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Engineering Proceedings, Volume 96, Issue 1

SCORPiò-NIDI 2025 - 12 articles

Discovering Pompeii: From Effects to Causes—From Surveying to the Reconstructions of Ballistae and Scorpiones

Aversa, Italy | 27 February 2025

Volume Editor:
Adriana Rossi, Università degli Studi della Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, Italy

 

Cover Story: The conference focused on the results of the first year of the Project of Relevant National Interest (PRIN), funded in Italy by the Ministry of University and Research (MUR). SCORPiò-NIDI, its short name, investigates and analyzes the ballistic impacts found on the extrados of Pompeii’s perimeter walls. The city’s exceptional history ensures that the damage was inflicted by Roman artillery. Digital documentation of the cavities provided virtual casts, used for reverse-engineering analyses. The results enabled the reconstruction of terminal ballistics parameters from the geometric configuration of the cavities. Experimental activities converged on the same objective. The calculated, objectively verifiable parameters will be used to reconstruct accurate replicas of scorpions and ballistae to be displayed both online and offline in support of dedicated platforms.
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Articles (12)

  • Proceeding Paper
  • Open Access
759 Views
15 Pages

Re-Construction of the Small Xanten-Wardt Dart Launcher

  • Michele Fratino,
  • Luis Palmero Iglesias and
  • Adriana Rossi

Based on the dimensions of the small Xanten catapult, this study reconstructs a full-scale model to validate its manufacturing techniques and evaluate its effectiveness. The process underscores the role of experimental archaeology: the activity facil...

  • Proceeding Paper
  • Open Access
826 Views
12 Pages

The conservation of cultural heritage is fundamental, and it is difficult to predict how heritage objects will relate with structural damages. For these objects, the most used process for the analyses involves NURBS models that may introduce an exces...

  • Proceeding Paper
  • Open Access
1 Citations
664 Views
15 Pages

During Sulla’s siege of Pompeii in 89 BC projectiles were launched using Roman artillery, leaving visible craters on the fortified walls. The city was later buried by the eruption in 79 AD, preserving both its architectural layout and the damag...

  • Proceeding Paper
  • Open Access
798 Views
14 Pages

This study investigates the potential of reality-based 3D digital modeling, acquired for scientific purposes, to enhance the understanding and accessibility of ballistic imprints on Pompeii’s city walls. These impact marks, attributed to the Su...

  • Proceeding Paper
  • Open Access
1 Citations
1,428 Views
10 Pages

In line with the research objectives of the SCORPiò-NIDI project, we aim to implement a software platform showcasing the digital models developed during the project. The goal is to develop dynamic and interactive user experiences, expanding ac...

  • Proceeding Paper
  • Open Access
523 Views
10 Pages

A straightforward method for determining the causes of impact relics left by ancient projectiles on the city walls of Pompeii is proposed based on principles of plasticity and fracture mechanics. The inverse analysis begins with the measured craters...

  • Proceeding Paper
  • Open Access
601 Views
12 Pages

(Im)material Casts from the Sullan Period

  • Claudio Formicola,
  • Silvia Bertacchi and
  • Adriana Rossi

Thanks to Pompeii’s burial under Vesuvio’s 79 AD eruption deposits, the ballistic imprints on its northern defensive perimeter are uniquely attributable to Sulla’s siege of 89 BC. These impact marks were digitally documented using i...

  • Proceeding Paper
  • Open Access
638 Views
16 Pages

This study examines the first systematic documentation of a series of small impact marks on the northern walls of Pompeii, interpreted as the result of Roman metal dart projectiles launched during the Sullan siege in 89 BC. Using high-resolution, rea...

  • Proceeding Paper
  • Open Access
1 Citations
753 Views
13 Pages

A well-equipped legionary army prepared to lay siege to Pompeii. Among the weapons deployed along the northern stretch of the city walls were battering rams and mobile siege towers equipped with ballistae and scorpions. The impact marks from Republic...

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Eng. Proc. - ISSN 2673-4591