The Funditores in the late Roman period

[Razor]

Were the Funditores/slingers still active in the late Roman empire. I know there's one unit of Funditores listed in the Notitia Dignitatum in the Eastern Empire part but were they still a unit used throughout the whole Roman Empire (yes that's the west as well)? I know Vegetius recommends using slingers during siegebattles but was it just a personal advice and a call to the army to use this older unit type or was it a tactical advice while the funditores were still very common during the late empire?

P.S. why can't I see my signiture? :?

[Robert Vermaat]

Maurikios also recommends that soldiers carry slings. However, I'm not so sure that units of slingers existed. The funditores of old seem to have enhances the pila, but fire power increased a lot since then. So slingers as a separate support uinit may no longer have been needed when archers, javelin-, plumbatae- and others small missile support existed.

You might need to activate your sig first.

[Jeroen Pelgrom]

Thijs,

for activating your signature:
- go to your profile,
- in the private profile home, select profile (next to home)
- select profile settings
- select posting
- set "Always attach my signature"to YES.
- select SUBMIT.

[Razor]

Thank you Jeroen.

[Razor]

ok. I realised I had read in an Osprey book that the Goths led by Fritigern were under fire of arrows and sling-stones. I even checked the original Latin texts from Ammianus Marcellinus, Liber XXXI:

3. quo malo praeter spem Gothi perculsi et concito quam considerato civium adsultu perterriti steterunt inmobiles, laceratique ad ultimum detestatione atque conviciis et temptati missilium iactibus raris ad defectionem erupere confessam, et caesis plurimis, quos impetus deceperat petulantior, aversisque residuis et telorum varietate confixis, habitu iam Romano cadaveribus spoliatis armati, viso propius Fritigerno iunxerunt semet ut morigeri socii urbemque clausam obsidionalibus aerumnis urgebant. in qua difficultate diutius positi, passim et promiscue ruebant, eminensque aliquorum audacia peribat inulta, multique sagittis et rotatis per fundas lapidibus interibant.

translation of bold texts: "...and many died because of arrows and the slinged stones, fired by the slingers."

source: http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/ammianus/31.shtml

That would suggest funditores were actually still in use...

[Robert Vermaat]

That would suggest funditores were actually still in use...

Not necessarily so. The text does not suggest that the slinger were men who only fired slings, they might have been infantrymen armed with slings. But sure, I can't exclude it either.

[Razor]

true, but in this case they surely acted as Funditores. I only wanted to know if slings were used in the late Roman period, not necessarily the unit itself specialised in slingers.

[Commilito]

skirmishing with slings has occured all throughout history.

However, you want to know if the late period empire supported seperate specalized units of slingers?

Probably not.
If they did, the units were almost certainly mercernary. There were no state standardized slinger units. Most of the support missle troops were archers anyways. In fact, Vegetius reccomended that 1/4-1/3 of all infantry be trained as archers.