The polybolos was an ancient Greek repeating ballista, reputedly invented by Dionysius of Alexandria and used in antiquity. Unlike a crossbow, it drew its power from twisted sinew bundles using a torsion mechanism rather than tension. An earlier and similar device, the oxybeles, had used a tension crossbow mechanism before that approach was abandoned in favor of torsion.
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Polybolos (Wikipedia)
In Field: Mechanical Engineering, Lead sectionQuote, In Field: Mechanical Engineering, Lead section
The polybolos was not a crossbow since it used a torsion mechanism, drawing its power from twisted sinew-bundles.
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