What Were Catapults Used For? Ancient Siege Warfare

Catapults were siege engines designed to hurl projectiles over fortifications during ancient and medieval warfare.

Primary Projectiles

• Large stones (wall-breaching)
• Heavy bolts/arrows (anti-personnel)
• Incendiary materials: flaming logs, pitch pots, Greek fire
• Biological: diseased carcasses, waste (early biological warfare)
• Psychological: propaganda messages, severed heads

Tactical Roles

• Batter down curtain walls, gates, towers
• Suppress defenders on battlements
• Set fires inside fortifications
• Harass besiegers' own camps (counter-battery)

Types

Torsion (ballista, onager), tension (mangonel), counterweight (trebuchet — most powerful). All converted stored energy into projectile kinetic energy.

Catapults dominated siegecraft until gunpowder artillery superseded them (14th–15th centuries).