The weapon that changed the Roman world

We heard recently of a new weapon developed in the UK that could be a game-changer in this war-torn world of ours. If tyrants want to send their drones, missiles and deadly warplanes into innocent countries the day will soon come when the DragonFire laser will down them as easily as shelling peas.

This got me thinking. It’s not the first time that some awesome (usually frighteningly awesome of the shouldn’t-be-allowed variety) weapon changes the world. Of course this applies to peaceful and constructive technological advances too, but bear with me.

Think gun, torpedo, guided missiles and nuclear.

It happened long ago, too. In the first Century BCE, Julius Caesar’s heir Octavian and his general Agrippa were scratching their heads trying to come up with a plan to smash the Sicilian pirates who were putting the squeeze on Rome’s grain supplies. Twice Octavian and Agrippa had been defeated by Sextus Pompey’s superior seamanship.

Fortunately for Octavian – and the starving Romans – his right-hand man Agrippa was an inventive type. He carved out an amazing port at the north-western end of the Gulf of Naples and linked an inland sea with a major canal excavation where he would train ship’s crews and legionaries on the new weapons he was working on. Both Virgil and Pliny mention the resulting harbour, Portus Julius, as one of the man-made wonders of Italy.

Then he invented the Harpax. A weapon that changed the balance of power. This was a Roman catapult-fired grapnel that Agrippa used to great effect to snare enemy ships, first at the Battle of Naulochus (Sicily, 36BC) to defeat Sextus, and then at the Battle of Actium (31BC) when Rome’s fleet clashed with the huge ships of Mark Antony and Cleopatra. These battles are pivotal in two of my forthcoming novels.

‘Harpax’, from the Greek ‘harpago’, means ‘gripper’. The historian Appian of Alexandria describes it as “a piece of wood, five cubits long bound with iron and having rings at the extremities. To one of these rings was attached the grip itself, an iron claw, to the other numerous ropes, which drew [the captured ship] by machine power after it had been thrown by a catapult and had seized the enemy's ships.”

Reading Fiona Forsyth’s excellent Blood and Shadows, I was delighted to discover it was also used to capsize enemy ships which makes sense given that the quickest way to defeat a floating fortress crammed with armoured soldiers is to deposit them all in the sea.

In Viper, scheduled for publication later this year by Sapere Books, I describe Agrippa’s naval base at Portus Julius – near modern day Naples – where he built his new navy. Portus Julius was an astonishing engineering feat but his Harpax weapon was the big gamechanger. Clever chap.

But did Arippa himself invent the Harpax? Readers will soon discover that I am fond of characters who show innovation and inventiveness, thinking ‘outside the box’ to overcome a problem or find a better way of doing things. Like Melqart in Libertas (also scheduled for publication by Sapere) who invents the concept of a torpedo, the hot shower, the retractable keel and an ancient form of morse code.

One such creative fellow is Agrippa’s spy in Sicily, the fictional Titus Villius Macer. He’s the main character in Viper. If you have 20 minutes to spare, do read this short story, ‘The Harpax Agenda’, which has Titus showing Agrippa his amazing adaption of the scorpio field ballista to fire broadsides of iron bolts to disable enemy ships. Well, actually his father-in-law invents this, but Titus puts it to good use to save his bacon on several occasions.

And when he’s done with showing off his father-in-law’s invention, Agrippa sends him off to sort out the spy who is threatening to muck up the whole plan.

So you see, it wasn’t Agrippa who invented the Harpax, was it?

More good news…

I’ve just heard that Sea of Flames, another tale that features the Harpax weapon, is to be published by Sapere next month. If you would like some idea of what the book is about, see this article The Thrill of the Chase on my website. Here’s the cover. You’re going to love it…