Were crossbows really used in this era?

[Reverend Belial]

For those of you with more knowledge than I. Because I was always under the impression that they didn't really come around until the middle ages.

[Chaoslink]

I assume they had some sort of basic ones. They had managed to build ballista at the time and the crossbow is essentially a hand-held one. I don't know how widespread their usage was, nor am I sure they actually did have them, but given their engineering capabilities with onagers and ballista it does seem possible.

[garravesh]

There were several types...Many early types and the later Cheiroballistra....There were also siege versions of these weapons and Scorpio from the greeks......also the manuballista

[Chaoslink]

They probably just weren't used in mass much until the middle ages due to lack of artisans and such building them as well as poorer design etc. Could also simply be that they were more expensive and therefore not easy to equip an army with.

[Dwayne Hicks]

Yes they most likely used crossbows from 100 B.C - 500 A.C. There isn't alot of Information about the construction though.

[🎇TYPHOON🎇]

Wikipedia says:
It is not clear exactly where and when the crossbow originated, it is believed to have been invented in Europe and China during the 5th Century BC. But there is undoubted evidence that it was used for military purposes during the Warring States period from the second half of the 4th century BC onwards.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_crossbows

[Kotli]

In any case the crossbow dates to 400bc as that is when Sun Tzu’s the art of war was written which has crossbows in it.

Also remember that Ballistae and Scorpions are really just extra large crossbows for use in seiges. The Greeks use these both when attacking fortified towns the Ballistae to clear the top of the walls since it can damage them and clear a lot soliders at once and the smaller Scorpions to snipe single soldiers.

[Gekko]

First Ballistic version is 500 BC, as for the handheld:

"Dupuy, in 36 BC a Han empire expedition into central Asia encountered and defeated a contingent of Roman legionaries. The Romans was suggested as a part of Antony's army invading Parthia.Chinese victory was based on their crossbows, whose bolts and darts seem to "have penetrated Roman shields and armor."The Chinese crossbow was transmitted to the Roman world in this event."

[General Sherman]

Originally posted by Kotli:

In any case the crossbow dates to 400bc as that is when Sun Tzu’s the art of war was written which has crossbows in it.

Also remember that Ballistae and Scorpions are really just extra large crossbows for use in seiges. The Greeks use these both when attacking fortified towns the Ballistae to clear the top of the walls since it can damage them and clear a lot soliders at once and the smaller Scorpions to snipe single soldiers.

Ballistae and Scorpions are NOT crossbows. They are torsion catapaults. The two arms that are bent back are NOT connected, the mechanism is NOT a bow. Twisted cords are wound tighter and thighter to pull back the two SEPERATE arms, and then released. The arms/limbs themselves in a ballista or scorpion do not store energey.

A bow or crossbow stores energy in a bow by pulling back on a string.

crossbows were known in the late roman empire, but not in large numbers.

[Mephiston87]

Crossbows were very rare till the later stages of history because the only real thing they had over bows was penetration. bows fired faster, could be lit on fire(crossbows bolts travel too fast to remain on fire), were extremely easy to mass produce, long bows could go much farther and bows up close was still a valid weapon. If your not fighting soldiers in armour and with shields, and your using crossbows your going to lose.