Pompeii's battle scars linked to an ancient 'machine gun'

 (phys.org)

48 points | by pseudolus 3 days ago

1 comments

  • zeusdclxvi 3 hours ago
    The polybolos was an advanced ancient Greek repeating ballista, often described as a "machine gun of antiquity," invented in the 3rd century BC by Dionysius of Alexandria. It used a unique chain-drive and gravity-fed system to fire bolts in rapid succession
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    • zadikian 28 minutes ago
      I've heard of this, but what's the advantage? They still need to recharge the torsion the same way, which must've taken longer than someone manually feeding the next bolt.
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      • bfivyvysj 26 minutes ago
        You can't imagine why a quick succession of bolt fire might be more advantageous than a slow reload?
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        • zadikian 23 minutes ago
          I mean how is it actually faster if the rate limiting step is the same. People are claiming it was 2-3X as fast.
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          • eucyclos 10 minutes ago
            Maybe it's harder to deal with ten projectiles in a minute followed by a nine minute reload than one a minute for ten minutes?
      • normie3000 24 minutes ago
        Maybe one less operator required? Less chance of losing a hand?
    • mkl 1 hour ago
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polybolos

      Apparently it was on MythBusters, but I don't remember that one.

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