Slingers were ancient skirmishers who employed a simple but, as the biblical Goliath discovered at the hands of David, effective weapon. The sling is simply a piece of material held as a loop in the hand. The missile sits in the centre of the loop, which may be wider or strengthened to hold it better. Energy is imparted to the missile by the slinger swinging the sling around his head, releasing one end at the crucial moment so that the missile flies out with optimum velocity and direction. Assyrian bas-reliefs of c.700 bc show armoured slingers at a siege, though generally slingers depended on their agility to stay out of trouble. In 5th-century Greece the Rhodians were most renowned, outranging bows by reputedly shooting up to 383 yards (350 metres). Other famous slingers came from the western Mediterranean Balearic Islands, fighting for Carthage from the 5th to the 2nd century bc, and later for Rome. They carried three slings of different sizes and different missiles for use depending upon the range. They were a composite of rushes, animal hair, and sinew bound together. When not in use the sling was wound around the forehead as a headband. The missiles could be stones, but were frequently ceramic or lead. Lead slingstones have been found with simple messages cast into them like ‘Take That!’ Slingstones were acknowledged to inflict fearful wounds, penetrating the flesh, which closed around them. Every Roman legionary was supposed to carry the weapon, and in the late empire, a staff-sling (on a pole) was developed which threw even heavier shot, developing in due course into a siege engine. As such, slings continued in use throughout the Middle Ages until replaced by cannon. In the New World, the conquistadores found them the most dangerous weapons they faced and as late as 1987 a party of Peruvian journalists left photographic evidence that their collective demise was occasioned by highland Indian slingers.
Bibliography
- Connolly, Peter, Greece and Rome at War (new edn., London, 1998)
— John M. Bourne
