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Details
LOT 1532
Greek Slingshot with Ephesus Bee
4TH-1ST CENTURY B.C.
1 1/4 in. (30.9 grams, 30 mm).
Lentoid in form with raised legend 'APAIδ[.]' and to reverse, a raised bee motif.
Provenance
Private collection, Austria.
Private collection, Europe.
This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.
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The missiles of ovoid shape belong to type Ia of the Völling classification. The sling (funda) with its lead missiles (plumbea pondera or glandae) and stone (lapides) was used by special funditores, illustrated on Trajan’s Column where they are simply dressed in broad tunics with no armour, but carry a shield. A fold in their cloak, or sagulum, acted as an ammunition bag. The effectiveness of the slingers was unquestionable and much appreciated, especially against elephants. Celsus, writing towards the end of the 2nd century A.D., described how a slingshot wound was more dangerous and harder to treat than one inflicted by an arrow.
