Ancient Impossible (2014–…): Season 1, Episode 4 - Ancient Einsteins - full transcript

Narrator: How did the Chinese
build a devastating automatic

weapon 2,000 years before
machine guns?

Firepower matters.

Narrator: What are the
secrets behind the ancient

world's high-tech body armor,

made thousands of years before
bulletproof vests?

This was space-age stuff.

This was how you wanted to go to
war.

Narrator: And why is this
simple invention the godfather

of the world's most ruthless
weapons-

landmines?



Monuments more colossal than

our own, ancient super weapons

as mighty as today's,

technology so precise it defies
reinvention.

The ancient world was not
primitive.

Their marvels are so advanced,
we still use them now.

Travel to a world closer than

we imagine, an ancient age

where nothing was impossible.

Over 2,000 years ago, the

Chinese created a weapon so

devastating, it turned untrained

troops into ancient machine
gunners.

Is it possible that they



developed the first rapid-fire

weapon in history?

To fully understand the power of

this ancient weapon, you must

start by examining one of

today's most devastating

firearms- the AK-47.

Like its predecessor, this gun

is easy to use, easy to produce,

and can quickly turn raw

recruits into killing machines.

Automatic weapons are crucial
to the success of any army or

navy because the more rounds you
can put down target onto the

battlefield in a minimum amount

of time, the more effective you
are.

Narrator: What was this
amazing super weapon?

There's a clue in China, at the

greatest archaeological

discovery of our time...

The mausoleum of China's first

emperor, Qin Shi Huang.

The terracotta army is a clay

army that was buried in the

mausoleum for the first Qin

emperor, to guard him in the

afterlife, and it is
astonishing.

Every face of every man in that

thousands-of-men army is
different, is individual, and

every man was armed with state-
of-the-art weapons of the day.

Narrator: But over the

centuries, their weapons have

rotted away.

Their hands are empty.

Could they once have held the

world's first repeating weapon?

And could this warrior tech have

created a killing zone that

seems impossible on an ancient

battlefield?

An essential element of all

land warfare is firepower,

whether it's the big long-range

guns on today's tanks or whether

it's the AK-47, firepower
matters.

And 2,300 years ago in China, it
mattered there, too.

And they invented this

- the Chinese repeating crossbow,
the chu ko nu.

Narrator: The genius of this
amazing weapon is its simplicity.

There are just 4 major parts-

wooden stock...

Bamboo bow...

Wooden magazine...

And the lever.

This magazine holds 8 crossbow

bolts to complete such an

astonishing weapon.

As you push this lever forward,
the string catches in a notch.

As you push the lever up, it

reveals this little pin here,

and that is the whole deal,

that little peg there.

You pull the lever back, you're
pulling the string bacac the

magazine comes down onto the
stock.

It's that peg that pushes the

string out of the notch, and the

whole cyclic starts over again.

It's a constantly cycling,

repeating, wonderful, efficient
weapon.

Narrator: This revolution
made technology, not training,

the dominant force on the
battlefield.

Such an impossibly sophisticated

weapon turned peasants into

soldiers almost overnight, much

like the AK-47 does now.

It gives the rate of fire

that a trained archer can put

out, but without all the

hardship of learning to do it.

Narrator: Archers were

professional soldiers who had to

be trained from childhood.

The best could shoot about 10
arrows a minute.

But could raw troops be as effective
as this on the battlefield?

Looking at a Chinese regiment

of 1,000 soldiers shooting six

bolts in a minute, you've got

6,000 arrows flying towards the
enemy.

Narrator: This incredible
weapon turned close formations

of elite enemy troops into
crossbow fodder.

It's impossible to believe, but

the ancient Chinese had a lever-

action firearm that predates

anything in our modern world.

But there is a curious
connection between this weapon

and one of the most iconic

weapons of the American west, a

connection that could help us

understand how advanced this

ancient weapon truly was.

There's an obvious parallel

between the lever action of the

Chinese repeating crossbow and

the lever action of the

Winchester 73 repeating rifle.

I wonder which repeats more
quickly.

Narrator: Is it possible to

compare these two weapons?

We are going to try by pitting

them against each other in a

shoot-off, Texas style, to find
the top gun.

Kirsten Weiss is an American national
champion and performance shooter.

I love the Winchester.

It's one of my favorite guns.

I mean, they're such fun, aren't
they?

Yeah, isn't it the best?

That lever action.

Do you dare take on old
technology?

With new?

Yes, I dare, let's do it.

Let's do it.

Narrator: Can this weapon

from 2,300 years ago really

match the rate of fire of a

Winchester 73?

They've got five shots each.

Which will have the quickest
rate of fire?

Okay, so this is just on
speed.

Okay.

And I've got the older
weapon.

So I get to give the countdown.

3, 2, 1!

Done!

I don't believe it.

You got to hand it to the
Chinese.

Absolutely!

Isn't that extraordinary?

Fantastic.

Narrator: This game-changing

ancient repeating crossbow has

matched one of the greatest

repeating rifles of all time,

an incredible feat.

They have got something which

in its repeating function is at

least a match.

Yes.

I mean, you would think such
a thing impossible.

Yes!

Thank you, good job.

Thank you, Mike.

Good job.

Narrator: The Chinese

repeating crossbow would have

been an awesome weapon in the

hands of conscripted peasants or

tough professional soldiers.

But despite this firepower, the

Chinese troops did have one

serious limitation.

The heavy body armor worn by

the warriors of the emperor Qin

would have affected their

mobility and stamina.

The Chinese warriors would

have struggled in their heavy

metal armor, but would you

believe in ancient Greece, they

actually already had lightweight

armor that predates kevlar by

over 2,000 years?

Narrator: The Chinese

developed a devastating

repeating weapon that predated

the machine gun by over 2,000
years.

But while they had the

firepower, they were hampered by

their heavy metal armor.

About the same time, a

revolution in body protection

was taking place half a world

away in Greece, an armor so

impossibly light and strong,

you'd think it came from today.

To understand how effective this

ancient armor was, we need to

look at today's tech.

Modern day body armor didn't

come about until world war I,

but it was metal and heavy in

order to be bulletproof.

Then in the late 1960s, kevlar
was invented.

Narrator: Dupont kevlar is a

super-tough synthetic material

layered to make lightweight body
armor.

It spreads and reduces the force

of an incoming projectile, and

the tough kevlar fibers are

extremely hard to break.

This is a 20th-century
technology, right?

Wrong.

This is linothorax, or Greek
kevlar.

This is Alexander the great's

battle gear of choice when he

began his conquests in the

4th century bc.

Narrator: Alexander the Great

led Macedonian warriors in their

conquest of Greece, the Persian

empire, Afghanistan, and even

reached as far as India.

He was feared throughout the ancient
world and believed to be invincible.

But he had a secret weapon.

We know from ancient sources

that he wore a breastplate of

folded linen, 12 layers all

woven together and then glued to

form this lightweight armor.

Narrator: Linen is a super-

tough natural material.

It can be layered to make

lightweight body armor.

In many ways, it acts just like

dupont kevlar by spreading and

reducing the force of
projectiles.

The kevlar fibers of the

material are extremely strong.

But could this simple cloth be constructed
to withstand extreme impact?

The evidence for the linothorax
is principally artistic.

We see it regularly on Greek
vases and pottery.

And we get written accounts explaining
that it was made of cloth.

However, the breakthrough is
with Alexander's father, Philip.

Philip in his tomb has a thorax

in exactly this same style, and

from that, we can work out the

form and extrapolate this

reconstruction based on all the

archaeological sources.

Narrator: Reconstruction

expert rorie brophy is

re-creating this ultimate body

armor from modern linen.

I'm making linothorax armor.

It's a type of armor preferred

by the ancient greeks.

It's made from linen and glue.

It was used by Alexander the

great when he conquered most of

the known world.

A very simple material to make,
in principle.

It's just layers of linen with

glue in between it, pressed

really, really well together.

Linen is a remarkable material.

It's incredibly strong, probably

the strongest natural fiber you
can get.

Narrator: It seems impossible

that fabric armor could protect

a soldier in battle.

Modern-day dupont kevlar will

stop a bullet.

But will rorie's Greek kevlar

withstand one of the deadliest

weapons of the ancient world?

Today hunter Ellis is armed with

the mighty longbow to test this

linen wonder armor.

This willow-leaf arrowhead will

be shot at 120 Miles per hour

about the same impact

Alexander's armies would have
faced.

It's make or break time for
Greek kevlar.

Can an arrow really be defeated
by fabric?

Dead-center gut shot, but the big
question is right now-did it penetrate?

Let's go find out.

You can see it sticking out of

the armor right here, but would

it have mortally wounded this
warrior?

(Chuckles)

You know what?

It's only sticking out about a
half-inch on the inside.

So this Greek kevlar did what
it's supposed to do.

It absorbed the impact of this
arrow.

This warrior would have lived
to fight another day.

Narrator: This incredible
ancient body armor could have

made the difference between living
and dying on the battlefield.

Alexander the great learned this

firsthand when the armor was put

to the test at the siege of
Gaza.

In the heat of battle at one

point soaring out from the enemy

lines came a ballista bolt.

It hit his shield, it went

through the shield, penetrated

the shield and into his armor,
his linthorax.

Luckily this armor is so good,

it managed to take most of the

force from the bolt, and it only

lightly wounded him.

Narrator: The ancient armor

turned a killing wound into a

flesh wound.

For the ordinary foot soldier this
was, you know, space-age stuff.

This was how you wanted to go
to war.

They were wearing the kevlar of
their period.

Narrator: Whether it is the

ancient or the modern world, the

military has always sought to

develop ways to protect a

soldier's entire body, from head
to toe.

Just think of some of the

innovations we have today.

U.S. special forces are

developing lightweight

protective body armor, full-body

armor for their operators.

But did you know the Romans had
it nearly 2,000 years ago?

Narrator: Today's armies

don't realize that many of the

advances they are working on

were actually first developed in

the ancient world.

An example is this demonstration

of a highly sophisticated full

body armor called talos now

under development for U.S.
Forces.

(Whinnies)

The history books lead us to

believe that the first true

armored warriors were the

medieval knights of Europe.

But new evidence shows that in

Europe, the Romans were using

fully armored knights much

earlier.

Hunter Ellis is getting suited
up, medieval style.

Right now I'm dressed in a

15th-century harness of arms.

When most people picture full

body armor, they think of

medieval knights, but in fact

warriors had this type of

protection about 1,000 years
earlier.

Narrator: But proving that

Roman warriors had full body

armor will take some serious

detective work.

( Man shouts in Latin )

Often, Rome's greatest military advances
were born out of their military defeats.

In one terrible battle, at

carrhae in modern Turkey, the

Roman army was changed forever.

In 53 bc, the Romans had a

classic infantry army going out

into the desert to face the
parthians.

The parthians however were
cavalry-heavy.

And they had cataphracts.

Narrator: This was the

parthians' secret weapon.

Their heavy cavalry, known as

cataphracts, were armored.

The Romans were utterly

mauled, more than 20,000 dead.

(Crowd shouting)

(Horse whinnying, galloping
hoofbeats)

The Romans were never ones to
take defeat lightly.

They went away.

They learned their lessons.

When they came back, they had

their own cataphracts.

And this time, the Romans were
victorious.

Narrator: The Romans took
this technology to the

next level, creating the
first European knights.

But what did they look like?

There's graffiti drawn by a
bored Roman soldier at a

frontier post on the border of
what's now modern day Syria, and

this gives us an idea of what these
warriors might have looked like.

Narrator: This ancient

graffiti could be an incredible

eyewitness account.

Is this proof that the knights

of Rome really did exist?

Well, there are actual

accounts from the 4th century

from Roman soldiers who served

on the battlefield.

These aren't the armchair
generals.

And they talked about warriors

dressed head to toe in full body

armor, glistening on the

battlefield like silver statues.

How would you like to run into
that?

Narrator: One ancient historian has
found a clue in Oxford, England.

Dr. Adrian Goldsworthy is one of

the world's leading experts on

the Roman armed forces.

Hidden away in the dusty

archives of the Bodleian

library, Adrian has unearthed

evidence that could re-write how

we view the Roman army.

The book I've got in front of me
here is something quite remarkable.

It's a book written in the 4th
century a.D.

So here you've got a picture
of something that you might not

expect to see as a soldier of
the Roman army-a man fully

armored on a fully armored
horse.

Narrator: Incredibly, horse

armor like this was found in a

destroyed Roman fort in the
1930s.

Made of metal scales, it's identical
to the illustration in the book.

And there's another clue from an
ancient text.

One of the things listed are

the titles of all the officers

in command of all the army units

of the Roman army.

Among these units there are

quite a few that are listed as
cataphracts.

Narrator: And there's still

more evidence that the Romans

were using knights.

'Cause if we go on and look

here at an illustration of the

fabricae, the workshops, the

factories that supplied the

equipment for the army and look

in detail, we can actually see

depictions of the heavy armor

that these sorts of soldiers
would wear.

You've got the main cuirass,

heavy strong protected body
armor.

Narrator: These lines drawn on the
illustration give another clue.

The main body armor is chain mail,
an armor made of iron rings.

Mail, which was the mainstay

of the Roman army for centuries,

came from the celts in the west.

But it produces an armor which

is effective, especially in hand

to hand combat, against swords
and spears.

Here if you look at the
illustrations, you can actually

see what we've been talking
about all the time.

Because in this corner you've

got extra defenses for the arms

and extra defenses for the
limbs.

They had plate defenses, like

this reconstruction of a 1st-

century manica.

It's made with iron plates which are
articulated together to make it flexible.

Narrator: We have found one
last clue.

Now also it gives us the

insignia on shields, you can see

these brightly painted devices,

which would have identified each

unit in battle.

And it is more than a

coincidence that none of the

units of cataphracts are given a

shield design in this great

catalog of the shields of the
Roman army.

Narrator: Like medieval
knights, this armor was so

impossibly powerful, the
soldiers didn't use shields.

It was a combination of all

these different styles of armor

for different purposes, the

scale, the mail, the articulated

plates, that come together to

produce this ancient super
troop.

Narrator: We can now reveal

the Roman cataphract, the first

European knight over 1,000 years

earlier than we ever imagined.

(Whinnies)

(All shouting)

These guys, encased in heavy

armor from head to foot for

themselves and their horses

charging with lances were an

ancient superweapon.

Narrator: The one remaining

mystery is the warrior's helmet

which protected the face and
head.

But amazingly, a clue for its

appearance could come from

Rome's deadliest enemies.

The Roman cataphracts would
soon face their greatest

enemy, sword-wielding warriors
that seem to come from "the game

of thrones," but they're as real as
I am and 100 times more terrifying.

Narrator: We've rewritten

history to prove that the Romans

had fully armored knights over

1,000 years before the age of
chivalry.

If it weren't for the evidence,

the existence of such troops

would seem impossible to
believe.

But one mystery remains- is it

really possible that the Romans

had a helmet that covered the

full head and face like a

medieval knight?

The ancient writers tell us
that the head and face are

covered by a metal mask and that

the wearer would look like a

glittering statue.

Now these helmets obviously

existed, but none survive.

They cover the entire head,

similar to the late Roman

cavalry helmet.

Narrator: No helmet like this

has ever been found, but there

might be a lead...

From Rome's deadliest enemies.

In the 4th century a.D., the

wealthy Roman province of

Britain faced a terrible
threat...

Barbarian German tribesmen
called Saxons...

Who lived for fighting and
plunder.

The Saxons were coming from

the sea and raiding rich and

fertile Britannia.

The coastline was so inundated

with Saxon raids, they even

named their forts and garrisons
the Saxon shore.

Narrator: The Romans built 10 massive
forts to protect Britannia.

But how could they know where

the Saxons would strike next?

The Romans don't know where

they're going to strike.

So they need a flexible, mobile

reserve to deal with them.

And the best way to do that is
cavalry.

The Romans learned from their

experiences in the middle east,

that the best form of cavalry

against bodies of infantry- the

Saxons were infantry- was heavy

armored, disciplined, close-

formation shock cavalry.

Their answer to Saxon raids was

the cataphract.

(Crowd shouting)

Imagine being a Saxon and

sailing across the sea, landing

on the beach and then being

greeted by an armored cavalry

of cataphracts in iron plate

and chain mail.

Even for the mighty Saxons, this

would make them think twice.

Narrator: To level the

playing field, the Saxons

imitated the Roman armor,

including their helmet.

At Sutton hoo in eastern

England, evidence has been found

of what a Roman cataphract

helmet might have looked like.

Under this mound, a mighty

warrior was buried...

In the richest Saxon grave ever
found.

King raedwald was laid to rest

here with his war gear and

magnificent helmet.

This reconstruction shows the

sophistication of an era some

call the dark ages.

This is Britain's tutankhamen.

So a find like Sutton hoo

basically gives us a window into

a secret world.

This warrior king was buried in

his full battle gear.

He had a chainmail shirt, he

had a shield, and he had an

incredible sword and helmet.

Narrator: Is the Sutton hoo

helmet the missing link that

shows us what the Roman

cataphracts wore?

When you see all three helmets together,
the similarities are incredible.

You can imagine how the Roman

cataphracts would have made a

lasting impression on the

raiding Saxons.

Here we have the Sutton hoo
helmet.

No cataphract helmets exist, but

this is a Roman cavalry

ceremonial helmet from about 500

years earlier.

Look at the similarities in

design and protection of the

faceplates and neck plates in

the back, which would protect

from a rear blow.

And then look at this full

frontal face coverage.

But what's unique about the

Sutton hoo helmet is this Ridge

right down the crest, it's

believed that the Roman

cataphract helmet had the same

feature.

Narrator: With a helmet that

matches ancient descriptions,

we've re-created a Roman

cataphract for the first time
ever.

Roman warrior tech created full

body armor over 1,000 years

before medieval knights.

(Whinnies)

But even the knights of Rome could not
prevent the empire's decline and fall.

The Roman army was eventually pulled
out of Britain to defend Rome.

Britannia was invaded and
settled by the Saxons.

(Crowd screaming)

The Saxons were also

accompanied by the angles, so

we have a confederation of

German tribes.

It's from the angles that we get

the term "England," angleland.

And of course, we therefore have

Anglo-Saxons.

Narrator: But the Saxons
weren't done yet.

Narrator: Over 2,000 years

ago, the Roman army used fully

armored knights on the
battlefield.

Rome's enemies the Saxons didn't

just copy Roman equipment.

They created their own ultimate

warrior superweapon.

The Saxons were true
warriors.

Most had small swords or sax,

much like this one right here.

It's basically a big knife.

But others had the long sax,

like this.

This is the replica of the

Sutton hoo sword.

This is what a Ferrari or

Lamborghini would cost in the

Saxon world.

This right here is the ultimate

status symbol.

Weapons are the mark of an

anglo-Saxon warrior.

And his most important weapon
is the sword.

Swords were even considered magical,
like Excalibur to king Arthur.

They were named, names like

widow's wail- the cry of a wife

as her husband is slain- leg

biter- a sword that can cut

underneath the opponent's shield

and take out his ankle- or even

needle to pierce through to the
heart.

Narrator: These lethal swords

were made to impossibly high

specifications worthy of

21st-century technology.

Under this mound, the greatest

Saxon sword in history was
discovered...

(Shouts in foreign language)

Narrator: In the grave of king
Raedwald at Sutton hoo in England.

The sword and treasure are now

held in the British museum in
London.

The reconstruction next to the

remains of the original shows

the might and power it once had.

Now a sword like this would

generally be buried with its

owner, but it's still incredibly

rare to find them in the ground

and absolutely unique to have an

example as superb as this.

This is a sword where no expense

has been spared.

The handle is made of gold, and

on the pommel, there's gold

filigree, and garnets have been
inlaid.

So this is a symbol of your

power, of your status, and it's

no coincidence that these are

being used because they were

thought to have almost magical

powers and to be able to ward

off the evil of lightning and
thunder.

Narrator: But this sword was
not just for show.

Its construction reveals

impossibly sophisticated

techniques that made it the

ultimate war blade.

There's a story behind these
patterns.

They're not just for decoration.

The patterns show us the extent

of the highly sophisticated

technology that was used to

create this absolutely

incredible ancient weapon.

Narrator: The Saxon super

sword was the first effective

use of composite metal in the
world.

But how did they do it?

This incredible technique of

pattern welding is still used in

modern knife blades...

And by swordsmith Stuart makin

to recreate the tip of the

Sutton hoo sword.

So what I've got here is a

billet of different types of
steel.

The four darker layers are mild

steel, which is a soft metal.

The three other layers are high

carbon steel.

And what we're going to do is

use the fire to melt these

together and make one piece

which combines the hardness of

the carbon steel and the

softness of the mild steel.

Narrator: This incredible

ancient technology mixes hard

steel for cutting with soft

steel for strength.

A sword made only of soft metal
will bend.

A sword made solely of hard

metal will shatter.

This deadly weapon had a

supernatural strength that made

it supposedly unbreakable in
combat.

These are exquisite works of
art.

They're extraordinary pieces of

technology, but also, this is

the weapon that is gonna save

your life.

Narrator: The hard and soft

steel are combined into billets.

The billets are hammered into

bars to start creating the
pattern.

By twisting those metals

together, when we do the final

stage, you'll see that twist in

the surface of the material.

Narrator: Once four twisted

billets are made, they are then

joined to make the body of the
sword.

And I'm actually forging the

blade tip of the sword here.

Narrator: But that's not the

end to the impossibly high

sophistication of this ultimate
weapon.

I've got a couple of pieces

of high carbon steel.

Now on their own, they'd be too

brittle to make a sword.

However, we're gonna weld these

either side of the core to make

the cutting edge.

So when the sword is ground and

polished, it maintains its razor
edge.

Narrator: All that needs to

be done now is to use acid to

reveal the pattern that shows

the mix of soft and hard steel

that gives the blade its

impossible strength and cutting
power.

All of these processes

combined to produce this entire

beautiful, yet functional

stunning piece of work.

It's absolutely phenomenal.

What's almost impossible to

imagine is that smiths over

1,000 years ago were able to

produce an object of such

beauty and with such

sophisticated technology.

We've seen highly

sophisticated ancient battle

equipment that's thousands of

years ahead of its time, but it

was one incredibly simple

invention by the ancient greeks

and the Romans that sets the

stage for some of the most

terrifying and ruthless weapons
of modern warfare.

Narrator: Look at modern
warfare and you see incredible

parallels with the ancient
world.

It seems impossible, but one

tiny invention going back over

3,000 years is the godfather of

some of today's cruelest
weapons.

We're in the moat at southsea
castle.

Moats are familiar to most

people- a trench or a ditch

around the castle or fort

usually dry, sometimes

containing water.

It denies the ground to the
enemy.

That's harder in an open
battlefield.

You need a way to stop the

enemy coming forward against
you.

And that's where these come in.

These are caltrops.

Narrator: Named after the

Latin word "calcitrapa" or "foot

trap," caltrops are incredibly

simple and effective.

Tread on one of these, and it's
game over.

The caltrop, it's a 4-pronged

Barb designed that no matter how

you throw it, 3 prongs are on

the ground and 1 prong sticks

straight up into the air.

This is an area-denial weapon.

It's easy to make, it's simple

to deploy, and it can be carried

anywhere.

As the enemy comes forward,

strikes these, starts to take

casualties, they stop.

Narrator: This impossibly

simple idea is as effective as

modern area-denial weapons, but

what seems even more impossible

is that it revolutionized

defensive warfare.

These are easy to make.

To an ancient, all he needs to

do is take two pieces of bar

stock, shape it, weld it

together, bend it.

And it's also the work of just

moments, a few minutes' work to

make one.

In many ways, these should be

seen as the ancestors of modern

area-denial weapons, whether

you're looking at razor wire

and barbed wire or more modern

weapons such as mines, cluster

bombs and scatter bomblets.

But these, these were 3,000
years ago.

Nasty little suckers.

Narrator: Over time, swords,

crossbows, and metal armor have

disappeared from our arsenals.

But caltrops have hardly
changed.

And believe it or not, U.S.

Forces in Afghanistan are still

using versions of the caltrop to
this day.

Narrator: These tiny wonder weapons
were the ultimate warrior tech.

With caltrops on hard ground,

ancient soldiers could gain an

edge against any threat, even

the most intimidating of all-

the elephant

whether it's Hannibal and the

carthaginians, the persians, or

even the Indians, elephants were

a terror weapon.

They were huge beasts covered in

armor that can sweep through

your lines.

Caltrops are the perfect answer.

Elephants are intelligent,

they're very thick skinned, but

underfoot, they're very
sensitive.

Now imagine a bed of these being

thrown down as a wave of

attacking elephants come towards
you.

( Elephant roars )

Wounded elephants will flee,

naturally, the quickest route

possible, which is normally

directly behind them, through

the troops, which causes utter

carnage amongst the ranks.

Elephants are definitely a

double-edged weapon.

Narrator: Cunning use of this

ingenious yet simple weapon did

more than just stop the enemy.

But what most enemies do is

they try and circumvent the
obstacle.

That's why clever placement

means the enemy will be driven

to where you want them-

driven into choke points that

you can then smash.

You can deliver your heavy

cavalry, your best elite troops

and eliminate the enemy totally.

Simple little device but one

that's fundamental to an entire

tactical plan on the
battlefield.

This is all the hallmarks of

modern warfare, but they were

doing this 3,000 years ago.

Yeah.

Cracking piece of kit.

Narrator: Warriors of the

ancient world had highly

sophisticated weapons thousands

of years ahead of their time,

from the first automatic weapons

to full body armor and the first

area-denial weapons, proving

that the ancients were able to

achieve the impossible, creating

warrior tech we can still see in

use today.