Ancient shafted weapons and incendiary fire-darts (maleoli)
Sirile, cariffe, miricide and maleoli, with recipes for inextinguishable fire
Leonardo continues his antiquarian catalogue of arms, naming and drawing several long shafted weapons. The sirile is a very long lance the Numidians used to drag unsaddled riders to the ground; the cariffe strikes from far off; and the miricide is a jointed lance wielded like peasants threshing wheat. The longest note treats the maleoli, incendiary fire-darts described after the ancient author Ammianus Marcellinus, complete with recipes for an inextinguishable fire made of colophony, sulphur, saltpetre, laurel and petroleum oils, duck fat and camphor.
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Sirile: the long Numidian lance for unhorsing riders
The sirile is a very long shaft invented among the Numidians, who rode without saddle or stirrups in cotton-stuffed jerkins. With the hooks of the long sirile they caught and dragged enemies to the ground, easily unhorsing any caught unprepared.
Miricide: an extending flail-lance
The miricide is a shaft of 3 braccia that extends to 5 and a half braccia. It is used among soldiers in the manner peasants beat wheat.
Maleoli: incendiary fire-darts and their fuel recipes
Following Ammianus Marcellinus, Leonardo describes the maleoli as cane-shafted darts with a distaff-like head holding pitch-soaked tow to be lit and thrown slowly so the air will not quench it. He records competing recipes for an inextinguishable fire from colophony, sulphur and saltpetre melted with laurel oil, or petroleum oil, duck fat, fennel marrow and camphor with resin and tow.
