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LOT 1525
Roman Lead Slingshot of Quintus Sertorius
CIRCA 82-72 B.C.
1 1/2 in. (59.6 grams, 37 mm).
Lentoid in form with raised legend to reverse 'Q.SERT / PRO C'; casting seam and flange. [No Reserve]
ProvenanceAcquired on the UK art market, early 2000s.
Property of a London, UK, antiquarian.
Cf. Welch, K., Magnus Pius, Sextus Pompeius and the Transformation of the Roman Republic, 2012, fig.16, no.23 and p.113, for glandes of Sertorius with a similar inscription.
FootnotesThe inscription may refer to Quintus Sertorius, the Roman statesman and general (123-72 BC). In late 82 BC, Sertorius, linked to the party of populares of Gaius Marius, was proscribed by Sulla and forced from his province in Hispania. However, he soon returned in early 80 BC, representing himself as a Roman proconsul resisting the Sullan regime at Rome. Being Proconsul in this Hispania from 82 to 73 B.C., the slingshots of his army were bearing the inscription 'Q.SERT / PRO C' (Quintus Sertorius Proconsul).
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