Siege Engines and Field Engineering
Investigates static artillery, wall-breaching structures, and field entrenchments from classical siegecraft to the eve of modern fortification.
Inside this collection
Traction and Counterweight Trebuchets
Analyzes gravity- and team-powered swinging-arm artillery, hinge physics, release pouches, and payload types.
Torsion Artillery and Catapults
Covers sinew- and rope-driven Greek and Roman engines including ballistas, scorpions, and onagers.
Tension-Powered Engines
Examines heavy mounted bow engines such as the Roman arcuballista and medieval springalds.
Battering Rams and Breaching Bores
Details wheeled ram tortoises, suspended timber rams, iron heads, and counter-ram defensive ropes.
Siege Towers and Assault Ladders
Explores multi-story belfries, covered scaling bridges, hides against incendiaries, and assault escalade craft.
Sapping, Mining, and Field Earthworks
Covers timber shoring, countermine hearing chambers, fascines, abatis, and circumvallation ditches.
Naval Assault Engines
Examines boarding bridges (corvus), masthead catapults, boarding grappling irons, and tower ships.
Disputed Classical Inventions
Critically assesses historical controversies surrounding Archimedes' burning mirrors and legendary steam cannons.
Legendary objects deserve
a closer reading.
We study materials, makers and surviving evidence. Legends open the question; history guides the answer.
Our approach