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A painting of the Claw of Archimedes by Giulio Parigi, taking the name "iron hand" literally, 1599-1600
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Second Punic War
Prelude
Saguntum
Rhone
Crossing of the Alps
Italy
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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
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1st Beneventum
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2nd Casilinum
Lucania
Arpi
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2nd Beneventum
Campi Veteres
1st Capua
Silarus
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2nd Capua
Rome
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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
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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.
and 22 Related for: Claw of Archimedes information
The ClawofArchimedes (Ancient Greek: Ἁρπάγη, romanized: harpágē, lit. 'snatcher'; also known as the iron hand) was an ancient weapon devised by Archimedes...
Archimedesof Syracuse (/ˌɑːrkɪˈmiːdiːz/ AR-kim-EE-deez; c. 287 – c. 212 BC) was an Ancient Greek mathematician, physicist, engineer, astronomer, and...
Archimedean tiling Archimedean screw ClawofArchimedes The Archimedeans, the mathematical society of the University of Cambridge Archimedean Dynasty Archimedean...
was marked by the ingenuity ofArchimedes in inventing war machines to counteract the traditional siege warfare methods of the Romans. A large Carthaginian...
Archimedes (such as the ClawofArchimedes). Although Marcellus wishes to spare the lives of the Syracusans, he is unable to prevent the sack of the city by his...
The siege of Saguntum took place in 219 BC between the Carthaginians and the Saguntines at the town of Saguntum, near the modern town of Sagunto in the...
Syracuse was besieged. Both Polybius' and Livy's accounts of the siege focus on Archimedes' invention of war machines to counteract Roman siege warfare, which...
army of the praetor Gnaeus Fulvius in Apulia. The Siege of Syracuse ends with the fall of the city. Archimedes is accidentally slain. 211 BC Battle of the...
The Battle of Cannae (/ˈkæni, -eɪ, -aɪ/; Latin: [ˈkanːae̯]) was a key engagement of the Second Punic War between the Roman Republic and Carthage, fought...
unknown, but it could have been a Syracusan, such as Archimedes. This device would be attached to the prow of Roman ships on a rotating axle, so that it could...
its height in the fourth century BC as one of the largest metropoleis in the world. It was the centre of the Carthaginian Empire, a major power led by...
Weasel An alternative name for the ClawofArchimedes Iron Hands (disambiguation) Iron Fist (disambiguation) The Iron Hand of Mars, a 1992 historical mystery...
The Battle of Zama was fought in 202 BC in what is now Tunisia between a Roman army commanded by Scipio Africanus and a Carthaginian army commanded by...
The Battle of Agrigentum (Sicily, 262 BC) was the first pitched battle of the First Punic War and the first large-scale military confrontation between...
First Punic War (264–241 BC) was the first of three wars fought between Rome and Carthage, the two main powers of the western Mediterranean in the early 3rd century BC...
Battle of Baecula was a major field battle in Iberia during the Second Punic War. Roman Republican and Iberian auxiliary forces under the command of Scipio...
may have taken place on a plain east of Alcalá del Río, Seville, Spain, near the village of Esquivel, the site of the Carthaginian camp. Though it may...
The Battle of Cape Ecnomus or Eknomos (Ancient Greek: Ἔκνομος) was a naval battle, fought off southern Sicily, in 256 BC, between the fleets of Carthage...
The Battle of Messana in 264 BC was the first military clash between the Roman Republic and Carthage. It marked the start of the First Punic War. In that...
201 BC one of the terms of the peace treaty prohibited Carthage from waging war without Rome's permission. Rome's ally, King Masinissa of Numidia, exploited...
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