Footage of IDF reservists on the northern border using an ancient siege weapon to launch fireballs at Hezbollah's terror infrastructure in Lebanon, went insanely viral last week . However, the use of such weapons dates back thousands of years. To trace the history of the first catapult, one must return to the port city of Syracuse in southeastern Sicily in 399 BCE.
At that time, Dionysius I, the tyrant of Syracuse, embarked on a military campaign across the island. He conquered several cities in Sicily and southern Italy, resisted the expansion of Carthaginian influence on the island and made Syracuse the strongest and most prosperous Greek colony in the Western Mediterranean. 8 View gallery IDF soldiers using trebuchet on northern border He achieved this by investing heavily in the development of siege weapons, encouraging master craftsmen to create two types of machines to combat the Carthaginians' sturdy fortifications.
"We have a unique instance in which we can pinpoint an exact moment in time and say - this is where the revolution began," says Dr. Michael Eisenberg of the University of Haifa’s Zinman Institute of Archaeology. Under Dionysius' oversight, two revolutionary siege weapons were developed: a mobile wooden siege tower on wheels, reaching several stories high, and a powerful catapult.
The siege tower, pushed by dozens to hundreds of warriors, provided height and protection, allowing attackers to breach city walls. Warriors could cross onto the walls using drop.
