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Author Topic: Early Imperial Roman slingers  (Read 1363 times)

Offline dadlamassu

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Early Imperial Roman slingers
« on: November 04, 2019, 04:10:04 PM »
I was looking through the Warlord Games site while the sale was on and saw a pack of Roman Legionary slingers.  I have never heard of these troops and wonder how comm they were if at all.  There is, of course. no reason why a Legionary might be not skillful with a sling, or bow or any other missile weapon depending upon his upbringing and personal hunting preferences. 

The reason for asking is that I have a frame of the plastic legionaries that came "free" with a magazine and I have several hands with slings from some Dark Age figures.  So I am considering adding a unit but would like to know how "historical" they might be. 

Anyone know or have an educated guess?

'He could have lived a risk-free, moneyed life, but he preferred to whittle away his fortune on warfare.'
-- Xenophon, The Anabasis

Offline WuZhuiQiu

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Re: Early Imperial Roman slingers
« Reply #1 on: November 04, 2019, 05:00:19 PM »
I don't have any references handy, but my guess is that they were legionaries who also had some skill in using slings, and who were sometimes detailed from their cohorts to do so, perhaps when defending in sieges, much as Caesar's legionaries sometimes used "siege poles" (pikes?).

Offline dadlamassu

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Re: Early Imperial Roman slingers
« Reply #2 on: November 04, 2019, 05:29:13 PM »
That was my thinking.  I suppose they would be useful defending or attacking walls, palisades, barricades etc.  Especially if the Legionaries had used them before joining up.  Slings were used by the common folk for hunting and probably by children in games. 

Andrew_McGuire

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Re: Early Imperial Roman slingers
« Reply #3 on: November 06, 2019, 05:56:59 PM »
I wonder if they got a bonus for the additional proficiency. It would have looked good on their CV, anyway - "able to cast sling shot accurately up to 500 paces while wearing lorica segmentata and carrying scutum and pila, 1000 paces if unencumbered. Verified kills of 10 + German berserkers, two Parthian cataphracti, and a share in an elephant. Horse archers no problem."

Offline Ethelred the Almost Ready

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Re: Early Imperial Roman slingers
« Reply #4 on: November 06, 2019, 07:01:17 PM »
I also have no reference to hand (in a cafe before work) but I remember reading somewhere that a proportion of legionaries were skilled in using slings.  Whether this was through official training or just an ad hoc thing I do not know.

Offline Ethelred the Almost Ready

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Re: Early Imperial Roman slingers
« Reply #5 on: November 06, 2019, 07:03:44 PM »

Offline dadlamassu

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Re: Early Imperial Roman slingers
« Reply #6 on: November 06, 2019, 08:20:18 PM »
The academic paper linked in the thread is interesting, thanks. 

Offline Maddoc

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Re: Early Imperial Roman slingers
« Reply #7 on: November 07, 2019, 12:45:46 PM »
I recall reading about the practice from some sources (which probably quoted each other, lol) where Legionaries (and Auxiliaries) could utilise slings or bows if needed - if wielding either though, they wouldn't be carrying their shield at the same time. Pretty sure holding up that shield and those pila make it a LOT harder to use a sling properly!!

Offline dadlamassu

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Re: Early Imperial Roman slingers
« Reply #8 on: November 07, 2019, 05:07:59 PM »
Would not surprise me at all that a fair proportion of soldiers (most types and periods) were proficient with period hunting weapons - bows, slings, shotguns etc.  I know that in the unit that I served in we had several people who were proficient with hunting small bore and air-rifles, a couple were crackshots with a catapult, a few had their own shotguns, several archers, anglers and so on. The lads with the catapults quite often topped up the compo with rabbits. 

I have also read that Dark Age warriors and the wealthier Greeks (hoplites) though not using missile weapons for war used bows and slings for hunting. 

I would also consider it likely that Legionaries proficient with slings would be deployed (probably without shields and Pila) to deal with hostile slingers.  Then as the lines closed they would pass back through the ranks and pick up shields and pila from behind their Century/Cohort forming a rear rank.  I have no evidence for this but just consider it likely.

For wargame purposes I need to decide on whether to equip my Legionary Slingers with shields or not

Offline Ethelred the Almost Ready

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Re: Early Imperial Roman slingers
« Reply #9 on: November 08, 2019, 04:48:39 AM »
Dadlamassu,
that certainly seems reasonable.  The Ten Thousand were able to find men proficient with bows and slings.  I don't see why Romans should be any different.

Offline WuZhuiQiu

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Re: Early Imperial Roman slingers
« Reply #10 on: November 11, 2019, 03:30:27 PM »
Other cultures' slingers are thought to have been able to use shields, so I don't see why the legionary slingers could not have done so. And any limited mobility owing to carrying scuta may not have been much of an issue if they kept close to their formed-up units.