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Home ▸ Catalog ▸ |Antiquities| ▸ |Antiquities by Type| ▸ |Weapons & Tools| ▸ |Lead Glandes Sling Bullets||View Options:  |  |  | 

Lead Glandes Sling Bullets

According to the contemporary report of Vegatius, Republican slingers had an accurate range of up to six hundred feet. The best sling ammunition was cast from lead. For a given mass, lead, being very dense, offered the minimum size and therefore minimum air resistance. Also, lead sling-bullets were small and difficult to see in flight. In some cases, the lead would be cast in a simple open mold made by pushing a finger, thumb, or sharpened stick into sand and pouring molten metal into the hole. The flat top end could later be carved to a matching shape. More frequently, they were cast in two-part molds. Sling-bullets were made in a variety of shapes including an ellipsoidal form closely resembling an acorn; possibly the origin of the Latin word for lead sling-bullet: glandes plumbeae (literally leaden acorns) or simply glandes (meaning acorns, singular glans). The most common shape by far was biconical, resembling the shape of an almond or an American football. Why the almond shape was favored is unknown. Possibly there was some aerodynamic advantage, but it seems equally likely that there was a more prosaic reason, such as the shape being easy to extract from a mold, or that it will rest in a sling cradle with little danger of rolling out. Almond-shaped lead sling-bullets were typically about 35 millimeters (1.4 in) long and about 20 millimeters (0.8 in) wide. Sometimes symbols or writings were molded on the side. A thunderbolt, a snake, a scorpion, or others symbols indicating how it might strike without warning were popular. Writing might include the name of the military unit or commander, or was sometimes more imaginative, such as, "Take this," "Ouch," "Catch," or even "For Pompey's backside."

Hellenistic - Roman, Holy Land, Lead Glans Sling-Bullet, 2nd Century B.C. - 1st Century A.D.

|Lead| |Glandes| |Sling| |Bullets|, |Hellenistic| |-| |Roman,| |Holy| |Land,| |Lead| |Glans| |Sling-Bullet,| |2nd| |Century| |B.C.| |-| |1st| |Century| |A.D.|
According to the contemporary report of Vegatius, Republican slingers had an accurate range of up to six hundred feet. The best sling ammunition was cast from lead. For a given mass, lead, being very dense, offered the minimum size and therefore minimum air resistance. Also, lead sling-bullets were small and difficult to see in flight. In some cases, the lead would be cast in a simple open mold made by pushing a finger, thumb, or sharpened stick into sand and pouring molten metal into the hole. The flat top end could later be carved to a matching shape. More frequently, they were cast in two-part molds. Sling-bullets were made in a variety of shapes including an ellipsoidal form closely resembling an acorn; possibly the origin of the Latin word for lead sling-bullet: glandes plumbeae (literally leaden acorns) or simply glandes (meaning acorns, singular glans). The most common shape by far was biconical, resembling the shape of an almond or an American football. Why the almond shape was favored is unknown. Possibly there was some aerodynamic advantage, but it seems equally likely that there was a more prosaic reason, such as the shape being easy to extract from a mold, or that it will rest in a sling cradle with little danger of rolling out. Almond-shaped lead sling-bullets were typically about 35 millimeters (1.4 in) long and about 20 millimeters (0.8 in) wide. Sometimes symbols or writings were molded on the side. A thunderbolt, a snake, a scorpion, or others symbols indicating how it might strike without warning were popular. Writing might include the name of the military unit or commander, or was sometimes more imaginative, such as, "Take this," "Ouch," "Catch," or even "For Pompey's backside."
AS111512. Lead glans sling-bullet; cf. Petrie Tools pl. XLIV, 17; Tushingham fig. 70, 34; Reich-Shukron p. 461, 18, Choice, one end flattened from impact, attractive patina; 33.489g, 30.9mm long, almond shaped, ornamented with winged fulmen (thunderbolt) on both sides, cast in a two part mold (workshop made); ex David Hendin with his Photo Authenticity Receipt (2015); SOLD


Lot of 12 Roman Republic Lead Glans Sling-Bullets, 1st Century B.C.

|Lead| |Glandes| |Sling| |Bullets|, |Lot| |of| |12| |Roman| |Republic| |Lead| |Glans| |Sling-Bullets,| |1st| |Century| |B.C.|
According to the contemporary report of Vegatius, Republican slingers had an accurate range of up to six hundred feet. The best sling ammunition was cast from lead. For a given mass, lead, being very dense, offered the minimum size and therefore minimum air resistance. Also, lead sling-bullets were small and difficult to see in flight. In some cases, the lead would be cast in a simple open mold made by pushing a finger, thumb, or sharpened stick into sand and pouring molten metal into the hole. The flat top end could later be carved to a matching shape. More frequently, they were cast in two-part molds. Sling-bullets were made in a variety of shapes including an ellipsoidal form closely resembling an acorn; possibly the origin of the Latin word for lead sling-bullet: glandes plumbeae (literally leaden acorns) or simply glandes (meaning acorns, singular glans). The most common shape by far was biconical, resembling the shape of an almond or an American football. Why the almond shape was favored is unknown. Possibly there was some aerodynamic advantage, but it seems equally likely that there was a more prosaic reason, such as the shape being easy to extract from a mold, or that it will rest in a sling cradle with little danger of rolling out. Almond-shaped lead sling-bullets were typically about 35 millimeters (1.4 in) long and about 20 millimeters (0.8 in) wide.
LT96131. Lot of 12 large almond shape lead sling bullets; cf. Malloy Weapons 138 - 146; Petrie Tools XLIV 15 - 23, c. 50g, 33 - 44mm long, workshop made, cast in a two part mold, found in Spain, the actual sling bullets in the photo; SOLD







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REFERENCES

Malloy, A. Ancient and Medieval Art and Antiquities XXIV: Weapons. (South Salem, NY, 1993).
Petrie, F. Tools and Weapons. (London, 1917).
Tushingham, A Excavations in Jerusalem, 1961-67 Vol. I. (Toronto, 1985).

Catalog current as of Tuesday, March 19, 2024.
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