Editing Ballista (section)

==== Polybolos ====
{{Main|Polybolos}}
[[File:Ancient Mechanical Artillery. Pic 01.jpg|thumb|Reproductions of [[Greek and Roman artillery|ancient Greek artillery]], including [[catapult]]s such as the ''[[polybolos]]'' (to the left in the foreground) and a large, early [[crossbow]] known as the ''[[gastraphetes]]'' (mounted on the wall in the background)]]
It has been speculated that the Roman military may have also fielded a 'repeating' ballista, also known as a ''polybolos''. Reconstruction and trials of such a weapon carried out in a BBC documentary, ''What the Romans Did For Us'', showed that they "were able to shoot eleven bolts a minute, which is almost four times the rate at which an ordinary ballista can be operated".<ref>Hart-Davis, Adam [https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/romans/tech_01.shtml Discovering Roman Technology] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221126000454/https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/romans/tech_01.shtml |date=26 November 2022 }} [[BBC]] History 17 February 2011. Accessed 21 November 2013</ref> However, no example of such a weapon has been found by archaeologists.