How Fast Is Roman Ballista?

A Roman ballista launched 2-metre iron darts at 60 m/s — fast enough to punch through shields and even body armour. Ballistas were the artillery of the ancient world, used in siege warfare for over a thousand years.

The Roman ballista's torsion-spring mechanism used twisted bundles of animal sinew — the engineering wasn't matched in efficiency until coil springs in the 19th century.

• Faster than a cheetah sprinting
• Used in siege warfare for 1,000+ years