Details

LOT 0729

Roman Lead Cnaeus Pompey Battle of Munda Sling Shot

1ST CENTURY B.C.

1 3/4 in. (80.6 grams, 46 mm).

A facetted lentoid-section sling shot (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

From an old London, UK, collection since 1985.
This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.

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, that with the name of Pompey inscribed 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 could be of different material: in lead (glandes) or in pottery or stone (lapides missiles). Sometimes they were signed with the name of the general, as is our specimen.