Ancient Warfare Weapons which have changed the history

Ancient Warfare Weapons which have changed the history of mankind “Wars may be fought with weapons, but they are won by men. It is the spirit of the men who follow and of the man who leads that gains the victory. ” – George S. Patton

Objective: �Point weapons and technologies that made civilizations to triumph over the others

Greek Fire 11 th century “Instrumental or mechanical science is the noblest and, above all others, the most useful. ” – Leonardo da Vinci � A viscous liquid that burns even contacting the water � Used mainly by the bizantines against Turkish invasions � Till today there’s no knowledge about its real composition

Bizantine Empire

Stirrup In Europe 6 th century “A horse, a kingdom for a horse. ” William Shakespeare � The knight now could benefit from the strenght of the horse. � Years before the discovery any direct attack will make the knight fall from the horse leaving him unprotected � Mongols led by Genghis Khan dominated almost the entire Asia because their profient using horses

Mongolian Empire

English Longbow ( 1300 -1450) “The haft of the arrow had been feathered with one of the eagle’s own plumes. We often give our enemies the means of our own destruction. ” – Aesop � One of the most important weapon in Europe during the high middle age � 2 meters high, D shaped. High accuracy � Range up to 200 meters Penetration 600 Newtons � England’s main weapon on the 100 year war.

Cross. Bow (1300 -1500) "A god from the machine. " - Menander � Called the “Besta” by the Christians � Fire rate, penetration and attack range all lower than the Longbow � Even a peasant could fire a Crossbow due its simplicity � Good Acurracy � Very common in France

Siege Weapons “How happy are those walls already rise!” – Virgil � When men started to cluster in cities, swords and axes were ineffective, so a new kind of weapons were needed. Slow and powerful they were.

Catapult (400 a. C-) “Mathematics is the gate and key to the sciences. ” – Roger Bacon � The energy is stored within the tensioned string following: � Epel= 0. 5 k x² ( They did not know this on that time) � Range 200 -300 mts � Good agains stonewalls � Slow and mathematically inaccurated

Trebuchet (1200 -1400) “Measure what is measurable, and make measurable what is not so. ” – Galileo � Uses a counterweight to launch the projectile � Uses the gravity to accelerate the rock � Could launch a 1000 kg projectile at a 300 mts � Enginners and phycisists were needed to make it work

� Usually the projectile were: � Big rocks to crack walls � Sick corpses to spread diseases � Flaming pots to blaze the city � Weak Points � Slow, expensive to make hard to use

Gunpowder ( Europe 1450 -) “God made man but Samuel Colt made them equal” Advertising slogan for Colt Manufactuting � The base for the modern weapons � Much more eficcient suply energy for weapons � Samuel Colt has construted the first personal revolver