military technology: Media
Videos
Learn about American Revolutionary War usage of muskets, bayonets, and gunpowder
Learn how gunpowder and muskets were used during the American Revolution.
Video: © Civil War Trust (A Britannica Publishing Partner)
How did Constantinople become Istanbul?
Learn about Constantinople (later Istanbul), which served as the capital of the Byzantine...
Video: Contunico © ZDF Studios GmbH, Mainz; Thumbnail © Lestertairpolling/Dreamstime.com
Observe English schoolchildren practicing using gas masks in case of a chemical attack amid World War II
The gas mask became a part of modern warfare with the introduction of chemical weapons...
Video: Public Domain
The rise and fall of the Roman Empire
Learn how the tactics and discipline of the Roman army enabled the Roman Empire to...
Video: Contunico © ZDF Studios GmbH, Mainz; Thumbnail © Markzeta/Dreamstime.com
Surveil the surroundings from a military balloon aircraft utilized throughout World War I
World War I is remembered for its terrible combination of technological ingenuity...
Images
Hoplite warriors
Terracotta amphora depicting combat between two Hoplite warriors, c. 530 BCE;...
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, Fletcher Fund, 1956 (56.171.14); www.metmuseum.org
Macedonian battle formation
The battle formation developed by Macedonian King Philip II and his son Alexander...
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Corinthian-style helmet
Corinthian-style helmet, bronze, Greek, c. 600–575 bce;...
Photograph by Stephen Sandoval. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, Dodge Fund, 1955 (55.11.10)
Sumerian phalanx
Sumerian phalanx, a block of foot soldiers depicted standing shield-to-shield, presenting...
Giraudon/Art Resource, New York
Japanese armour
Japanese armour (yoroi) consisting of lacquer, leather, and silk and overlapping...
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; armor: Bequest of George C. Stone, 1935; horns (kuwagata): Gift of Bashford Dean, 1914, 36.25.39a-p; 14.100.171b,c, www.metmuseum.org
Trajan's Column
A relief from Trajan's Column, a monument from the early 2nd century ce,...
© Benjamín Núñez González (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Archers
Historically, archers used the longbow, crossbow, and composite bow.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Battle of Zama
Battle of Zama, oil on canvas by an unknown artist after Giulio Romano, 16th century;...
© Heritage Images—Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Karnak: rock carving
Rock carving of a pharaoh in a chariot, from Karnak, Egypt.
Katherine Young/Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Bayeux Tapestry: Battle of Hastings
English axman in combat with Norman cavalry during the Battle of Hastings, detail...
Giraudon/Art Resource, New York
Richard I and Saladin
Encaustic tiles bearing the images of Richard I (left) and Saladin in mounted combat...
Photos.com/Getty Images
Armour
Gothic-style armour for man and horse made at Landshut, Bavaria, about 1480; in the...
Reproduced by permission of the Trustees of the Wallace Collection, London
Body armour
Blued, etched, and gilded Renaissance armour of George Clifford, 3rd earl of Cumberland,...
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Munsey Fund, 1932, (32.130.6), www.metmuseum.org
Castle types
Three main castle types: motte and bailey, stone keep, and concentric.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Medieval trebuchet
Medieval soldiers winching down the long arm of a trebuchet to prepare it for launching...
Ian V. Hogg
Greek fire
The crew of a Byzantine dromon, a type of light galley, spraying an enemy ship with...
© Fine Art Images—Heritage Images/Getty Images
Crossbow depicted in a mural at El Escorial
Section of a mural showing a man using a crossbow; in the Hall of Battles, El Escorial,...
Ken Welsh/age fotostock
Halberd and pike
Halberd and pike in battle near Ins, Berne canton, in 1375. Encumbered by heavy armor,...
Burgerbibliothek Bern
Crossbow
Stirrup crossbow, French, 14th century
Courtesy of the West Point Museum Collections, United States Military Academy
Longbow and arrows
Longbow and arrows, English, 14th century (reproduction).
Courtesy of the West Point Museum Collections, United States Military Academy
cannon
Illustration of cannons from the first edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica,...
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
flintlock pistol
Flintock pistol, c. 1650.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; purchase, Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Gift, 2011 (accession no. 2011.360a, b); www.metmuseum.org
European fortress
Profile of the European fortress wall from the 16th century.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
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