| This article is part of the series on: Military of ancient Rome (portal) 753 BC – AD 476 |
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| Structural history | |
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| Roman army (unit types and ranks, legions, auxiliaries, generals) | |
| Roman navy (fleets, admirals) | |
| Campaign history | |
| Lists of wars and battles | |
| Decorations and punishments | |
| Technological history | |
| Military engineering (castra, siege engines, arches, roads) | |
| Political history | |
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| Infantry tactics | |
| Frontiers and fortifications (limes, Hadrian's Wall) |
A catapulta was a Roman machine for throwing arrows and javelins, 12 or 15 feet (4.6 m) long, at the enemy. The name comes from the Greek (katapeltes), because it could pierce or 'go through' (kata) a shield (pelta). The design was probably inherited, along with the ballista, from the Greek armies.
This article incorporates content from the 1728 Cyclopaedia, a publication in the public domain.
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