A History of the World in 100 Weapons

By Chris McNab

The story of the 100 most influential weapons in history.

Our history has been shaped and changed by weapons: the smallest advances in weapons development have helped to build and overthrow empires, changed the course of civilization, driven modern technology, and won wars.

For thousands of years, individual pieces of weaponry have come to symbolize struggles and nations, from the Roman gladius to the English longbow, and from the flintlock musket through to the AK47.

This book reveals the weapons that had the greatest impact on our history, explaining how and why they came to prominence, and uncovers the lasting effect they had on the world.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
• Release date: Apr 20, 2014
• ISBN: 9781472808325

Chris McNab

Chris McNab is an author and editor specializing in military history and military technology. To date he has published more than 40 books, including A History of the World in 100 Weapons (2011), Deadly Force (2009) and Tools of Violence (2008). He is the contributing editor of Hitler's Armies: A History of the German War Machine 1939–45 (2011) and Armies of the Napoleonic Wars (2009). Chris has also written extensively for major encyclopedia series, magazines and newspapers, and he lives in South Wales, UK.

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INTRODUCTION

The history of the world is littered with armed conflict, from great wars to individual encounters. The weapons chosen for this book have contributed to the building of empires and the destruction of civilizations, and ultimately altered the lives of every man and woman on the planet.

Ever since prehistoric man picked up a stone to smite his fellow man the human race has been constantly developing weapons and counter-defences to enable man to win battles and satisfy his need for power, wealth, and glory. The hundred weapons in this publication show the ingenuity and skills that have been dedicated to this task.

The Royal Armouries cares for and researches into the UK’s national collection of arms, armour, and artillery – a remarkable assembly of over 100,000 objects. Our research aims to reveal the role weapons have played in history, though not just in warfare, but through craftsmanship, art, and technology.

Perhaps one day the only place to view weapons will be in museums.

Peter Armstrong

Museum Director, Royal Armouries

THE ANCIENT WORLD

5000 BC–AD 500

1 FLINT AXE

The specific origins of humankind’s first weapons are lost in time. At some point in prehistory, human beings picked up sticks or rocks with violent intent, and smashed them into other people, awakening a world of dark possibilities.

During the Stone Age, primitive weaponry gradually became more practical. While the first combat tools would have been objects of opportunity picked from a tree or from the ground, over time the available materials were shaped and crafted specifically for the purpose of killing or inflicting injury. Sticks, for example, were crudely sharpened, and their points fire-hardened to make spears. In due course, these spears received separate heads, increasing both penetration and the severity of the injury inflicted.

A simple flint axe head. (The Art Archive)

At some point during this vast period of time, two critical changes occurred. First, fixing a bladed weapon to a hilt or grip significantly improved its power through principles of leverage, while also providing a small protective distance between user and prey/victim. Second, techniques of lithic reduction (chipping away flakes of rock with a hammerstone, antler, or bone) produced a more refined edge. Flint was particularly responsive to these techniques, hence flint weaponry – be it arrowheads, speartips, knives, or the flint axe featured here – reached considerable levels of sophistication.

Leverage and power

Bringing together improved blades with the principles of leverage, battle-axes were developed that were easily capable of inflicting a fatal head injury or shattering a limb bone. Stone axes would be amongst the most highly prized of prehistoric weapons. Examples from the Neolithic period typically feature a cutting head (or a more rounded club head) fitted into a partially split or bored-through hardwood haft (handle), and lashed firmly into place with animal sinew. Greater adhesion between head and shaft was achieved by using birch-tar. Some designs were even more elaborate, fitting the axe head into a sleeve of antler or horn, which was in turn bound to the haft. The sleeve served to lessen the impact on the stone when the axe was being used, which in turn reduced the risk of splitting the haft. Axe head shape varied from very broad, rounded configurations to long, thin blades.

The hafts from Stone Age axes have not survived to the present day. Yet based on later examples, haft length was likely to have been a factor in separating war axes from general-purpose hand axes. Battle-axes typically have a haft about the length of an adult human’s arm, providing maximum practical leverage and fighting distance. Such devices laid the foundations of the very idea of weaponry itself, which once metal-working arrived would reach new heights of lethality.

2 BOW

The bow was a true game-changer in the history of weapons development. Its origins, as with so many ancient weapons, are uncertain, but it is believed that flighted arrows probably appeared before 18000 BC. Certainly by the Mesolithic (20000–7500 BC) and Neolithic (7500–3500 BC) periods we have cave artworks specifically depicting hunters killing antelope, bear, and other large creatures with bow and arrows.

Parthian horsemen armed with composite bows. (Artwork by Angus McBride © Osprey Publishing Ltd.)

Self bows

These early weapons would have been rudimentary self bows made from a single piece of wood, horn, or bone and strung with either tough plant material or animal sinew. At first the bow wood was likely to have been unseasoned and green, a type that was easily available but had limited durability and power. The eventual switch to seasoned woods provided far greater properties of compression and release, increasing the range, force, and penetration of the weapon. Classic bow woods are ash, oak, elm, and yew. Power was improved by cutting the bow so that the sapwood sat on the bowface while the heartwood was on the inside – the sapwood was more flexible, meaning the bow could be drawn back further, while the heartwood gave good properties of compression.

Composite bow and Chinese arrows. (© Royal Armouries, object no. XXVIB.40, .76, .77, .79)

Some of the earliest extant examples of bows come from northern Europe (particularly Denmark and northern Germany), and date back as far as 9000 BC. In their unstrung form they have either a straight or a slightly curved shape, and specimens from Denmark measure up to 5ft 6in (1.7m) in length. Yet archery truly came of age in the Middle East and Asia during the Bronze Age (about 3500–700 BC), alongside the introduction of worked metals. Metal arrowheads offered better penetration compared to most stone types, and could be crafted into shapes that delivered more serious injuries, such as backward-facing barbs that were harder to extract from the body. Metal tools also made the process of bowmaking much more controllable, leading to a fascinating variety of bow shapes and sizes.

Composite bows

Material construction also moved forward. Most sophisticated in design was the composite bow, typically made of three layers of material – a wooden core with animal horn glued to the face of the stave and sinew to the back. Composite bows were typically shorter than self bows, but they gave exceptional power – their pull weights could reach 150lb (68kg) – making them ideal for both foot soldiers and mounted warriors. Composite bows had superior range compared to the self bow; when the people of Hyksos invaded Egypt, for example, around 1720 BC, the Egyptians found that their rivals’ composite bows outranged their self bows by up to 200yds (182m).

The first surviving representation of the composite bow is that carried by Naram-Sîn, king of Mesopotamia, 3rd century BC. (Musée National du Louvre, Paris, SB4. Fields-Carré Collection)

Composite bows were first used with militarily significant effect by chariot-borne Sumerian, Hittite, Egyptian, and Assyrian warriors from the 3rd millennium BC. They revolutionized the art of missile warfare, giving the range and penetration that made bows lethally practical battlefield weapons. Archers could work dismounted, operating in units to deliver volley fire, while others such could fight from horseback, using double-arched composite bows on the move with astounding precision. By the time of the rise of ancient Greece and Rome in the 1st millennium BC, archery had established itself as a key component of both cavalry and infantry warfare. Bows gave soldiers a lethality that was not dependent on sheer muscle, auguring the democratization of the battlefield eventually brought by firearms.

3 CHARIOT

Mobile warfare

The war chariot emerged out of the fusion of two fundamental social developments. First was the invention of the wheel – evidence for wheeled vehicles dates back to the Middle East of the 4th millennium BC. At roughly the same time, horses became domesticated, although these animals would have been generally small and weak compared to today’s creatures. The synergy between horse and wheeled cart began its journey.

By the 3rd millennium BC, the military saw the potential of the new transportation. Evidence suggests that the Sumerians produced the predecessor of the war chariot, the battle wagon – essentially boxy wooden carts set on four solid wooden wheels and drawn by a pair of onagers. Both speed and maneuverability were unimpressive – the cart probably delivered little more than a human running pace and the four-wheel design meant it would have been hard to turn out of a straight line.

The Battle Standard of Ur, depicting four-wheeled battlewagons. (British Museum, London, WA121201. Fields-Carré Collection)

The two-man Egyptian chariot and the three-man Hittite chariot at the battle of Kadesh, 1274 BC. (Artwork by Adam Hook ©Osprey Publishing Ltd.)

True war chariots emerged around 2000 BC, possibly in Central Asia. The four wheels were replaced by only two, these supporting a small twoman platform made of a lighter wood frame, typically cedar, with a floor made from leather straps. A two-man crew fulfilled the roles of driver and fighter. The soldiers also wore armor, usually made from thick layers of animal skin protected by scales of bronze or copper. Pulled by the best horses the state could find, these chariots were fast – top speed was about 24mph (39km/h) – and nimble.

The chariot’s appearance on the battlefield had the same disruptive effect on tactics, at least on regions with conducive flatlands, as tanks would have in the 20th century. Their use spread rapidly, into the Middle East, India, and East Asia, and through the Mediterranean into Europe. As it did so, the design was perfected. The Egyptians replaced the two solid wheels with far lighter spoked wheels, and moved the chariot axle from the front or middle of the platform to the rear, producing a much-improved turning circle. The Egyptians also largely replaced the javelin with the composite bow as the primary chariot weapon. Indeed, the composite bow/chariot became the defining pairing, the chariot providing fast deployment, while the bow gave long-range killing capability.

Boudicca, queen of the Iceni, led an uprising against the Roman Empire, riding to battle in a chariot. (i-Stock)

In time, chariots became a visible representation of military wealth, and chariot battles grew to epic proportions – at the battle of Kadesh in 1274 BC, an estimated 5,000 chariots were involved. Yet by the end of the 1st millennium BC, chariots had largely disappeared from warfare. Reasons for this included their unsuitability on complex terrain, the increasing use of improved archery within the infantry, and more powerful cavalry forces – individual mounts could outpace the chariot. Nevertheless, chariots demonstrated that firepower could be transformed by mobility, a lesson that remains true to this day.

[The Britons’] mode of fighting with their chariots is this: firstly, they drive about in all directions and throw their weapons and generally break the ranks of the enemy with the very dread of their horses and the noise of their wheels; and when they have worked themselves in between the troops of horse, leap from their chariots and engage on foot… Thus they display in battle the speed of horse, [together with] the firmness of infantry.

– Julius Caesar, De Bello Gallico

4 BRONZE AGE SWORD

The Bronze Age was a revolutionary era in many respects, not least in the creation of the first metal weaponry. Copper was humankind’s first worked metal, originating in the Middle East perhaps as far back as 9000 BC, and weapons made from unalloyed copper first appeared around the 3rd millennium BC. They originally took the form of simple flat daggers, but other forms soon developed, including sickle-like slashing weapons used throughout much of Asia. The Egyptian khopesh was a classic example of this type. Measuring around 23.4in (60cm), the khopesh design sat somewhere between a battle-axe and a sword.

By the 2nd millennium BC, copper was being worked into more traditional double-edged short swords of lozenge-shaped or curved cross-section, sometimes with a thin fuller cut into the metal to both lighten and strengthen the blade. This lengthening of weapons from daggers to swords could be explained by the increasing use of horses for mounted warfare, which required a weapon of greater length to deliver a blow from horseback.

This khopesh sword was discovered in a tomb and may have been deliberately spoiled and bent prior to burial. (akg-images)

Bronze weaponry

Around 3000 BC, a critical metallurgical step was taken, probably in Iran or Sumeria, when copper was alloyed with tin to produce bronze; this new material was stronger and more malleable, and its invention ushered in the age of the sword. Bronze was easier to cast, and could be hammered into more complex shapes. A leap forward in design came through casting the blade and the hilt as one, creating a unitary weapon of great strength and martial utility. In European and Mediterranean swords in particular, a wide disk pommel was often hammered out at the base of the hilt, while broad blade shoulders gave moderate protection to the user’s grip hand. With progressively improved skill in casting, the blades also lengthened. Typical northern European grip-tongue swords, for example (so called because the grip has the appearance of a tongue), could measure up to 33.5in (85cm). The grip-tongue sword was a cut-and-thrust weapon, used for both slashing and stabbing attacks, the typical configuration of many Bronze Age blades.

Italian Bronze Age sword and scabbard, c.600 BC. (© Royal Armouries, object no. IX.1280)

Bronze swords were in time replaced by iron and steel versions, yet the Bronze Age sword laid the groundwork for the transformation of warfare and established the template for the personalized, close-quarters edged weapon.

The spear then he [Lycaon] let go, and sat him down, Outspreading both his arms: whereat Achilles Drew his keen sword, and at the collar-bone Smote him beside his neck: and into him The double-edge sword all plunged: and headlong Outstretched upon the ground he lay; and forth The cloudy blood did stream and drenched the ground.

– Homer, The Iliad

5 SIEGE TOWER

From as early as the 8th millennium BC, civilizations were building fortifications to protect them from the dangers outside. For the attackers attempting to break into a fortified town or city, there were several options. Siege was an obvious choice, with the aim of starving or isolating the enemy into submission. An alternative was mining – digging under the foundations of the defensive wall, forcing it to collapse. Another option was to attack the fabric of the wall, or entrances, with various missile weapons, smashing through at a key point.

Another possibility was not to undermine or go through the walls, but to go over them. The most rudimentary method of surmounting defensive walls was to place ladders against them. While ascending the ladders the attackers were exposed to all manner of horrors, including arrows, boiling oil or other incendiaries, barrages of rocks, or the ladders being simply pushed away from the wall. By contrast the siege tower offered far more protection to those engaged in an over-the-top assault. These generally consisted of a wooden tower structure mounted on four or more wheels; the wheeled design meant that the tower could be pushed up close to the fortification, the occupants partially protected from enemy missiles by the tower walls. Once the tower was in position, a gangplank could be dropped between tower and wall, over which the attackers would flood across.

Technical Specifications of the Helepolis of Epimachus (as recorded by the chronicler Diodorus):

Number of wheels: 8

Wheel width: 3ft (0.92m)

Side width: 72ft (21m)

Height: 300ft (40m)

(Artwork by Brian Delf © Osprey Publishing Ltd.)

A siege tower, clad in rawhide and layers of rags. (Artwork by Brian Delf © Osprey Publishing Ltd.)

Massive structures

Siege towers were one of several types of siege engine, but were arguably the most impressive. In use from early in the 1st millennium BC, they were not simply passive armored structures, but contained all manner of weaponry. An Assyrian relief from the palace of Nimrud, dated to the 9th century BC, depicts a six-wheeled siege tower rolling into action with archers firing from a central tower and a battering ram projecting from the front of the structure.

Siege towers also reached majestic proportions; the famous Helepolis