Wed 1st October 2008
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Global jumble sale and all-round purveyor of random tosh eBay really have come up up trumps this time. For sale on their site today is a full-size Roman siege catapult, otherwise known as a Ballista.
 
The Ballista, as connoisseurs of ancient siege weapons will be well aware, was based on quite advanced technology which the Romans originally lifted from the Greeks. It functions in many ways like a giant crossbow, though it was often used to shoot stone projectiles rather than spearlike bolts.
The catapult was recreated by a team of experts, following all known records, as accurately as possible – and then successfully fired. It was created for the BBC in 2002 for a programme called Building the Impossible. It was built by(and is now being sold by) the timber-frame team at Carpenter Oak & Woodland.
Even you're thinking of making the purchase for the wife's birthday/christmas present - or simply to defend the ol' homestead, there are a couple of things to note:
1. It weighs about 12 tonnes, as such postage will be a problem. Equally, customer pick-up in a Transit van just isn't going to work.
2. It's about 7.5 metres tall and about 8.5 metres long - make sure you have adequate space in the garden.
3. Handy with a hammer and screwdriver? If not, an additional £17,500 will be required on top of the purchase price to pay the team at Carpenter Oak and Woodland to erect it.
4. Rich? Good, because the starting price for this little beauty is set at £25,000.
So, in conclusion if you have aspirations to overthrow a neighbour’s castle, the Ballista isn’t ideal, as even though it is potentially capable of throwing a stone ball over 100 yards, it is now not in firing condition. (Please note that even if it were, you would need a team of several skilled operators in order to do this, and these are very hard to find today. You may also find that advances in weaponry since this was designed place you at a considerable disadvantage on the modern battlefield.)
But, if you're still interested, click here to see the listing - but be quick, the auction ends on the 10th October 2008.
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