08-10-2009, 12:55 AM
Warhammer,
From the sound of it your weapon would be some sort of manuballista. Manu-because it's hand held and ballista- because it has wide-spaced springs. Please post some pics or drawings. we're always interested in seeing something new or different.
Brennivs,
Thanks for getting us back on topic. As I look further into what is known, or at least generally accepted, about each type of weapon I'm suprised to find how many things are based on assumptions. Granted, you have to start somewhere, but if your basic premise is faulty, what follows, even if it works as well or better is still defective. The further upstream the error occurs the harder it will be to correct. As an engineering type you might be familliar with the 5-whys method of root cause analysis. It's not enough to go back only one step. It may solve the immediate problem, but if you keep digging deeper you'll usually find that the real culprit is futher back. Here, the basic assumption was that because some weapons (gastraphetes, cheiroballistra, and early greek weapons) had dovetailed sliders, all weapons need them. This is flawed logic. This leads to the next assumption; If an author like Philon or Vitruvius fails to mention dovetails or sliders it is merely oversight, a gap in the manuscript, or a transcription/translation error. Compound this with another assumption that what works for a hand-held weapon automatically applies to larger weapons as well, and you've got quite a chain going. If iconographic evidence (Cupid Gem & Trajan's Column) contradicts your image of things why not just assume that the artist was wrong. If artifacts turn up that don't fit together like you think they should, cast or hammer out some bronze "assumptions" to make it work. It is perfectly acceptable to use hunches, best guesses, and assumptions. The trouble begins when these get handed down as facts with no disclaimer. It gets harder to peel back the layers, find the original problem and choose a different solution.
From the sound of it your weapon would be some sort of manuballista. Manu-because it's hand held and ballista- because it has wide-spaced springs. Please post some pics or drawings. we're always interested in seeing something new or different.
Brennivs,
Thanks for getting us back on topic. As I look further into what is known, or at least generally accepted, about each type of weapon I'm suprised to find how many things are based on assumptions. Granted, you have to start somewhere, but if your basic premise is faulty, what follows, even if it works as well or better is still defective. The further upstream the error occurs the harder it will be to correct. As an engineering type you might be familliar with the 5-whys method of root cause analysis. It's not enough to go back only one step. It may solve the immediate problem, but if you keep digging deeper you'll usually find that the real culprit is futher back. Here, the basic assumption was that because some weapons (gastraphetes, cheiroballistra, and early greek weapons) had dovetailed sliders, all weapons need them. This is flawed logic. This leads to the next assumption; If an author like Philon or Vitruvius fails to mention dovetails or sliders it is merely oversight, a gap in the manuscript, or a transcription/translation error. Compound this with another assumption that what works for a hand-held weapon automatically applies to larger weapons as well, and you've got quite a chain going. If iconographic evidence (Cupid Gem & Trajan's Column) contradicts your image of things why not just assume that the artist was wrong. If artifacts turn up that don't fit together like you think they should, cast or hammer out some bronze "assumptions" to make it work. It is perfectly acceptable to use hunches, best guesses, and assumptions. The trouble begins when these get handed down as facts with no disclaimer. It gets harder to peel back the layers, find the original problem and choose a different solution.
P. Clodius Secundus (Randi Richert), Legio III Cyrenaica
"Caesar\'s Conquerors"
"Caesar\'s Conquerors"
