Claw of Archimedes
- v
- t
- e
- Prelude
- Saguntum
- Rhone
- Crossing of the Alps
- Italy
- Ticinus
- Trebia
- Mutina
- Placentia
- Victumulae
- Lake Trasimene
- Umbrian Lake
- Crossing of the Apennines
- Ager Falernus
- Geronium
- Cannae
- Silva Litana
- 1st Nola
- Nuceria Alfaterna
- 1st Casilinum
- Hamae
- 1st Petelia
- Cumae
- 2nd Nola
- 1st Beneventum
- 3rd Nola
- 2nd Casilinum
- Lucania
- Arpi
- 1st Tarentum
- 2nd Beneventum
- Campi Veteres
- 1st Capua
- Silarus
- 1st Herdonia
- 2nd Capua
- Rome
- Sapriportis
- 2nd Herdonia
- Numistro
- Canusium
- Manduria
- Caulonia
- 2nd Tarentum
- Locri
- 2nd Petelia
- Venusia
- Grumentum
- Metaurus
- Crotona
- Insubria
- Iberia
- Cissa
- Ebro River
- Ibera
- Illiturgis
- Munda
- Orongi
- Upper Baetis
- 1st New Carthage
- Baria
- Baecula
- Ilipa
- Sucro
- 1st Carteia
- 2nd Carteia
- 2nd New Carthage
- Sicily and Sardinia
- Lilybaeum
- Malta
- Decimomannu
- Leontini
- Syracuse
- Himera
- Agrigentum
- North Africa
- 1st Utica
- 2nd Utica
- Great Plains
- Cirta
- Zama
The Claw of Archimedes (Ancient Greek: Ἁρπάγη, romanized: harpágē, lit. 'snatcher'; also known as the iron hand) was an ancient weapon devised by Archimedes to defend the seaward portion of Syracuse's city wall against amphibious assault. Although its exact nature is unclear, the accounts of ancient historians seem to describe it as a sort of crane equipped with a grappling hook that was able to drop and partly submerge an attacking ship down into the water, then either cause the ship to capsize or suddenly let it go altogether. It was dropped onto enemy ships, which would then swing on to defensive forces and destroy them.
These machines featured prominently during the Second Punic War in 214 BC, when the Roman Republic attacked Syracuse with a fleet of 60 quinqueremes under Marcus Claudius Marcellus. When the Roman fleet approached the city walls under cover of darkness, the machines were deployed, sinking many ships and throwing the attack into confusion. Historians such as Livy attributed heavy Roman losses to these machines, together with catapults also devised by Archimedes.
The plausibility of this invention was tested in 1999 in the BBC series Secrets of the Ancients and again in early 2005 in the Discovery Channel series Superweapons of the Ancient World. The producers of Superweapons brought together a group of engineers tasked with conceiving and implementing a design that was realistic, given what is known about Archimedes. Within seven days they were able to test their creation, and they did succeed in tipping over a model of a Roman ship so that it would sink. While this does not prove the existence of the Claw, it suggests that it would have been possible.
See also
- Category:Ancient weapons
- Archimedes' heat ray – Device purported to be used by Archimedes to burn Roman ships
- Roman siege engines – Adapted from Hellenistic siege technology
- Sambuca (siege engine) – Ship-borne siege engine
Further reading
- Young, C. K. (December 2004). "Archimedes's iron hand or claw – a new interpretation of an old mystery". Centaurus. 46 (3): 189–207. Bibcode:2004Cent...46..189Y. doi:10.1111/j.1600-0498.2004.00009.x.
External links
- Scale models of the Claw's operation
- BBC Secrets of the Ancients: The Claw