Maniple ( Latin : manipulus ; lit. ' a handful [of soldiers] ' ) was a tactical unit of the Roman Republican armies, adopted during the Samnite Wars (343–290 BC). It was also the name of the military insignia carried by such units.
75-462: Triarii ( sg. : triarius ) (" the third liners ") were one of the elements of the early Roman military manipular legions of the early Roman Republic (509 BC – 107 BC). They were the oldest and among the wealthiest men in the army and could afford high quality equipment. They wore heavy metal armor and carried large shields, their usual position being the third battle line. They were equipped with spears and were considered to be elite soldiers among
150-573: A collection of about 80 sling-bullets from the siege of Perusia in Etruria from 41 BC, to be found in the museum of modern Perugia . Examples of symbols include a stylized lightning bolt, a snake, and a scorpion – reminders of how a sling might strike without warning. Writing might include the name of the owning military unit or commander or might be more imaginative: "Take this", "Ouch", "get pregnant with this" and even "For Pompey 's backside" added insult to injury, whereas dexai ('take this' or 'catch!')
225-466: A conquistador as saying that an Incan sling "could break a sword in two pieces" and "kill a horse". Some slings spanned as much as 2.2 meters (86 in) long and weighed an impressive 410 grams (14.4 oz). Unique amongst most Pacific Islanders, the Chamorro reached a terrific competency with a weapon as witness by 17th century Belgian missionary , Pedro Coomans: "Their offensive weapons include
300-491: A cradle that is long and thin and features a relatively long slit. Andean slings were constructed from contrasting colours of wool; complex braids and fine workmanship can result in beautiful patterns. Ceremonial slings were also made; these were large, non-functional and generally lacked a slit. To this day, ceremonial slings are used in parts of the Andes as accessories in dances and in mock battles. They are also used by llama herders;
375-496: A hard target. According to description of Procopius , the sling had an effective range further than a Hun bow and arrow. In his book Wars of Justinian , he recorded the felling of a Hun warrior by a slinger: Now one of the Huns who was fighting before the others was making more trouble for the Romans than all the rest. And some rustic made a good shot and hit him on the right knee with
450-429: A hole or slit that allows the material to wrap around the projectile slightly, thereby holding it more securely. At the end of one cord (called the retention cord) a finger-loop is formed. At the end of the other cord (the release cord), it is a common practice to form a knot or a tab. The release cord will be held between finger and thumb to be released at just the right moment, and may have a complex braid to add bulk to
525-421: A long range arcing trajectory, but ancient writers repeatedly stress the sling's advantage of range. The sling was light to carry and cheap to produce; ammunition in the form of stones was readily available and often to be found near the site of battle. The ranges the sling could achieve with moulded lead sling-bullets was surpassed only by the strong composite bow . Caches of sling ammunition have been found at
600-427: A maniple of rorarii and a maniple of accensi . The triarii stood in the third line of the legion, behind the front line of hastati and the second line of principes , and in front of the rorarii and accensi . In a pitched battle , the leves , javelin-armed skirmishers who were attached to maniples of hastati , would form up at the front of the legion and harass the enemy with javelin fire and cover
675-498: A mountain or an eminence, or to repulse an enemy at the attack of a castle or city. The sling is mentioned in the Bible , which provides what is believed to be the oldest textual reference to a sling in the Book of Judges , 20:16. This text was thought to have been written c. 6th century BC , but refers to events several centuries earlier. The Bible provides a famous slinger account,
750-490: A new system gradually came into being. Infantry were sorted into classes according to age and experience rather than wealth, the triarii being the most experienced. Their equipment and role was very similar to the previous system, except they now carried scuta , large rectangular shields that offered a greater degree of protection than the old round clipeus . The number of triarii were reduced to 600 per legion, forming 10 maniples of 60 men each. The triarii still made up
825-523: A number of shapes including an ellipsoidal form closely resembling an acorn; this could be the origin of the Latin word for a leaden sling-bullet: glandes plumbeae (literally 'leaden acorns') or simply glandes (meaning 'acorns', singular glans ). Other shapes include spherical and (by far the most common) biconical, which resembles the shape of the shell of an almond nut or a flattened American football . The ancients do not seem to have taken advantage of
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#1733085808005900-448: A sling, and he immediately fell headlong from his horse to the ground, which thing heartened the Romans still more. The simplest projectile was a stone, preferably well-rounded. Suitable ammunition is frequently from a river or a beach. The size of the projectiles can vary dramatically, from pebbles massing no more than 50 g (1.8 oz) to fist-sized stones massing 500 g (18 oz) or more. The use of such stones as projectiles
975-427: A sword, javelins, and a large, reinforced shield. For armor, they wore a helmet decorated with tall plumes designed to make its wearer appear larger, as well as a sheet of metal called a "heart plate" to protect the chest. Principes were equipped in the same manner as the hastati. Wealthier soldiers (of a property value greater than 10,000 drachmas) could afford a chain-mail cuirass. Finally, the triarii were equipped like
1050-518: A terrorizing barrage. Experiments with modern copies demonstrate they produce a whooshing sound in flight. The Bayeux Tapestry of the 1070s portrays the use of slings in a hunting context. Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor employed slingers during the Siege of Tortona in 1155 to suppress the garrison while his own men built siege engines . Indeed, slings seem to have been a fairly common weapon in Italy during
1125-572: A wealthy person's grave. The oldest-known surviving slings—radiocarbon dated to c. 2500 BC —were recovered from South American archaeological sites on the coast of Peru. The oldest-known surviving North American sling—radiocarbon dated to c. 1200 BC —was recovered from Lovelock Cave , Nevada. The oldest known extant slings from the Old World were found in the tomb of Tutankhamun , who died c. 1325 BC . A pair of finely plaited slings were found with other weapons. The sling
1200-417: Is called a slinger . A sling has a small cradle or pouch in the middle of two retention cords , where a projectile is placed. There is a loop on the end of one side of the retention cords. Depending on the design of the sling, either the middle finger or the wrist is placed through a loop on the end of one cord, and a tab at the end of the other cord is placed between the thumb and forefinger . The sling
1275-549: Is merely sarcastic. In Yavne , a sling bullet with the Greek inscription "Victory of Heracles and Hauronas" was discovered, the two gods were the patrons of the city during the Hellenistic period . Julius Caesar writes in De bello Gallico , book 5, about clay shot being heated before slinging, so that it might set fire to thatch. Some bullets have been found with holes drilled in them. It
1350-415: Is possible as well that the almond, non-circular shape made the bullet spin in flight in a helicopter or disc like effect adding to the flight distance. Almond-shaped leaden sling-bullets were typically 35 mm (1.4 in) long, 20 mm (0.79 in) wide, and weighs 28 g (0.99 oz). Very often, symbols or writings were moulded into lead sling-bullets. Many examples have been found including
1425-431: Is required. A length of about 61 to 100 cm (2.0 to 3.3 ft) is typical. At the centre of the sling, a cradle or pouch is constructed. This may be formed by making a wide braid from the same material as the cords or by inserting a piece of a different material such as leather . The cradle is typically diamond shaped (although some take the form of a net), and will fold around the projectile in use. Some cradles have
1500-403: Is softer and more comfortable. Polyester is often used for modern slings, because it does not rot or stretch and is soft and free of splinters. Braided cords are used in preference to twisted rope, as a braid resists twisting when stretched. This improves accuracy. The overall length of a sling can vary. A slinger may have slings of different lengths. A longer sling is used when greater range
1575-411: Is swung in an arc , and the tab released at a precise moment. This action releases the projectile to fly inertially and ballistically towards the target. By its double-pendulum kinetics , the sling enables stones (or spears) to be thrown much further than they could be by hand alone. The sling is inexpensive and easy to build. Historically it has been used for hunting game and in combat . Today
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#17330858080051650-417: Is then plaited away from the loop as a single cord up to the pocket. The pocket is then plaited, most simply as another pair of cords, or with flat braids or a woven net. The remainder of the sling, the released cord, is plaited as a single cord, and then finished with a knot or plaited tab. Ancient poets wrote that sling-bullets could penetrate armour, and that lead projectiles, heated by their passage through
1725-409: Is well attested in the ethnographic record. Possible projectiles were also purpose-made from clay ; this allowed a very high consistency of size and shape to aid range and accuracy. Many examples have been found in the archaeological record. The best ammunition was cast from lead . Leaden sling-bullets were widely used in the Greek and Roman world. For a given mass, lead, being very dense, offers
1800-468: The Bayeux Tapestry . The oldest representation of a slinger in art may be from Çatalhöyük , from c. 7,000 BC , though it is the only such depiction at the site, despite numerous depictions of archers. Many European, Middle Eastern, Asian, and African peoples were users of slings. Thucydides and others authors talk about its usage by Greeks and Romans , and Strabo also extends it to
1875-614: The Iberians , Lusitanians and even some Gauls (which Caesar describes further in his account of the siege of Bibrax ). He also mentions Persians and Arabs among those who used them. For his part, Diodorus includes Libyans and Phoenicians . Britons were frequent users of slings too. Livy mentions some of the most famous of ancient sling experts: the people of the Balearic Islands , who often worked as mercenaries . Of Balearic slingers Strabo writes: "And their training in
1950-520: The hastati . If the hastati failed to break the enemy, they would fall back on the principes , who along with the hastati, had been re-equipped with pila rather than spears. If the principes could not break the enemy they would retire behind the triarii , who would then engage the enemy. This order of battle was almost always followed, the Battle of the Great Plains and the Battle of Zama being among
2025-521: The velites could withdraw without disrupting those behind them. Where resistance was strong the hastati would dissolve back through the Roman line, allowing the more experienced soldiers in the principes to fight. In turn, the principes could then yield to the hardened triarii , if necessary. At this point in battle, the maniple greatly resembled the phalanx. Apart from allowing retreat, these gaps also proved invaluable against enemy phalanxes and provided
2100-479: The woomera has the same mechanical dynamics as the sling, transducing rotational movement into linear projection, although it is not known whether this was an independent invention or not. Whereas stones and clay objects thought by many archaeologists to be sling-bullets are common finds in the archaeological record, slings themselves are rare. This is both because a sling's materials are biodegradable and because slings were lower-status weapons, rarely preserved in
2175-732: The 11th and 12th centuries. Slings were also used by the Byzantines . On the Iberian Peninsula , the Spanish and Portuguese infantry favoured it against light and agile Moorish troops. The staff sling continued to be used in sieges and the sling was used as a part of large siege engines . The sling was known throughout the Americas. In ancient Andean civilizations such as the Inca Empire , slings were made from llama wool. These slings typically have
2250-479: The Etruscans and Latins of this period comprised Greek-style hoplite phalanxes, inherited from the original Greek phalanx military unit. After suffering a series of defeats, culminating in the surrender of the entire army without resistance at Caudine Forks , the Romans abandoned the phalanx altogether, adopting the more flexible manipular system, famously referred to as "a phalanx with joints". The manipular system
2325-411: The Romans with a major tactical advantage against their Greek foes. In order to maintain its wall of spears, the phalanx required rigid battle lines, which could not easily break into smaller units. Gaps in the maniples thus lured hoplites in and disrupted their formation, after which they became disorganized, surrounded, and easy prey for Roman swords. According to Polybius, the most complete and likely
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2400-509: The Romans. Once the surviving elephants had been routed, Scipio formed his men into a long line with his triarii and principes in the centre and hastati on the flanks, ready to engage the Carthaginian infantry. With the putative military reforms of Gaius Marius in 107 BC, implemented to combat a shortage of manpower due to wars against Jugurtha in Africa and Germanic tribes to the north,
2475-521: The advance of the hastati , spear -armed infantry. If the hastati failed to break the enemy, they would fall back and let the principes , heavier and more experienced infantry, take over. If the principes did not break them, they would retire behind the triarii , who would then engage the enemy in turn—hence the expression rem ad Triarios redisse , "it has come to the triarii "—signaling an act of desperation. The equites , cavalrymen, were used as flankers and to pursue routing enemies. The rorarii ,
2550-446: The air, would melt in flight. In the first instance, it seems likely that the authors were indicating that slings could cause injury through armour by a percussive effect ( i.e. , the energy of a sling-bullet delivered at high velocity causing blunt trauma injury upon impact) rather than by penetration. In the latter case, it has been proposed that they were impressed by the degree of deformation suffered by lead sling-bullet after hitting
2625-550: The animals will move away from the sound of a stone landing. The stones are not slung to hit the animals, but to persuade them to move in the desired direction. The sling was also used in the Americas for hunting and warfare. One notable use was in Incan resistance against the conquistadors . These slings were apparently very powerful; in 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus , author Charles C. Mann quoted
2700-408: The back. One theory proposed by J. E. Lendon asserts that this order was adapted to the Roman culture of bravery, allowing an initial show of individual heroics among the younger soldiers. At the front of the legion organized into maniples, the velites formed a swarm of soldiers which engaged the enemy at the start of the battle. Their duties involved skirmishing, and they often worked closely with
2775-549: The battle between David and Goliath from the First Book of Samuel 17:34–36, probably written in the 7th or 6th century BC, describing events that might have occurred c. 10th century BC . The sling, easily produced, was the weapon of choice for shepherds fending off animals. Due to this, the sling was a commonly used weapon by the Israelite militia. Goliath was a tall, well equipped and experienced warrior. In this account,
2850-471: The cavalry. Next, the hastati were the youngest and least experienced soldiers, and therefore fought on the front-lines. They formed the first line of heavy infantry. The principes were more experienced soldiers who stood behind the hastati in battle. Finally, the triarii were the veteran soldiers with the most experience. The second and third echelon generally formed with a one maniple space between each maniple and its neighbours. Retreating troops of
2925-440: The construction is clear: it is made of bast fibre (almost certainly flax ) twine; the cords are braided in a 10-strand elliptical sennit and the cradle seems to have been woven from the same lengths of twine used to form the cords. Representations of slingers can be found on artifacts from all over the ancient world, including Assyrian and Egyptian reliefs, the columns of Trajan and Marcus Aurelius , on coins, and on
3000-552: The different classes of units were scrapped entirely. Auxiliaries , local irregular troops, would fulfill other roles, serving as archers , skirmishers and cavalry . Sallust, in his Jugurthine War , describes several instances in which Roman or allied regular heavy infantry were equipped with light equipment and used as light footsoldiers. This was supposedly a common practice. Maniple (military unit) Maniple members, called commanipulares ( sg. : commanipularis ) were seen as each other's brothers-in-arms, but without
3075-518: The distance of their opponents. The weapons were made of vegetable fibre and animal sinew, launching either stones or lead missiles with devastating impact. Xenophon in his history of the retreat of the Ten Thousand , 401 BC, relates that the Greeks suffered severely from the slingers in the army of Artaxerxes II of Persia , while they themselves had neither cavalry nor slingers, and were unable to reach
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3150-512: The domestic closeness of the eight-man contubernium . Cohorts replaced maniples as organisational units. The manipular system was adopted around 315 BC, during the Second Samnite War . The rugged terrain of Samnium , where the war was fought, was not conducive to the phalanx formation which the Romans had inherited from the Etruscans and Ancient Greeks . The main battle troops of
3225-418: The end. This makes the knot easier to hold, and the extra weight allows the loose end of a discharged sling to be recovered with a flick of the wrist. Braided construction resists stretching, and therefore produces an accurate sling. Modern slings are begun by plaiting the cord for the finger loop in the centre of a double-length set of cords. The cords are then folded to form the finger-loop. The retained cord
3300-515: The enemy with their arrows and javelins. This deficiency was rectified when a company of 200 Rhodians , who understood the use of leaden sling-bullets, was formed. They were able, says Xenophon , to project their missiles twice as far as the Persian slingers, who used large stones. Various Greeks enjoyed a reputation for skill with the sling. Thucydides mentions the Acarnanians and Livy refers to
3375-493: The few notable exceptions. At the Great Plains, Scipio , the Roman general, formed his men up in the usual manner, but once the hastati had begun to engage the enemy, he used his principes and triarii as a flanking force, routing the opposing Carthaginians. At Zama, Scipio arranged his men into columns, side-by-side, with large lanes in between. The opposing Carthaginian elephants were drawn into these lanes where many were killed by velites without inflicting many casualties on
3450-462: The field of exercise, will be found easy in execution on actual service. Sling (weapon) A sling is a projectile weapon typically used to hand-throw a blunt projectile such as a stone, clay, or lead " sling-bullet ". It is also known as the shepherd's sling or slingshot (in British English , although elsewhere it means something else ). Someone who specializes in using slings
3525-550: The front of a very large phalanx formation . After a time, engagements with the Samnites and Gauls appear to have taught the Romans the importance of flexibility and the inadequacy of the phalanx on the rough, hilly ground of central Italy. By the 4th century BC, the military formations the Romans had inherited from the Etruscans were still in use. Though their efficiency was doubtful, they proved effective against Rome's largely local adversaries. When Gauls invaded Etruria in 390 BC,
3600-458: The hand and sling. The inhabitants of the Balearic Islands are said to have been the inventors of slings, and to have managed them with surprising dexterity, owing to the manner of bringing up their children. The children were not allowed to have their food by their mothers till they had first struck it with their sling. Soldiers, notwithstanding their defensive armour, are often more annoyed by
3675-453: The inhabitants of three Greek cities on the northern coast of the Peloponnesus as expert slingers. Greek armies would also use mounted slingers (ἀκροβολισταί). Roman skirmishers armed with slings and javelins were established by Servius Tullius . The late Roman writer Vegetius , in his work De Re Militari , wrote: Recruits are to be taught the art of throwing stones both with
3750-507: The inhabitants requested help from Rome. The small contingent Rome sent to repel the Gallic invaders provoked a full-scale attack on Rome and the entire Roman army was destroyed at the Battle of the Allia . This crushing defeat prompted a series of military reforms by Marcus Furius Camillus . Under the new system , men were sorted into classes according to wealth, the triarii being the richest after
3825-449: The legion. During the Camillan era , they fought in a shallow phalanx formation, supported by light troops. In most battles triarii were not used because the lighter troops usually defeated the enemy before the triarii were committed to the battle. They were meant to be used as a decisive force in the battle, thus prompting an old Roman saying: res ad triarios venit , 'it comes down to
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#17330858080053900-421: The manufacturing process to produce consistent results; leaden sling-bullets vary significantly. The reason why the almond shape was favoured is not clear: it is possible that there is some aerodynamic advantage, but it seems equally likely that there is some more prosaic reason, such as the shape being easy to extract from a mould, or the fact that it will rest in a sling cradle with little danger of rolling out. It
3975-468: The minimum size and therefore minimum air resistance. In addition, leaden sling-bullets are small and difficult to see in flight; their concentrated impact is also a better armour-piercer and better able to penetrate a body. In some cases, the lead would be cast in a simple open mould made by pushing a finger or thumb into sand and pouring molten metal into the hole. However, sling-bullets were more frequently cast in two-part moulds. Such sling-bullets come in
4050-458: The most accurate account, the legion consisted of 10 maniples of 120 hastati , 10 maniples of 120 principes , and 10 half strength maniples of triarii containing 60 men each. With 1,200 velites and 300 cavalrymen a legion numbered 4,500 men. However, in times of great need the number might be reinforced up to 5,000. The echelons differed not only in their roles, but also in their equipment. Polybius describes their panoply in detail. First,
4125-418: The mounted equites . Triarii were armed with spears, or hastae , about 2 metres (6½ feet) long. They also carried swords , or gladii , about 84 centimetres (29 inches) long, in case the spear broke or the enemy drew too close. They fought as hoplites, usually carrying clipei , large round Greek shields, and wearing bronze helmets , often with a number of feathers fixed onto
4200-422: The next place, they are to double again and form four deep . And then the triangle or, as it is commonly called, the wedge , a disposition found very serviceable in action. They must be taught to form the circle or orb ; for well-disciplined troops, after being broken by the enemy, have thrown themselves into this position and have thereby prevented the total rout of the army. These evolutions, often practised in
4275-428: The number of citizens eligible for military service. No part of drill is more essential in action than for soldiers to keep their ranks with the greatest exactness, without opening or closing too much. Troops too much crowded can never fight as they ought, and only embarrass one another. If their order is too open and loose, they give the enemy an opportunity of penetrating. Whenever this happens and they are attacked in
4350-480: The other infantry, with the exception of a thrusting spear in place of javelins. This equipment was generally lighter and cheaper than that of the Servian hoplites that preceded the maniple. It emphasized the flexibility of the maniple system and allowed for lightly armored, highly mobile soldiers. Moreover, because purchasing the equipment was the responsibility of the individual soldier, its affordability helped increase
4425-444: The other, would allow a large number of men to create a hailstorm of stone. Consistent with this, it has been noted that defences are generally narrow where the natural slope is steep, and wider where the slope is more gradual. A classic sling is braided from non-elastic material. The traditional materials are flax , hemp or wool . Slings by Balearic islanders were said to be made from a rush . Flax and hemp resist rotting, but wool
4500-464: The poorer reserve soldiers, and accensi , the least dependable troops armed with slings , would be used in a support role, providing mass and supporting wavering areas of the line. By the time of the Second Punic War of the late 3rd century BC, this system had proved inefficient against enemies such as Carthage . After a series of more "organic" changes as opposed to a single intentional reform,
4575-410: The rear, universal disorder and confusion are inevitable. Recruits should therefore be constantly in the field, drawn up by the roll and formed at first into a single rank . They should learn to dress in a straight line and to keep an equal and just distance between man and man. They must then be ordered to double the rank , which they must perform very quickly, and instantly cover their file leaders. In
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#17330858080054650-489: The round stones from the sling than by all the arrows of the enemy. Stones kill without mangling the body, and the contusion is mortal without loss of blood. It is universally known the ancients employed slingers in all their engagements. There is the greater reason for instructing all troops, without exception, in this exercise, as the sling cannot be reckoned any encumbrance, and often is of the greatest service, especially when they are obliged to engage in stony places, to defend
4725-515: The shepherd David persuades Saul to let him fight Goliath on behalf of the Israelites. Unarmoured and equipped only with a sling, five smooth rocks, and his staff, David defeats the champion Goliath with a well-aimed shot to the head. Use of the sling is also mentioned in Second Kings 3:25, First Chronicles 12:2, and Second Chronicles 26:14 to further illustrate Israelite use. Ancient peoples used
4800-404: The sites of Iron Age hill forts of Europe ; some 22,000 sling stones were found at Maiden Castle, Dorset . It is proposed that Iron Age hill forts of Europe were designed to maximize the effective defence by slingers. The hilltop location of the wooden forts would have given the defending slingers the advantage of range over the attackers, and multiple concentric ramparts , each higher than
4875-402: The sling in combat—armies included both specialist slingers and regular soldiers equipped with slings. As a weapon , the sling had several advantages; a sling bullet lobbed in a high trajectory can achieve ranges in excess of 400 m (1,300 ft). Modern authorities vary widely in their estimates of the effective range of ancient weapons. A bow and arrow could also have been used to produce
4950-523: The sling is of interest as a wilderness survival tool and an improvised weapon . The sling is an ancient weapon known to Neolithic peoples around the Mediterranean , but is likely to be much older. It is possible that the sling was invented during the Upper Palaeolithic at a time when new technologies such as the spear-thrower and the bow and arrow were beginning to emerge. In Australia ,
5025-440: The sling, which they aim very skillfully at the head. Out of small ropes they weave a sort of net-bag, in which to carry stones with an oblong shape, some formed out of a marble stone, and others of clay, hardened in either the sun or fire. They whirl and shoot those so violently. Should it make an impact upon a more delicate part, like the heart, or the head, the man is flattened on the spot. Then, if envy would make them want to burn
5100-407: The third line in the legion, behind the front line of hastati and the second line of principes , but the rorarii and accensi were phased out. Leves had been replaced with velites , who had a similar role but were also attached to principes and triarii . Pitched battles were conducted in a similar fashion: the velites would gather at the front and fling javelins to cover the advance of
5175-404: The top to increase stature. Heavy plate armour was favoured, with mail also being popular. Many would paint or engrave portraits of ancestors onto their shield, believing that it would bring them luck in battle. In this new type of unit, the 900 triarii formed 15 maniples , military units of 60 men each, which were in turn part of 15 ordines , larger units made up of a maniple of triarii ,
5250-463: The triarii', which meant carrying on to the bitter end. According to author Pat Southern , triarii may have evolved from the old first class of the army under the Etruscan kings . The first class comprised the richest soldiers in the legion who were equipped with spears, breastplates and large shields, like heavy Greek hoplites . They served as heavy infantry in the early Roman army, and were used at
5325-482: The use of slings used to be such, from childhood up, that they would not so much as give bread to their children unless they first hit it with the sling." The sling is mentioned as early as in the writings of Homer , where several characters kill enemies by hurling stones at them. Balearic slingers were amongst the specialist mercenaries extensively employed by Carthage against the Romans and other enemies. These light troops used three sizes of sling, according to
5400-425: The velites were armed with a sword, javelins, and a small shield called a parma. They wore no armor, apart from a helmet, which was often covered in animal skins. Polybius asserts that these skins not only protected the helmet, but also served as a means of identification, such that soldiers could be remembered and later rewarded for acts of bravery. Next, the hastati were armed in "full panoply." Their armament included
5475-399: Was faded from ancient sources and was replaced by the cohort unit. Polybius first described the maniple in the mid- 2nd century BC . The manipular legion was organized into four lines, starting at the front: the velites ; the hastati ; the principes ; and the triarii . These were divided by experience, with the younger soldiers at the front lines and the older soldiers near
5550-565: Was probably intended for the departed pharaoh to use for hunting game . Another Egyptian sling was excavated in El-Lahun in Al Fayyum Egypt in 1914 by William Matthew Flinders Petrie , and is now in the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology —Petrie dated it to c. 800 BC . It was found alongside an iron spearhead. The remains are broken into three sections. Although fragile,
5625-518: Was thought the holes were to contain poison. John Reid of the Trimontium Trust, finding holed Roman bullets excavated at the Burnswark hillfort , has proposed that the holes would cause the bullets to "whistle" in flight and the sound would intimidate opponents. The holed bullets were generally small and thus not particularly dangerous. Several could fit into a pouch and a single slinger could produce
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