What is Caltrop?
[[File:Roman caltrop.jpg|thumb|Roman caltrop at Westfälisches Museum für Archäologie, Herne, Germany]] [[File:Löffelholz-Codex Ms-Berol-Germ-Qu-132 Fol 030v.png|thumb|Different types of caltrops and metal soles as countermeasure from Codex Löffelholz, Nuremberg 1505]] [[File:Drevnosti RG v3 ill130c - Caltrop.jpg|right |thumb|A 16th-century Russian caltrop]] [[File:Caltrop.jpg|thumb|right|Caltrop used by the US [[Office of Strategic Services]]. The hollow spikes puncture self-sealing rubber tires. The hole in the center allows air to escape even if the other end of the tube is sealed by soft ground.]] '''Caltrops''' are spiked weapons used against men and horses since at least as early as [[Roman army|Roman times]].<ref>There are different spellings of this word, such as ''caltrap'' or ''galtrop''.</ref> Later versions were designed to deflate automobile tires. They are a type of [[anti-personnel weapon]], and anti-vehicular [[weapon]]. Japanese [[samurai]] used a similar weapon, the [[makibishi]]. Iron caltrops were used as early as 331 BC at [[Battle of Gaugamela|Gaugamela]]. They were known to the Romans as ''tribulus'', meaning 'jagged iron'.<ref name=Lewis>Lewis, Charlton T. & Short, Charles 1879. ''A Latin dictionary''.</ref> They were used in the [[Battle of Carrhae]] in 51 BC.<ref>{{cite book|last=Jarymowycz|first=Roman Johann|title=Cavalry from hoof to track: the quest for mobility |year=2007|publisher=Praeger|isbn=978-0-275-98726-8|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nQDBUgwGae4C&dq=Makibishi&pg=PA21|page=20}}</ref> The Roman writer [[Vegetius]], discussed [[Scythed Chariots|scythed chariots]] in his ''De Re Militari'': {{quote|The armed chariots used in war by [[Antiochus]] and [[Mithridates]] at first terrified the Romans, but they afterwards made a jest of them. As a chariot of this sort does not always meet with plain and level ground, the least obstruction stops it. And if one of the horses be either killed or wounded, it falls into the enemy's hands. The [[Roman legion|Roman soldiers]] rende