Balista, Balestra, Arbalestre. See Muratori, Antiq. tom. ii. p. 517 - 524. Ducange, Gloss. Latin. tom. i. p. 531, 532. In the time of Anna Comnena, this weapon, which she describes under the name of tzangra, was unknown in the East (l. x. p. 291). By a humane inconsistency, the pope strove to prohibit it in Christian wars.