The Onager
The origin of the onager dates back to somewhere around 50 b.C., when it was first invented by the Romans. It was used as anti-personnel weapon, but mainly as a siege engine. The average onager would stand 6 feet high and fire really big stones several hundreds of feet. It was named after a wild donkey, who would kick back stones when it was hunted, hurting or even killing the men who hunted him. Because it is so simple in comparison to the Ballista, the onager took part in every siege the Roman Empire ever started.
My onager is a lot smaller, it's only about 120 cm long and 100 cm high. The beams are made of pine, instead of oak, and the arm is made of pine, instead of ash. The design is inspired by the ancient onager, but is modified in several spots because of structural design problems, such as the inward bending of the outer beams. The ancient onager had no extra beams close to the rope bundle, but my onager has to solve that problem. Because it is so small, it can easily be carried by two people. The ancient onagers were so big they had to be dismantled if they had to be moved. My onager easily fits into a small cart and can be carried anywhere with relative ease.
I am thinking about producing this onager and sell it. If anyone is interested, mail to dacheatmaster@hotmail.com. I am not certain of the cost, but it will not be higher than 100 to 150 euros.
