The NYTimes has an interesting article on catapults, ancient weapons of mass destruction:
One aspect of this ancient weaponry that caught Dr. Cuomo's attention was something Hero of Alexander wrote in the first century A.D., which has the ring of the cold war policy of mutual deterrence.Posted by jt at February 26, 2004 02:26 PM"You didn't just have to have catapults to use them," the historian said in an interview. "You needed your potential enemy to know that you had catapults so they would not attack you in the first place."
Other scholars praised the essay, especially its insights into the close relationship of science and technology in ancient political affairs.
"She's right on target," Adrienne Mayor, an independent scholar in Princeton, said of Dr. Cuomo's thesis. "A lot of people still think of ancient science as something carried out in ivory towers. But war and science are intertwined from the beginning — something military historians have not ignored, but others have."
Ms. Mayor is a classical folklorist whose latest book, "Greek Fire, Poison Arrows & Scorpion Bombs" (Overlook Duckworth, 2003), describes biochemical warfare in antiquity, including many instances of catapults that rained fire and pestilence in battle.