UK Centre for Materials Education
Working with you to enhance the student experience
Working with you to enhance the student experience
In 70AD the Romans laid siege to Jerusalem. The most fearsome weapon in their armoury was a massive torsion spring catapult that towered over eight metres high. It could fire boulders weighing twenty-six kilos that destroyed Jerusalem's walls and was so powerful that only the Roman's Army elite tenth legion had the skill to build it.
Now Chris, Caroline, and a team of engineers and scientists must try to recreate the catapult, the most complex of all Roman war machines. The Romans had over two hundred years experience of building these catapults, so can the team manage to design and build theirs in just four months?
Roman eyewitness accounts tell of how devastating the monster catapult was - and how it could backfire, killing their own men as well as the opposition if even the smallest detail was wrong. Once the team has come up with a design, they have just ten days to build the giant catapult and fire a missile… without injuring anyone!
