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Home > Auctions > 5th December 2023 > Roman 'Pompey the Great' Lead Slingshot

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LOT 0308

Estimate
GBP (£) 200 - 300
EUR (€) 230 - 350
USD ($) 250 - 380

Sold for (Inc. bp): £286

ROMAN 'POMPEY THE GREAT' LEAD SLINGSHOT
1ST CENTURY B.C.
1 1/2 in. (47 grams, 39 mm).

Biconical lead slingshot (glans) with inscription in Latin letters 'CN' (Cneius) 'MAG' (Magnus) on one side, and 'IMP' for 'IMPERATOR' (victorious general) to the other side, i.e Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus Imperator (Pompey the Great the victorious general). [No Reserve]

PROVENANCE:
Ex M.Cummings, UK, 1990s.

LITERATURE:
Cf. D'Amato, R. and Sumner, G., Arms and Armour of the Imperial Roman Soldier: From Marius to Commodus, 112 BC-AD 192, London, 2009, fig.32, p.45, for a similar glandes from Zaragoza Museum, the one with the name of Pompey inscribed coming from Munda battlefield.

FOOTNOTES:
The shot (Völling type 1C) is marked with the abbreviated name of Gnaeus Pompey; it was used in quantity at the Battle of Monda (or Munda) against Julius Caesar, 17th March 45 BC. The projectiles were made of different materials: lead (glandes) or in pottery or stone (lapides missiles). Sometimes they were signed with the name of the general, like our specimen.

CONDITION