Hero's Belopoeica (Treatise on Artillery Construction) (1918) - Page 21

Heron’s Artillery Construction, chapters 7—9.

3

| English Translation (from Greek) |

| English Translation (from German) |
| :--- | :---: | :--- |
| ...another layer, and striking the strands original: "kōla"; literally "limbs" or "parts," referring here to the lengths of the rope with a small hammer original: "sphuriō" so that they might fit well against one another; then making other layers until they had used up the entire coil original: "mēruma". They tucked the final end under all the warp-threads original: "stēmonas"; a weaving term used here for the vertical strands of the spring. Then, through the middle of the sinews original: "neurōn", they inserted one of the arms original: "agkōnōn", and further, they placed iron winches original: "axonia"; small axles under the strands upon the cross-beams AD and BC. By turning these with force, they tensioned the sinews, and the arm was held fast by the power of the sinews once the twisting had occurred. Let the aforementioned arm be EZ, the sinew bundle HΘ, and the winches KL and MN. | | ...with all their strength; next to it they laid the second turn, struck it tight against the first with the hammer, and laid further turns until the entire cord was used up; the final end was pulled tight through under all the turns. Now they pushed one of the arms through the middle of the tensioning sinews original: "Spannsehnen" and further laid iron bolts original: "Bolzen" under the turns on the sills AD and BC; when they then turned these, the tensioning sinews were simultaneously drawn tight, and the arm was held completely fast by the sinews through this rotation. Let the named arm be EZ, the sinew HΘ, and the bolts KL and MN. |


9 Having constructed another such frame original: "plinthion"; literally "a little brick," referring to the rectangular housing and having bound both together into a single structure by means of bars, so that the arms had their recoil and their force directed outward, they fastened the bowstring original: "toxitin neuran" to their ends. They made loops original: "agkulas" and secured these to the arms with pins original: "peronais" XP and OR, so p. 83 that the bowstring would not slip off. Everything else they did the same as previously described. They called the sinews that hold the arms...		9 Likewise, a second frame was made and both were connected by bars into a single frame, so that the arms could direct their swing and their force outward; at their ends, the bowstring was fastened by means of loops, which were held fast to the arms by means of pins original: "Durchsteckern" XP and OP, so that the bowstring could not slide off. Everything else was done as previously said. That which holds the arms by means of the sinew-bundles, they called...

1 "with a small hammer" proposed by R. Schneider (compare Philo, in the place cited): "a wedge" Manuscript M: "small wedges" Manuscripts P and V: "with a small wedge" Thévenot STRIKING THROUGH H. Schöne 4 "until" PV: "as" M 7 "Then — strands" (line 10) is missing in PV 10 AD, BC Köchly: ABCD MPV 12 "which [they turned]" M 15 "having occurred" R. Schn.: "occurring" MPV 18 "another" M: "the other" PV 24 "the" is missing in V 25 "these" Köchly: THESE (neuter) MPV 26 "in" R. Schn. 27 XPOR M: XOPR PV