Imagine attacking a castle or fort that had tall stone walls that were twenty feet thick! Without modern machines, it sounds impossible. But soldiers long ago managed to build some astonishing war machines.

Siege Towers

Ancient and medieval armies built very tall siege towers. Soldiers climbed up them to get over high walls.

Alexander the Great was an expert at building towers. He once attacked the Persian army while it was in Tyre. The city of Tyre was on an island protected by a strong stone wall. Alexander’s men built two tall siege towers. Hundreds of soldiers could climb up these towers.

Because his towers had wheels, Alexander’s men could push them right up to the walls. He and his men climbed up the towers and went over the walls into the city.

Battering Rams

Battering rams are some of the oldest war machines. Chinese, Roman, Greek, and medieval armies all used them to smash through heavy walls and gates.

A battering ram was basically just a huge log hanging from chains or rolling on a cart. Sometimes it had a sharp metal tip.

Soldiers swung the log back and forth until it smashed into whatever they wanted smashed. A battering ram could be so heavy that it took a hundred soldiers to swing it!

Soldiers also used the log as a bridge.

Catapults

The Greeks invented catapults. Roman, Chinese, and medieval armies also used them. Catapults looked a lot like giant crossbows. They shot heavy rocks, arrows, and spears.

Soldiers began by pulling on ropes made from horsehair, human hair, or animal sinew. As they did this, the ropes wound around a crank. When the soldiers let go, their enemies needed to duck!

To show support for their armies, women sometimes donated hair to make catapult ropes.

Tunnels

Another kind of siege was to dig a tunnel under the castle’s walls. Soldiers propped up the tunnel with wooden supports while they dug. Then they burned the wood, and the walls of the tunnel would collapse, causing the wall of the castle above to collapse as well.

There’s a story that people inside a castle once filled an enemy’s tunnel with bees and bears!

In the 1400s, the famous artist Leonardo da Vinci worked for a rich duke. The duke asked Leonardo to invent some war machines.

He drew a design for a huge crossbow. He had an idea for the very first machine gun. But his most famous war machine might be his tank.

Leonardo knew that turtles protected themselves with their shells. He invented a tank that looked like a turtle. His idea was to have soldiers inside the tank shooting out of the openings. However, there was a problem: the tank was powered by cranks that soldiers inside would turn. But the cranks moved the wheels in opposite directions, so the tank could never move forward!