Hot Air balloons In the Roman era and beyond
- Thread starter eumarthan
- Start date
It would make very little difference. Hot air balloons aren't very useful in practice.
Note that US Civil War balloons used hydrogen or 'town gas', more efficient than hot air. They also had telegraphs which made it far easier to communicate their observations.
Lacking both those developments, any Classical use of balloons would be of only minor use, and probably not worth the cost.
Note that US Civil War balloons used hydrogen or 'town gas', more efficient than hot air. They also had telegraphs which made it far easier to communicate their observations.
Lacking both those developments, any Classical use of balloons would be of only minor use, and probably not worth the cost.
Last edited:
They would find some uses as semi-mobile lighthouses and watchposts for cities and fortifications. They might also be used for recoinnasance for fleets out at sea, to see further and spot an enemy fleet before it can spot you. These are all cases where the balloon is tied to the ground (or a ship), so it can't blow away in the wind.
They could be useful in long sieges where with only just ink and paper one could sketch the entire city in a birds eye view and find weakpoints and place of value like the armory or the palace.
This is what I was going to suggest basically. Replace telegraph with a form of semaphore perhaps? If they want more complex communication to the ground than "they're coming!"
That's very interesting, didn't think of the offensive value.
If balloons became at least a known quantity amongst ancient armies, I wonder how anti-air counters would develop? Many might consider them not worth bothering but in a siege situation, defenders might be very keen to shoot them if they get a chance.
They could also be used to coordinate with the trebuchet to act as an Artillery spotter and could lob burning torches to flammable buildings like the grain depot or wooden houses.
Kites might be more feasible simply because they require less avanced technology.
The challenge is then to land the hoisted person sufficiently safely. That suggests naval use first, although a hard landing on water is still very dangerous.
That raises some challenges, as you need skilled artists plus space for drawing or other recording materials. Losing them is annoying, and if too dangerou it's a bad investment. Even with skilled slaves, a near-suicide job isn't very likely to generate reliable intel, although it might work if there was a prospect of freedom for useful verified info on a few flights.
The challenge is then to land the hoisted person sufficiently safely. That suggests naval use first, although a hard landing on water is still very dangerous.
That raises some challenges, as you need skilled artists plus space for drawing or other recording materials. Losing them is annoying, and if too dangerou it's a bad investment. Even with skilled slaves, a near-suicide job isn't very likely to generate reliable intel, although it might work if there was a prospect of freedom for useful verified info on a few flights.