‘Ancient machine gun’ was used by Romans to attack Pompeii
Long before it was covered in ash and pumice from the eruption of Mount Pompeii vesuvius In 79 AD, the people of this cursed city faced a very different kind of threat.
About 170 years ago the inhabitants Pompeii They were fighting for their independence when a Roman army led by General Lucius Cornelius Sulla attacked the walled city and took control of it.
But now Italian researchers say they have discovered that the Romans had a secret weapon (the polibolo), a catapult of Greek design that could launch metal-tipped projectiles at the enemy and quickly launch enemy soldiers off the walls.
The Romans attacked the city walls using the usual weapons, with polybolos playing a major role in the siege – Rossi et al., Heritage 2026 (CC BY 4.0); Modified by IFLScience
Researchers Adriana Rossi and Silvia Bertacchi from the University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli and Veronica Casadei from the University of Bologna found that the unusual weapon was responsible for large circular craters found on the walls.
After five years of engineering research, the research team recently published their findings in the journal Heritage.
Researchers were surprised to find archaeological evidence in the walls on the north side of the city, dating from 89 BC, that “miraculously survived” Roman restorations, World War II bombings and natural disasters.
‘Anti-personnel purposes’
This left no doubt about the ferocity of the Roman assault on the 12-foot city walls and the critical role the guns played in subduing the enemy during the months-long siege.
“The artillery deployed during the attack was primarily for anti-personnel purposes, targeting defenders positioned along the walls and between the merlons rather than destroying the walls,” the researchers wrote.
Well-preserved by the ash released by Mount Vesuvius, the fan-shaped cavities have been a source of academic fascination for decades.
The researchers used digital data to create three-dimensional models to reflect the depth, width and shape of the weapon, and then compared it to the mechanical motion of a repeated catapult.
Polybolos is a catapult that can launch metal-tipped projectiles at the enemy.
The team then reverse-engineered the type of weapon used and found that everything pointed to a high-speed machine (essentially an old machine gun) that pulverized stone on impact.
The availability of digital research techniques has made it possible to record evidence with a level of accuracy and geometric detail that was previously impossible, the researcher said.
Museum collections provided further evidence. Projectiles left over from other Roman military sites, such as the iron-tipped darts associated with the Scorpion catapult, matched the dimensions of 3D models created from damage to the walls.
with one third Pompeii Still buried under volcanic debris from the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, archaeologists are still learning more about the history of the city and how its people lived.
Researchers believe that as more city walls are uncovered, more can be discovered about the role of the polybolos.
