From Antiquity to the present day, science has been developed closely with military interests and the development of weapons. The cases of contemporary scientists who contributed to the development of modern weapons, such as the atomic bomb, for example, are well-known. Also in antiquity, this type of knowledge was used to produce weapons to fight wars and expand armies.
Technological development for military purposes is found in Rome and Greece if we look at some weapons used in the clashes that are reported in historical books. The catapult is one of these cases, in which ancient scientists combined their knowledge of geometry and physics to create technology capable of hurling huge rocks at enemy battalions.
In Mesopotamia, around the 13th century BC, the Hittite people managed to expand their empire mainly after mastering iron smelting technology, which put them at an advantage over other people in the region, who still used weapons made from bronze, less resistant than iron. Another weapon used by the Hittites were their chariots. Transporting three warriors, the charioteer, who controlled the horses, an archer and a spearman, the chariot was the Hittites’ war tank, who used around 2,500 of these vehicles against the Egyptians in the Battle of Qadesh.
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Among the infantry troops we find different techniques for organizing soldiers and also different weapons and defense instruments. The Greek hoplites are famous, who protected themselves with a round bronze shield with layers of leather, also placing greaves on their legs, as well as bronze armor and a helmet. The fame of the hoplites is due to the strong line of defense they formed with soldiers joining side by side, thus increasing the strength of their shields and spears. With this formation, 7 thousand Greeks managed to hold off 200 thousand Persians in the Battle of Thermopylae.
However, the most influential military body was the Roman Legion. Protected by a rectangular shield and armor, in addition to wielding a spear and two smaller weapons, the gladius (sword) and the pugio (dagger), they were able to carry out complex maneuvers due to the discipline of the troops, which combined infantry and cavalry actions. , engineering and artillery, with their catapults. The joint use of shields in the infantry’s rectangular formation allowed soldiers to defend themselves from attacks coming over their heads and from hand-to-hand contact.
All of these actions required knowledge of geometry, properties of metals and development of the ability of craftsmen to produce weapons, achieved through experiments and practices resulting from participation in wars.
In naval battles, Greek triremes also stood out. As the name suggests, they were sail boats powered by three rows of oars on the sides of the boats, reaching a maximum speed of 14 km/h. On the bow there was a bronze ram, used to attack enemy boats from the side and thus break them in half. This type of boat with mobile masts, which were removed during combat, was used by all people who sailed around the Mediterranean during Antiquity, as in addition to the Greeks, Romans, Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Persians and Egyptians fought with these vessels or variants of them. , such as biremes, quadriremes and quinquirremes.
* Image credits: Regien Paassen and Shutterstock.com
By Tales Pinto
Graduated in History