"The ballista (Latin, from Greek βαλλίστρα ballistra and that from βάλλω ballō, "throw"), plural ballistae, sometimes called bolt thrower, was an ancient missile weapon that launched ...
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either bolts or stones at a distant target.
Developed from earlier Greek weapons, it relied upon different mechanics, using two levers with torsion springs instead of a tension prod (the bow part of a modern crossbow). The springs consisting of several loops of twisted skeins. Early versions projected heavy darts or spherical stone projectiles of various sizes for siege warfare. It developed into a smaller precision weapon, the scorpio, and possibly the polybolos." - (en.wikipedia.org 01.03.2020)
