  • Baatz, Dietwulf 1999. Katapulte und mechanische Handwaffen des spätrömischen Heeres. Journal of Roman Military Equipment Studies Volume 11. 5-19.
  • Baatz, Dietwulf 2011. Bemerkungen zu den Proportionen und zur Typologie der Torsionarmbrust von Xanten-Wardt. Die frühkaiserzeitliche Manuballista aus Xanten-Wardt. Band 18 der Reihe Xantener Berichte. Ed. Hans-Joachim Schalles. 129-144.
  • Barthel, W. 1909. Eine neue Geschützdarstellung. Mitteilungen des deutschen archäologische Instituts (Röm. Abt.), 24, 1909. 100-108. (available on archive.org)
  • Barthel, W. 1914. Die Catapulta von Emporion. Frankf. Ztg. 29 April 1914.
  • Boube-Piccot, C. 1988. Eléments de catapultes en bronze découverts en Maurétanie Tingitane. Bulletin d’archéologie marocaine XVII. 209-30.
  • Boube-Piccot, C. 1994. Les bronces antiques du Maroc: IV. L'equipement militaire et l'armement. Paris.
  • Cabré, J. 1925. Los bronces de Azaila. Archivo Español de Arte y Arqueología, 1, Madrid 1925. 297-315. (See Worldcat for physical copies. Digitized version apparently available in Proquest's catalogue)
  • Campbell, Duncan 2003. Greek and Roman Artillery 399 BC - AD 363. Osprey Publishing Ltd. (Preview available on Google Books)
  • Campbell, Duncan 2011. Ancient Catapults: Some Hypotheses Reexamined. Hesperia: The Journal of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens, Vol. 80, No. 4. 677-700.
  • Clift, Adam & Cutler, Gary & Neel, Wayne 2004. Pre­tensioning applied to ancient torsion­-powered ballistae. Journal of Roman Military Equipment Studies Volume 14/15. 57-60. (Available here).
  • Drachmann, A.G. 1953. Remarks on the ancient catapults. Actes du septième congrès international d'histoire des sciences. Jérusalem, Août 1953. 279-282.
  • Drachmann, A.G. 1960. Caesar's Scorpio and Philon's repeating Catapult. Actes du 9e congrès international d'histoire des sciences. Barcelone/Madrid 1959. 203-205.
  • Drachmann, A.G. 1977. Biton and the development of the catapult. Prismata, Naturwissenschaftsgeschichtliche Studien. Festschrift fur Willy Hartner. Ed. Y. Maeyama and W. G. Saltzer, Wiesbaden, 1977. 119–131.
  • Gudea, N. & Baatz, Dietwulf 1974. Teile spätromische Ballisten aus Gornea und Orsova (Rumänien). Saalburg-Jahrbuch 31. 50-72.
  • Foley, V. & Soedel, W. 1979. Ancient catapults. Scientific American, March 1979. 120-128. (Available here).
  • Hart, V. & Lewis, M. 2010. The Hatra ballista: a secret weapon of the past? Journal of Engineering Mathematics 2010 vol. 67. 261-273.
  • Hassall, M. 1999. Perspectives on Greek and Roman catapults. Archaeology International 1998/1999. 23-26.
  • Harpham, R. & Stevenson, D. 1997. Heron's Cheiroballista (A Roman Torsion Crossbow). Journal of the Society of Archer-Antiquaries 40. 13-17. (Limited availability for Society of Archer-Antiquaries members.)
  • Hendriks, Ursula 2011. Faseranalysen von Spannseilen der Torsionswaffe RMX 2000,25.006. Die frühkaiserzeitliche Manuballista aus Xanten-Wardt. Band 18 der Reihe Xantener Berichte. Ed. Hans-Joachim Schalles. 163-170.
  • Iriarte, Aitor 2000. Pseudo-Heron's cheiroballistra a(nother) reconstruction: I. Theoretics. Journal of Roman Military Equipment Studies Volume 11. 47-75. (Available here)
  • Iriarte, Aitor 2002. More about the Teruel catapult. Journal of Roman Military Equipment Studies Volume 12/13 2001/2002. 43-46.
  • Kayumov, Ildar et Minchev, Alexander 2010. The ΚΑΜΒEΣΤΡΙΟΝ and other Roman military equipment from Thracia. Proceedings of XVII Roman Military Equipment Conference in Zagreb. 327-345. (available here)
  • Kempkens, Jo & Lupak, Ton 2011. Die Freilegung und Restaurierung der Torsionarmbrust. Die frühkaiserzeitliche Manuballista aus Xanten-Wardt. Band 18 der Reihe Xantener Berichte. Ed. Hans-Joachim Schalles. 71-128.
  • Keyser, Paul 1994. The Use of Artillery by Philip II and Alexander the Great. Ancient World 25.1 (1994). 27–59.
  • Lewis, M.J.T. & Faulkner N. 2004. Trajan’s Artillery: the Archaeology of a Roman Technological Revolution. Current World Archaeology 3, 2004. 41-48.
  • Marsden, E.W. [1969] 1999. Greek and Roman artillery. Historical development. Oxford University Press Inc. Oxford.
  • Marsden, E.W. [1971] 1999. Greek and Roman artillery. Technical treatises. Oxford University Press Inc. Oxford.
  • Marsden, E.W. Macedonian military machinery and its designers under Philip and Alexander. Ancient Macedonia 2, 1977. 211-223.
  • Miks, C. 2001. Die Χειροβαλλιστρα des Heron: Überlegungen zu einer Geschützentwicklung der Kaiserzeit. Saalburg Jahrbuch 51, 2001. 153-233.
  • Prou, V. 1877. La Chirobaliste d'Heron d'Alexandrie. Notices et Extraits des manuscrits de la Bibliothèque nationale et autres bibliothèques 26. 1-319. (Available here).
  • Rihill, T. The Catapult: A History. Yardley, 2007.
  • Rossi, Cesare & Savino, Sergio & Messina, Arcangelo & Reina, Giulio 2015. Performance of Greek-Roman Artillery. Arms & Armour 12:1. 67-89.
  • Schalles, Hans-Joachim 2011. Die frühkaiserzeitliche Torsionarmbrust aus Xanten-Wardt - Fundgeschichte, Beschreibung und Datierung. Die frühkaiserzeitliche Manuballista aus Xanten-Wardt. Band 18 der Reihe Xantener Berichte. Ed. Hans-Joachim Schalles. 1-71. (The entire publication can be purchased from here).
  • Schramm, E. 1917. Erläuterung der Geschützbeschreibung bei Vitruvius X 10-12. Sitzungberichte der königlich preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, phil.-hist. Klasse, LI, 1917. 718 – 734.
  • Schramm, E. [1918] 1980. Die antiken Geschütze der Saalburg. Bad Homburg.
  • Seppänen, Samuli 2015. The Cheiroballistra - Producing a viable weapon based on historical manuscripts and archaeological finds. Arkeologi Janne Rantasen juhlakirja. 20-24. (Available on GitHub in various print- and non-print formats, plus on Academia.edu)
  • Stevenson, D. 1995. Heron's Cheiroballistra, with an appendix on the manufacture of sinew rope. BA dissertation. University College London.
  • Vicente Redón, J. & Punter, M. P. & Ezquerra, B. 1997. La catapulta tardo-republicana y otro equipamiento militar de “La Caridad” (Caminreal, Teruel). Journal of Roman Military Equipment Studies 8. 167-199.
  • Wilkins, Alan 1995. Reconstructing the cheiroballistra. Journal of Roman Military Equipment Studies Volume 6. 5-59.
  • Wilkins, Alan & Morgan, Len 2000. Scorpio and cheiroballistra. Journal of Roman Military Equipment Studies Volume 11. 77-101.
  • Wilkins, Alan 2003. Roman artillery. Shire publications Ltd. Buckinghamshire.
  • Wilkins, Alan 2017. A suggested reconstruction of Vitruvius' stone-thrower: de Architectura X, 11, 4-9. Journal of Roman Military Equipment Studies Volume 18. 27-50.
  • Wilkins, A. & Rose, P.J. & Barnard, H. 2006. Roman Artillery Balls from Qasr Ibrim, Egypt. Sudan & Nubia Bulletin 10. 66-80.
  • Willer, Frank 2011. Zu den Analyseergebnissen der Metallproben am römischen Torsionkatapult aus Xanten. Die frühkaiserzeitliche Manuballista aus Xanten-Wardt. Band 18 der Reihe Xantener Berichte. Ed. Hans-Joachim Schalles. 145-152.
  • Zimmermann, Alexander 2011. Katapultbau - fast problemlos, bei solch einer Vorlage!. Die frühkaiserzeitliche Manuballista aus Xanten-Wardt. Band 18 der Reihe Xantener Berichte. Ed. Hans-Joachim Schalles. 171-???.

The following writeups have not been published in academic journals and their exact online publication date is unknown:

  • Wilkins, Alan. The Xanten-Wardt and Carlisle catapult finds. Published online in 2011 or later. Available here.
  • Wilkins, Alan. A suggested reconstruction of Vitruvius’ Stone-thrower: de Architectura X, 11, 4 - 9. Published online in 2006 or later. Available here.

Related literature[]

  • Breeze, David 2011. Burnswark: Roman Siege or Army Training Ground. Archaeological Journal 168:1. 166-180.
  • Burns, Mike 2004. Pompeii under siege: a missile assemblage from the Social War. Journal of Roman Military Equipment Studies Volume 14/15. 1-9. (Available here).
  • Echols, E.C 1950. The Ancient Slinger. CW 43 (1950). 227-230.
  • Dahm, O. 1903. Römische Geschützpfeile von Aliso. Mitteilungen der Altertums-Kommission für Westfalen 3. 64-67.
  • Foss, C. 1975. A Bullet of Tissaphernes. JHS 95 (1975). 25-30.
  • Labrador, Eduardo & Abad, Rubén & Ibáñez 2009. Proyectiles de catapulta romana procedentes de la fortificación de “La Espina del Gállego” (Cantabria). Estudio y tratamiento de conservación. Instituto de Prehistoria y Arqueología “Sautuola” Santander (2009). 277-297. (Available here).
  • Korfmann, M. 1973. The Sling as a Weapon. Scientific American 229:4 (October 1973). 34-42.
  • McKenna, Henry & Hearle, John & O'Hear, Nick 2004. Handbook of fibre rope technology. Woodhead Publishing.
  • McLeod, W. 1965. The Range of the Ancient Bow. Phoenix 19 (1965). 1-14.
  • McLeod, W. 1972. The Range of the Ancient Bow: Addenda. Phoenix 26 (1972). 78-82.
  • Payne-Gallwey, Ralph [1903] 1990. The crossbow. Medieval and modern, military and sporting. It's construction, history & management. Albert Saifer publisher. London. (Available on this site)
  • Purton, Peter 2006. The myth of the mangonel: torsion artillery in the Middle Ages. Arms & Armour, Vol. 3, No. 1, Spring 2006. 79–90.
  • Reboreda Morillo, S. 1996. L’Arc et les flèches en Grèce. DHA 22:2 (1996). 9-24.
  • Roylance, David 2001. Stress-strain curves. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Cambridge. (Available online)
  • Rubin, Jerome 1972. Interrupted stress-strain expirements with nylon 6. Picatinny arsenal. Dover, New Jersey. (Available online)
  • Simonett, C. 1942. War die Armbrust schon den Römern bekantt? Jahresberichte Ges. pro Vindonissa 1941/42. 15-17.
  • Vicente Redón, J. et al 1985. “Excavaciones arqueológica en “La Caridad” (Caminreal, Teruel), III Campaña, 1985”. Arqueología Aragonesa, Zaragoza. 101-117.
  • Vigors, P.D. 1888. Slings and Sling-Stones. Journal of the Royal Historical & Archaeological Association of Ireland, 4 th ser. 8 (1888). 357-366.
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