Roman Ballista/Catapulta

There will never be another....

A Roman 3 span catapult or ballista dated from the year 0 AD made in oak, laminated ash arms and plated in steel and fitted with a brass decorative front plate featuring the God Saturn.

This legendary siege and battlefield weapon has been made based on the dimensions given by Philon and Vitruvius and built using the translated works of Marsden et al from the book ‘Roman siege artillery’. I worked with Alan Wilkins, one of the major contributors to the book, 10 years ago and he inspired me to make my own and gave me lots of tips and insights about how to construct it.  

The class of weapon when it was originally built was called a ‘catapulta’, though later became known as a ‘ballista’ and these came in three sizes, the smallest ‘1 span’ was nick named the scorpion but this is the largest size they built and is a ‘3 span’ machine and it shoots bolts 69cm long.  

The machine disassembles for transport and full instruction will be given to the purchaser.

Shipping costs to be mutually agreed depending upon destination but collection/handover would obviously be easiest. International shipping will be considered. Please note that the price charged when you check out will not be the final cost, as it will not include shipping. Contact to discuss if interested lou@todsworkshop.com 

🇺🇸 US customers, please note, you will be liable to pay import taxes, duties and tariffs on any Tod's Workshop pieces. This will be collected via the courier company or US customs and is out of our control and may be considerable for this piece. 

See the Catapulta/Ballista in action here.