[Leo Todeschini]

This a slightly speculative reconstruction of an Arcuballista the Late Roman hand held crossbow using flexion limbs.

Very, very little is known about the weapon bar two stone reliefs and a very few words talking about their use, but not the weapons themselves, so after some very helpful consultation with Mark Hatch, John Conyard and Steve Senior, I came up with this...Needless to say this is my interpretation and so mistakes, cock-ups etc are mine.

The bow is a converted fibreglass unit rather than the composite it presumably had, though it may also have been wood. The string is linen, the trigger is not shown in the carvings, but fairly standard metal inserted nuts have been sketchily attributed to the period so I have gone this route. The trigger is linseed blacked and unsprung. The bow has been wedged and so is quick to change and it is easy to transport. The distinctive grip allows for one handed shooting and there are hints this may have been used from horseback. I found the large butt makes spanning it easy using your lower stomach.

This bow was a little experimental and so the weight is 45lbs, but I think this could probably raise quite a bit, but either way it shoots a 55cm x 12mm bolt 95m with surprising accuracy. I recently made a stone bow that was around 150lbs and this was spanned in this way, so the power of this bow type could be far higher than this.

You can also find a video of me discussing this bow and shooting it here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0RIPKMZbDZU


I hope you like it.

Tod

[Mark Moore]

That is an excellent rendition you have made from the photo shown. Almost exact. But, I cannot see that being fired from horseback. Just doesn't seem feasible. ......McM

[Mark Moore]

Or maybe I should say it's --possible--but probably not very --practical. With a good rider/crossbowman, and a well trained horse...I suppose. ........McM