10-11-2013, 12:15 PM
We use it today but I only found it in this form in a 10th century Byzantine text, in Theophanes Continuatus' Chronographia. The usual Byzantine term was actually toxobollistra, which, etymologically speaking, is the same thing. The latter is used by Leo VI, Heron, Constantinus Porphyrogenitus and others (after the 6-7th century AD).
And yes, the terms "akritas" and "polybolos" (poly- means multiple, many) are of course also derived from these roots.The verb ballo produces in Greek the noun bole (the act of discharging/hurling something) and the adjective suffix -bolos (the one who discharges something). Adjectives like polybolos often in Greek (as is the case in English too) become nouns. Today, a polybolo is a machine gun.
And yes, the terms "akritas" and "polybolos" (poly- means multiple, many) are of course also derived from these roots.The verb ballo produces in Greek the noun bole (the act of discharging/hurling something) and the adjective suffix -bolos (the one who discharges something). Adjectives like polybolos often in Greek (as is the case in English too) become nouns. Today, a polybolo is a machine gun.
