Salvete! As a student of classical archaeology I have this spring stumbled across some Roman sling-bullets and I have yet not been able to find answers to some questions, that keep me puzzled. So if any of you wiser men and women could help me, I would be much obliged.
I) Do you know why would a leaden sling-bullet have a inscription that is like mirror-writing, a negative, but still a relief? Could it be a some kind of model or a simple fault by the cast-maker?
II) If any of you know good literature about Roman slingers or the inscriptions wrote on sling-bullets, please tell me.
Thanks!
It cant be a model since that it is in negative, it would give positive on the mould. By the way mould for small lead objects was ussualy made of stone. It looks like fault made by cast-maker, same as numerous mistakes made by brick stamps.
Inscribed sling bullets from Perusia: C. Zangemeister, Ephemeris Epigraphica VI (1885), 52-78; ILLRP 1106-1118; J. P. Hallett, ‘Perusinae Glandes and the Changing Image of Augustus,’ American Journal of Ancient History 2 (1977), 151-171.
Compare the earlier inscribed glandes from the siege of Ausculum Picenum with such legends as ‘Hit Pompeius!’ Zangemeister ibid., 5-47.
Cheers,
Ross
Hi,
for Roman slingers:
Griffiths, W. B.: The Sling and its Place in the Roman Imperial Army, in: Driel-Murray, C van, Roman Military Equipment: The Sources of Evidence, BAR International Series 476, Oxford, 1989, p. 255-279.
Greetings
Alexandr
Quote:Hi,
for Roman slingers:
Griffiths, W. B.: The Sling and its Place in the Roman Imperial Army, in: Driel-Murray, C van, Roman Military Equipment: The Sources of Evidence, BAR International Series 476, Oxford, 1989, p. 255-279.
Greetings
Alexandr
Where can I find a copy of this?
Or perhaps someone had the idea it would nasty twist for the imprint left by the sling bullet in its victim to be clearly readable,? :roll:
Quote:Or perhaps someone had the idea it would nasty twist for the imprint left by the sling bullet in its victim to be clearly readable,? :roll:
Good point. I always told that some things could be seen from different angle.
As a master of pointing out the obvious, suppose the person making the scratch marks in the mold were not dreadfully literate, he might not realize that scratching
QVI SVM
in the mold cavity would read backwards when the shot were cast. Scribing something in the mold would automatically give a relief on the casting (or in the world of making solid things, the difference between a positive and negative impression) But come to think of it, I'd have a very negative impression of being hit with a hundred gram chunk of lead falling at a high rate of speed, so -- :?:
David I missed your point. :?:
Well, I can tell you that hunks of lead from slingshots do smart a wee bit!
hock: :evil:
Yeah that would be another possibility, David!
I thought this article is interesting:
Bosman, A., "Pouring Lead in the Pouring Rain: making lead slingshot under battle conditions" in JRMES, Vol 6 p99-103
Some sling shot were found that were made by someone poking their finger into the wet sand and using the cavity as a mold. The resulting shot looked like little fingers!
Quote:David I missed your point.
The point, if there really was one, was that scribing letters like Latin for "Here I am" (q.v. in previous post) would come out backwards in the casting if it were written correctly in the mold, and vice versa. Since many people probably wouldn't know that, or wouldn't bother to write it backwards so it would read right in the casting --
It gets messier the more I try to explain. Help me somebody.
Hmmmmmm, think of an ambulance in your rear view mirror!
Clear as mud? :lol: :lol:
Quote:Hmmmmmm, think of an ambulance in your rear view mirror!
Egad! I'm injured and didn't even know it! Thanks, G. Marcus!
Quote:It gets messier the more I try to explain. Help me somebody.
I get your point completely.
Or:
.yletelpmoc tniop ruoy teg I
