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Onager (siege weapon)

 
Onager (siege Weapon)

 
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Onager (siege weapon)
 
 
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The onager was a post-classical Roman
Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was the Roman Republic phase of the Ancient Rome, characterised by an autocracy form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
 siege engine
Siege engine

A siege engine is a machine that is designed to break or circumvent city walls and other fortifications in siege warfare....
, which derived its name from the kicking action of the machine, similar to that of an onager
Onager

The Onager is a large mammal belonging to the genus Equus of the family Equidae and native to the deserts of Syria, Iran, Pakistan, India, Israel, and Tibet....
 (wild ass). It is a type of catapult
Catapult

A catapult is any one of a number of non-handheld mechanical devices used to throw a projectile a great distance without the aid of an explosive substance?particularly various types of ancient and medieval siege engines....
 that uses torsional
Torsion (mechanics)

In solid mechanics, torsion is the twisting of an object due to an applied torque. In circular sections, the resultant shear stress is perpendicular to the radius....
 pressure, generally from twisted rope, to store energy for the shot.

The onager consisted of a large frame placed on the ground to whose front end a vertical frame of solid timber
Timber

Timber may refer to:* Lumber, i.e. wood materials* Timber, Oregon, an unincorporated community in the U.S. state of Oregon* Timber , a 1984 arcade game by Bally Midway...
 was rigidly fixed; through the vertical frame ran an axle
Axle

An axle is a central shaft for a rotation wheel or gear. In some cases the axle may be fixed in position with a bearing or bushing sitting inside the hole in the wheel or gear to allow the wheel or gear to rotate around the axle....
, which had a single stout spoke
Spoke

A spoke is one of some number of rods radiating from the center of a wheel , connecting the hub with the round traction surface.The term originally referred to portions of a log which had been split lengthwise into four or six sections....
.






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Roman Onager
The onager was a post-classical Roman
Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was the Roman Republic phase of the Ancient Rome, characterised by an autocracy form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
 siege engine
Siege engine

A siege engine is a machine that is designed to break or circumvent city walls and other fortifications in siege warfare....
, which derived its name from the kicking action of the machine, similar to that of an onager
Onager

The Onager is a large mammal belonging to the genus Equus of the family Equidae and native to the deserts of Syria, Iran, Pakistan, India, Israel, and Tibet....
 (wild ass). It is a type of catapult
Catapult

A catapult is any one of a number of non-handheld mechanical devices used to throw a projectile a great distance without the aid of an explosive substance?particularly various types of ancient and medieval siege engines....
 that uses torsional
Torsion (mechanics)

In solid mechanics, torsion is the twisting of an object due to an applied torque. In circular sections, the resultant shear stress is perpendicular to the radius....
 pressure, generally from twisted rope, to store energy for the shot.

The onager consisted of a large frame placed on the ground to whose front end a vertical frame of solid timber
Timber

Timber may refer to:* Lumber, i.e. wood materials* Timber, Oregon, an unincorporated community in the U.S. state of Oregon* Timber , a 1984 arcade game by Bally Midway...
 was rigidly fixed; through the vertical frame ran an axle
Axle

An axle is a central shaft for a rotation wheel or gear. In some cases the axle may be fixed in position with a bearing or bushing sitting inside the hole in the wheel or gear to allow the wheel or gear to rotate around the axle....
, which had a single stout spoke
Spoke

A spoke is one of some number of rods radiating from the center of a wheel , connecting the hub with the round traction surface.The term originally referred to portions of a log which had been split lengthwise into four or six sections....
. On the extremity of the spoke was a sling
Sling (weapon)

A sling is a projectile weapon typically used to throw a blunt projectile such as a stone. It is also known as the shepherd's sling.A sling has a small cradle or pouch in the middle of two lengths of cord....
 used to launch a projectile.

In action the spoke or arm was forced down, against the tension of twisted rope
Rope

A rope is a length of fibers, twisted or braided together to improve strength for pulling and connecting. It has tensile strength but is too flexible to provide compressive strength ....
s or other spring
Spring (device)

A spring is an Elasticity object used to store mechanical energy. Springs are usually made out of hardened steel. Small springs can be wound from pre-hardened stock, while larger ones are made from annealing steel and hardened after fabrication....
s, by a windlass
Windlass

A windlass is an apparatus for moving heavy weights. Typically, a windlass consists of a horizontal cylinder , which is rotated by the turn of a crank or belt....
, and then suddenly released. As the weighted sling swung outwards through centrifugal acceleration, one end would release, as with a staff-sling, and the projectile would be hurled forward. The arm would then be caught by a padded beam or bed, from whence it could be winched back again.

The onagers of the Roman Empire were mainly used for besieging forts or settlements. They would often be armed with huge stones or rocks that could be covered with a combustible substance and set alight.

In the Middle Ages
Middle Ages

File:Karl 1 mit papst gelasius gregor1 sacramentar v karl d kahlen.jpgThe Middle Ages of European history are a period in history which lasted for roughly a millennium, commonly dated from the fall of the Roman Empire in the 5th century to the beginning of the Early Modern Period in the 16th century, marked by the division of Western Christi...
 (recorded from around 1200) a less powerful version of the onager was used that held the projectile in a fixed bowl instead of a sling. This was so that many small projectiles could be thrown, as opposed to larger one. This engine was sometimes called the mangonel
Mangonel

A mangonel was a type of catapult or siege machine used in the Middle Ages to throw projectiles at a castle's walls. The exact meaning of the term is debatable, and several possibilities have been suggested....
, although the same name may have been used for a variety of siege engines.

See also

  • Catapult
    Catapult

    A catapult is any one of a number of non-handheld mechanical devices used to throw a projectile a great distance without the aid of an explosive substance?particularly various types of ancient and medieval siege engines....
  • Siege Engine
    Siege engine

    A siege engine is a machine that is designed to break or circumvent city walls and other fortifications in siege warfare....
  • Ballista
    Ballista

    The ballista , plural ballistae, was a weapon developed from earlier Greek weapons. It relied upon different mechanics, using two levers with Torsion springs instead of a prod, the springs consisting of several loops of twisted skeins....
  • Mangonel
    Mangonel

    A mangonel was a type of catapult or siege machine used in the Middle Ages to throw projectiles at a castle's walls. The exact meaning of the term is debatable, and several possibilities have been suggested....


External links

  • An analysis of the Onager
  • Animated Onager