projecting rocks and metal or wooden bolts over long distances, accurately became an obsession. The first siege weapons were tested on the young Roman navy by the Greeks. The Greeks led the Romans to believe that the gods were hurling rocks at them from the sky. The powerful Romans ran to say the least. But by 400 BC the Romans had developed their own siege weapons and a couple different styles of catapult.In 1139 Pope Innocent II forbade the use of the crossbow as too lethal, and too anonymous. In addition scientists and inventors such as Roger Bacon in 13th century and Leonardo da Vinci in the late 15th and early16th centuries, troubled by the destructive nature of war, chose to keep some of their discoveries secret. Crossbows could already fire metal bolts at such high velocities that they would often pierce shields and protective armor.Crossbows are illegal to this day in Canada and have been maligned, hated, outlawed and condemned at all stages of history by one group or another. Yet they survive because THEY WORK!!...
