The Greek Gastraphetes

The gastraphetes (English translation: "belly-bow") was a hand-held crossbow used by the Ancient Greeks.It was described in the first century AD by the Greek author Hero of Alexandria in his work Belopoeica, which draws on an earlier account of the famous Greek engineer Ctesibius (fl. 285222 BC). Heron identifies the gastraphetes as the forerunner of the later catapult, which places its invention some unknown time prior to 420 BC. Unlike later Roman and medieval crossbows, spanning the weapon was not done by pulling up the string, but by pushing down an elaborate slider mechanism.

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