Archaeology & History

Marks in Pompeii may be evidence of ancient Roman 'machine gun'

By T.K. Randall
March 25, 2026 ·  8 comments

Image: Temple of Apollo in Pompeii
Credit: Mark de Nijs / CC BY-SA 4.0 (adapted) It's certainly an interesting thought exercise to imagine what the Romans could have achieved if they had invented firearms, but while they never developed gunpowder weapons, they likely did have access to at least one early example of a repeating mechanical weapon.

In a new study, researchers examined curious marks found on walls in the ruins of Pompeii - the ancient Roman town that was destroyed and covered in ash after the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius.

These small, square-shaped impact marks were thought to be a good match for a weapon known as a 'polybolos' - essentially a repeating device capable of firing dart-like projectiles one after the other.

In particular, the pattern of the marks seemed to point to the use of such a device.Described as a sort of primitive 'machine gun', this ferocious weapon would have seemed particularly daunting to the town's defenders who would have likely never seen anything like it before.

It was originally an ancient Greek invention devised by Dionysius of Alexandria.

The marks on the wall don't seem to match any other known projectiles used at that time, though it is important to emphasize that it hasn't been conclusive proven that they were made by a polybolos.

Even so, the study emphasizes the sheer ingenuity of the people from this time and shows that, even without gunpowder, physics can produce some seriously impressive weapons.


Source: Greek Reporter | Comments (8)

Tags: Pompeii, Roman