Ancient artillery

Ingeneous and effective artillery were produced in the ancient world.
The Sling
Slings are not really an artillery unit, but are used in many artillery units. A brief history: Slings were known to the Mediterranean Neolithic people, but are more likely to be much older than that. Incan slings made from llama hair could allegedly break a sword or kill a horse. Later, the Incas used slings against the Spanish conquistadors. Artaxerxes II of Persia used slings against the Greeks in 401 BC in the battle of Cunaxa, but the Greeks could not hit the Persians with their arrows or javelins because the Persians were out of range. Later, the Greeks made their own company of sling-men from the Greek colony of Rhodes. Julius Caesar wrote about sling ammunition being heated before battle to set fire to buildings. In the Middle Ages, sling technology was becoming outdated, and only used as a part of siege engines. The slings were commonly used at hilltop locations, and archeologists have found many sling bullets in European Iron Age forts.
Another type of sling was the staff/stave sling. The staff/stave sling is a rod with a pouch on it designed to fling much heavier objects than a traditional sling would. Slings were commonly made from a 50-100 cm string made of flax, hemp, or wool with a leather pouch for the ammunition.
Slings were very efficient; they could reach 400 meters, that’s farther than a longbow. Slings were also efficient because of cheap ammunition, anything from a stone (like in the bible), to molded lead or clay. Molded lead and clay ammunition were often shaped like large almonds.
The Slingshot
The slingshot was not used in combat very often, but they were like the first siege weapons. The slingshots were small, handheld weapons, but could very well be made larger into a large weapon.
Slingshots were used by guerrilla groups, because they were cheap and easy to build. Using a slingshot was very basic, and the worst thing that could happen was a back fire. In Egypt, slingshots were used by light skirmishers in the ancient Egyptian army, to distract the enemy. Slingshots were also used in battles fought by the New Kingdom Egyptian navy. The navy battles would consist of marines on boats hitting their enemies at close range with slingshots. Alexander the Great used sling men, alongside javelin throwers.
Slingshots used sling bullets (see above) so ammunition was cheap, and could just be a pebble found on the ground. Note that slingshots are sold for commercial use too.

Main Menu

See Also

Main Menu