How Did Ancient Romans Use Artillery?
In the Roman legion, artillery was represented by scorpions, ballistae, and onagers. The Romans used these three types of projectile weapons on the battlefields of ancient times.
The scorpion was the smallest of them. Essentially, it was a mounted crossbow. Polybius described it as a “small catapult that shoots iron bolts.” Operated by one shooter with ten assistants, the tension strength was 300–400 kg, and the projectile weight was around 100 grams. According to modern estimates, the effective shooting range against an armored man was about 60–80 meters. Typically, there was one scorpion (some Roman authors called it a carroballista) per centuria in a legion. The scorpion was placed on a cart, giving it mobility. It was used against enemy infantry in open positions.
A more formidable weapon of the Roman legion was the ballista. It hurled shaped stones weighing from 0.6 to 26 kg at distances of 100 meters and beyond. Ballistae were disassembled for transport and were typically used during sieges or to bombard enemy fortifications. They were few. Due to their weight and complexity and the limited number of shots a ballista could make without needing repair and torsion replacement, they…
