Hero's Belopoeica (Treatise on Artillery Construction)

| English Translation (from Greek) |

| English Translation (from German) |
|:--- |:---:|:--- |
| ...surface, an integral second beam filling the entire length and width of the EZHΘ beam, and having on its upper surface a central 5 round groove of equal length to the KΛ dovetail original Greek: pelekino, upon which the bolt is placed. On the remaining part, near the EZHΘ section, let there be two upright iron stands 10 fixed into the upper surface of the top beam and joined at their lower parts, spaced slightly apart. Between these, let an iron finger original: daktylos; this acts as the trigger claw that catches the bowstring 15 be placed, curved downwards at the end near L, and let it be split at the curved tip so that it becomes forked, just like the so-called pincers original Greek: skendylōn. 20 Let it be split wide enough to receive the thickness of the bolt. Through the stands and the aforementioned finger, let a round 25 central pin be driven.

Now, let the aforementioned finger be labeled NΞO, the fork labeled N, the pin driven through be labeled M, and near the ΞO part of the finger, p. 77 let a small iron bar 31 PR be placed underneath, moving around the pin P, which is fixed in the surface... |

| ...fills the length and width of the shaft EZHΘ and is connected on the upper side with an identical piece, which has a round groove in the upper middle, just as long as the dovetail-shaped groove KΛ; the bolt is placed in this groove. At the rear part of the upper piece, facing EZHΘ, two vertical iron stands should be embedded with their lower parts on the upper side and joined with a small distance from each other; between them shall lie an iron claw (finger), which is bent downwards at L. At the bent end, it shall be split so that it has two jaws like a pair of pincers. The gap is so wide that the bolt finds space in it; and through the stands and the claw, a round bolt is inserted.

Let the named claw be NΞO, the gap N, the inserted bolt M; under the part ΞO of the claw, an iron bolt (trigger) ΠΡ shall be pushed under, which turns around the pin Π, which is fixed vertically on the upper side of the upper slat... |

The following are scholarly notes regarding variations in the original Greek manuscripts (M, P, and V).

Line 1: "filling" in Manuscript M.
Line 4: "having" corrected by scholar Köchly; the manuscripts M, P, and V read "he having."
Line 5: "round" in Manuscript M.
Line 8: "the" in Manuscripts P and V; "to the" in Manuscript M.
Line 10: "mouths" in Manuscript V.
Line 11: "joined together" in Manuscript M (compare Chapter 17, page 30, line 19).
Line 12: "spaced" in Manuscript M; missing in Manuscripts P and V.
Line 16: "the" in Manuscript M; "to the" in Manuscripts P and V.
Line 19: "two-lipped" in Manuscripts P and V.
Line 27: "the NΞO" in Manuscripts M and P; "ONΞO" in Manuscript V.
Line 28: "<M, and>" added by scholar R. Schneider.
Line 29: "the" in Manuscripts P and V; "to the" in Manuscript M.
Line 30: "let be placed underneath" in Manuscript P.
Line 32: "in the surface of the" in Manuscripts P and V; missing in Manuscript M.