Ancient Weapons I am always amazed at how the ancients were able to create things which were so incredible. One such find was reported, it had to do with the Chinese and their ancient armor. If you were creating armor thousands of years ago, what would you have used? Probably some metal I would imagine. Maybe you would have used iron, or if it was available steel. At one time the Chinese found armor made from paper and silk with pieces of cloth was superior. It also probably was much cheaper to make armor from. It is amazing to note paper armor could stop some of the weapons of the time. We know the Europeans used the cross bow for the first time in 1066 A.D. and William the Conqueror introduced them in Europe. This was almost 1,500 years after they were invented by the Chinese. Archaeologists believe the automatic cross bow which could fire like an automatic rifle was invented around the same time as the regular cross bow and by the Chinese. Can you imagine the shock when soldiers tried to attack troops equipped with these in those days. It must have been like trying to attack a machinegun bunker. What I am really surprised at is the fact the Europeans only used the single shot model. Cannons were introduced around the 13 century into Europe. Again, China gets the credit for its invention. Early cannons were very big and dangerous to use. They fired inaccurate stone and metal pieces in the beginning. One would not think that a stone thrower could replace the early cannons because it was more reliable and powerful, not to mention very accurate. It was and was named the trebuchet. It was invented by Mariano Taccola who was known as the Sienese Archimedes. Sienna is a town in Poland. The device could hit the same spot over and over from a safe distance and for awhile proved more destructive than the early cannons. Eventually cannons surpassed it. Armor was found which dated back to over 2,000 B.C. it was made of antler bone and covered the chest and part of the back. Armor offered protection but Medieval armor was heavy and this fact was used against the French knights at the Battle of Agincourt. The armored knights and horses of the French were bogged down in a field and the English while outnumbered sent out unarmored soldiers who attacked the knights and destroyed them. It seems their armor was so heavy it made it too hard to compete with the unarmored English. The ancient soldiers had a hard time against walls, gates and heavy doors. The first siege device developed was said to be the battering ram. It is said the Spartans developed it in the 9th century B.C. During that the Assyrians were said to have developed the Siege Tower. This must have been a shock the first time it was used. A Siege Tower is a giant mobile tower which was usually built at the site and rolled into place. Troops would be on it protected behind barricades which sometimes served as bridges which could be lowered on the walls of the defensive army so the attacking army could run across. As time went by these siege engines became better protected when metal plates would cover them, protecting them from fire and missiles. The ancient Greeks are credited with inventing the Catapult. It was invented around 400 B.C. It could hurl rocks and flaming balls at the enemy. A couple of times it was used to toss diseased bodies over walls to try and get the enemy sick. The Romans improved its design in 353 B.C. when they invented the Onager. There were plenty of other siege engines built of all types. The idea was to pull or knock down walls, and get into the enemy’s fortifications in any way possible. Siege engines were even built on ships. The Romans used one unsuccessfully during the siege of Syracuse in 213 B.C. The engine was called a Sambucae. It was used by two ships at once, rowing as one. One of the first great inventions of war was the metal knife and sword. It is said the first metal knives were made from copper during the Bronze Age about 4,000 years ago. A metal knife was found in the tomb of King Tut which was made from a meteorite. The earliest copper sword known was dated to 3,000 B.C., the first iron ones around 1300 B.C. and the first steel ones about the 5th century B.C. in China. Before metal, one of the favorite materials for a knife was Obsidian a black volcanic glass. It was also used for arrowheads and many other tools. Even in ancient times there was a terrifying weapon which would scare us today. How would you feel if you were on a boat and someone dropped flaming napalm on you? Don’t bother to answer, this was an illustration of what it must have been like when sailors were attacked with Greek Fire. Greek Fire was made from unknown chemicals and could not be put out with water. If it was used against you that was the end, all you could do was jump into the ocean and hope you would be rescued, and I don’t believe there was much pity for enemies in those times. One of the big changes in Europe occurred with the invention of the British Longbow. It was invented around 1180 A.D. by the Celts in Wales. It didn’t catch on until the 1,300s with the military. This was well after the first use by Europeans of the crossbow. The crossbow was condemned by the church as being inhumane. The pope stated if any Christian used it against another, they would be excommunicated and damned to hell. The Longbow was a powerful replacement which could also penetrate armor. It is about 6 feet tall and made of very strong wood. It is also 5/8 inches wide. The wood was cured for 4 years before the bow was made. To pull the string all the way back took a force of 200 pounds and the arrow could travel for ½ miles. The curing of the wood protected the bow from the elements. It was much faster to shoot a longbow than a single shot crossbow and an archer could fire almost 7 times as many arrows and further than someone firing a crossbow. The longbow archers must have been an extremely strong lot to be able to pull that string all the way back.
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