From antiquity to the present day, science is developed closely with warlike interests and the development of armaments. The cases of contemporary scientists who contributed to the development of modern weapons, such as the atomic bomb, for example, are notorious. Also in antiquity, this type of knowledge was intended for the production of weapons for fighting wars and expanding armies.
Technological development with the purpose of war is found in Rome and Greece if we pay attention to some weapons used in confrontations that are reported in historical books. The catapult is one of those cases, in which ancient scientists combined their knowledge of geometry and physics to create a technology capable of hurling huge rocks at battalions enemies.
In Mesopotamia, around the 13th century BC. C., the Hittite peoples managed to expand their empire mainly after the mastery of the iron foundry technology, which the put them at an advantage over the other peoples of the region, who still used weapons made from bronze, less resistant than the iron. Another weapon used by the Hittites was their chariots. Carrying three warriors, the charioteer, who controlled the horses, an archer and a spearman, the chariot was the battle tank of the Hittites, who used against the Egyptians, in the Battle of Qadesh, about 2,500 of them vehicles.
Among the infantry troops we find various techniques for organizing soldiers and also different weapons and defense instruments. The Greek hoplites are famous, who protected themselves with a round bronze shield with layers of leather, putting greaves on their legs, besides bronze armor and a helmet. The hoplites' fame is due to the strong line of defense they formed by uniting soldiers side by side, thus increasing the strength of their shields and spears. With this formation, 7,000 Greeks managed to hold 200,000 Persians in the Battle of Thermopylae.
However, the most influential military corps was the Roman Legion. Protected by a rectangular shield and armor, in addition to wielding a spear and two smaller weapons, the gladius (sword) and the pugium (dagger), were able to perform complex maneuvers due to the discipline of the troops, which combined infantry, cavalry, engineering and artillery actions, with their catapults. The joint use of shields in the rectangular infantry formation allowed the soldiers to defend themselves both from attacks coming over their heads and in close contact.
All of these actions required knowledge of geometry, metal properties and capacity development. of craftsmen in the production of weapons, achieved through experiments and practices arising from participation in wars.
In naval battles, the Greek triremes also stood out. As the name says, they were sailing boats powered by three rows of oars on the sides of the boats, reaching a maximum speed of 14 km/h. In the bow there was a bronze ram, used to attack the enemy ships from the side and, thus, split them in half. This type of boat with movable masts, which were removed during the fighting, were used by all people who sailed through the Mediterranean during Antiquity, for in addition to the Greeks, Romans, Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Persians and Egyptians they fought with these vessels or variants of them, such as biremes, quadriremes and quinquirremes.
* Image credits: Regien Passen and Shutterstock.com
By Tales Pinto
Graduated in History
Source: Brazil School - https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/guerras/guerra-ciencia-na-antiguidade.htm