Existing comment:
Since time began, man has used weapons to protect himself. The first weapons were clubs, rocks, spears, and arrows. With these arms, early man waged war as he began to organize armies, archers, and slingers fired flights of arrows and showers of stone in preparation for the assault.
Engines of war for throwing missiles beyond the range of hand weapons were in use eight centuries before Christ. Most were variants of the catapult and ballista, which utilized the elasticity of twisted ropes of hair, hide, and animal sinews for the energy of propulsion. The ammunition used was darts, arrows and stones. The Romans made extensive use of catapults and ballistas. In 57 BC, Julius Caesar protected the landing in Britain with fire from these weapons. |