Editing Crossbow (section)

=== Ancient Greece ===
[[File:Gastraphetes Rekonstruktion Saalburg.jpg|thumb|upright|Greek ''[[gastraphetes]]'']]

The earliest crossbow-like weapons in Europe probably emerged around the late 5th century BC when the ''[[gastraphetes]]'', an ancient Greek crossbow, appeared. The name means "belly-bow";{{sfn|DeVries|2003|p=127}} the concave withdrawal rest at one end of the stock was placed against the belly of the operator, and he could press it to withdraw the slider before attaching a string to the trigger and loading the bolt; this could store more energy than [[Bow (weapon)|Greek bows]].{{sfn|DeVries|2003|p=128}} The device was described by the Greek author [[Hero of Alexandria|Heron of Alexandria]] in his ''Belopoeica'' ("On Catapult-making"), which draws on an earlier account of his compatriot engineer [[Ctesibius]] ([[floruit|fl.]] 285–222 BC). According to Heron, the ''gastraphetes'' was the forerunner of the later [[catapult]], which places its invention some unknown time prior to 399 BC.{{sfn|Campbell|2003|pp=3ff.}} The ''gastraphetes'' was a crossbow mounted on a stock divided into a lower and upper section. The lower was a case fixed to the bow, and the upper was a slider which had the same dimensions as the case.{{sfn|DeVries|2003|p=127}} It was used in the [[Sicilian Wars#The Second Sicilian War (410 BCE–340 BCE)|Siege of Motya]] in 397 BC. This was a key [[Ancient Carthage|Carthaginian]] stronghold in [[Sicily]], as described in the 1st century AD by [[Heron of Alexandria]] in his book ''Belopoeica''.<ref>Stanley M. Burstein, Walter Donlan, [[Sarah B. Pomeroy]], and Jennifer Tolbert Roberts (1999). ''Ancient Greece: A Political, Social, and Cultural History''. Oxford University Press. {{ISBN|0195097424}}, p. 366</ref>

A crossbow machine, the [[oxybeles]] was in use from 375 BC<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kinard |first=Jeff |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7hbHEAAAQBAJ |title=Artillery: An Illustrated History of Its Impact |date=2007-03-28 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing USA |isbn=978-1-85109-561-2 |pages=3 |language=en}}</ref> to around 340 BC, when the torsion principle replaced the tension crossbow mechanism.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kinard |first=Jeff |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7hbHEAAAQBAJ |title=Artillery: An Illustrated History of Its Impact |date=2007-03-28 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing USA |isbn=978-1-85109-561-2 |pages=5 |language=en}}</ref> Other arrow-shooting machines such as the larger [[ballista]] and smaller [[Scorpio (weapon)|scorpio]] from around 338 BC are [[torsion (mechanics)|torsion]] [[catapult]]s and are not considered crossbows.{{sfn|Campbell|2003|pp=8ff.}}{{sfn|Campbell|2005|pp=26–56}}<ref name="Eric William Marsden, p.57">Eric William Marsden: ''Greek and Roman Artillery: Historical Development'', The Clarendon Press, Oxford 1969, {{ISBN|978-0198142683}}, p. 57</ref> Arrow-shooting machines (''katapeltai'') are briefly mentioned by [[Aeneas Tacticus]] in his treatise on siegecraft written around 350 BC.{{sfn|Campbell|2003|pp=8ff.}} An Athenian inventory from 330 to 329 BC includes catapults bolts with heads and flights.<ref name="Eric William Marsden, p.57" /> Arrow-shooting machines in action are reported from [[Philip II of Macedon|Philip II's]] siege of [[Marmara Ereğlisi|Perinthos]] in [[Thrace]] in 340 BC.<ref name="Eric William Marsden, p.60">Eric William Marsden: ''Greek and Roman Artillery: Historical Development'', The Clarendon Press, Oxford 1969, {{ISBN|978-0198142683}}, p. 60</ref> At the same time, Greek fortifications began to feature high towers with shuttered windows in the top, presumably to house anti-personnel arrow shooters, as in [[Aigosthena]].<ref>Josiah Ober: ''Early Artillery Towers: Messenia, Boiotia, Attica, Megarid'', ''American Journal of Archaeology'', Vol. 91, No. 4. (1987), S. 569–604 (569)</ref>