The oldest known application of a chain drive appears in the Polybolos, described by the Greek engineer Philon of Byzantium (3rd century BC). Two flat-linked chains were connected to a windlass, which by winding back and forth would automatically fire the machine's arrows until its magazine was empty. Although the device did not transmit power continuously since the chains "did not transmit power from shaft to shaft, and hence they were not in the direct line of ancestry of the chain-drive proper", the Greek design marks the beginning of the history of the chain drive since "no earlier instance of such a cam is known, and none as complex is known until the 16th century." It is here that the flat-link chain, often attributed to Leonardo da Vinci, actually made its first appearance."