Why were catapults invented?

Question: Why were catapults invented!?

Please give interesting facts and sources if possibleWww@QuestionHome@Com

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:

To throw very big rocks!. I believe they were first used in China, probably some time BC!. (China was centuries ahead of Europe in most things, until most of the bright young sparks were attracted to the easy life of bureaucrats through Imperial exams - the equivalent of our modern University degrees in commerce, law, and administration which pay more than science degrees)!. I think Romans and others used them in Europe BC, against fortified cities etc, using wound tensioned ropes and counter weighted poles on fulcrums to hurl baskets of stones etc!. The single-soldier version then was a sling (e!.g!. David vs Goliath), with one cord usually secured on the wrist and the other one released from fingers (somewhat difficult to aim, but deadly) But I reckon the catapult really came into its own as a personal weapon with the invention of inflatable rubber car and bike tyres to make elastic "strings" that could be attached to a timber fork and carry a flat leather pouch!. Deadly and accurate!. We called them "gings" in Oz, and hunted rabbits and "unfriendlies" with them!. I once made one standing 30 inches high, on a stable base, firing paper bags of creek-bed stones as "shot"!. A proper cannon!. Luckily we didn't kill or blind anyone but it spread terror amongst the enemy and won us back our favorite hill and scrub from ungodly invaders! You'd get more historical details from Wikipaedia I think!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Catapults, ancient siege engines!.

The catapult appears to have been invented in 399 BC in the city of Syracuse during the reign of the tyrant Dionysius I!.

Originally, "catapult" referred to a dart-thrower, while "ballista" referred to a stone-thrower, but the two terms swapped meaning sometime in the fourth century AD!.

They were simply meant to toss weapons over fortress walls!.

Interesting fact about catapults!.!.!.!.

As well as attempting to breach the walls, incendiary missiles could be thrown inside!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.

OR !.!.!.!.!.!.!. early biological warfare was attempted with diseased carcasses, dead rotting bodies or putrid garbage were catapulted over the walls!.

Major nasty business when a dead rotting body comes flying thru the air at a great speed right at ya!.!.!.!.!.SPLAT!.

Major gross!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

They're very good for smashing castle walls!.

I do know about the snakes and severed heads and Greek fire, I just think that breaking up walls was their most important function; the other ways to get in were more dangerous and less effective!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

To destroy enemy buildings, and destroy many enemy troops at a time before full frontal attack!. Www@QuestionHome@Com

catapults were invented to penetrate the enemies fortress knock holes where the enemy can go in Www@QuestionHome@Com

yes,they can break walls,but the ability to shoot fire balls inside the enemy castle is cooler if not better!Www@QuestionHome@Com

To throw bigger stones further!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Siege towers had a tendancy to not be all that effective and when you lay siege to a castle, you needed a way to really break down the walls (in those days prior to gun powder)Www@QuestionHome@Com