THE IMPACT OF THE CRETAN LANDSCAPE ON THE RISE OF THE LIGHT INFANTRY

While Cretans became almost synonymous with archery in the broader literature, it now seems that they were also adept with the sling and, although not as famous as the Rhodians and the Balearic islanders in this field, they may still be cited alongside them in the ancient sources. A reference to the Cretan slinger may feature in Livy, who possibly points to their presence alongside Cretan archers (Cretenses sagittarios funditoresque et iaculatores – Livy, History of Rome 37.41.9 and 11). There is also a possible reference to slingers from Crete in Thucydides' account of the events of 415 bc when Nikias advises the Athenians to include Cretan archers, and slingmen, for the expedition to Syracuse (… καὶ τοξοτῶν τῶν αὐτόθεν καὶ ἐκ Κρήτης καὶ σφενδονητῶν … Thucydides 6.25.2) – admittedly 700 Rhodian slingers were subsequently deployed, which serves to undermine an absolute Cretan affiliation.

Polybius observes that the Cretans ‘both by land and sea are irresistible in ambuscades, forays, tricks played on the enemy, night attacks, and all petty operations which require fraud, but they are cowardly and down-hearted in the massed face-to-face charge of an open battle’ (Polybius, Histories 4.8.11, translation by W.R. Paton, Loeb 1954). While these comments serve to expose Polybius' jaundiced opinion of the Cretans, they also act as an unintentional nod to the adeptness of the Cretan light infantry. Certainly, unorthodox military tactics were praised elsewhere and Josephus, in his review of an ambush of Roman forces during the Jewish War, even recommended irregular enterprising tactics, noting that they can unhinge the most highly trained and disciplined battalions who adhere to orders and procedure (Josephus, The Jewish War 5.71–9).

It can also be argued that civic armies in Late Classical and Hellenistic Crete mainly consisted of a light-armed infantry by virtue of the terrain alone. That fighting styles could be influenced by terrain is noted in Plato's Laws (625d) where the Cretan, Kleinias, explains that, due to the rugged nature of the terrain of the island – a geographical determinant which is immediately evident in the island's mountainous interior (Fig. 1) – the Cretans developed a preference for archers and light-armed soldiers over cavalry and hoplites (cited in Vertoudakis Reference Vertoudakis2000, 27; Baldwin Clark Reference Baldwin Clark2004, 5–6; Morrow Reference Morrow1960).Footnote ⁶ Onorio Belli, writing of Lyttos c.1596, observed that the hill ridge had a small amount of level space and altogether the worst topography of any site he had ever seen (cited in The Builder, 7 December 1901, 499). The rugged nature of much of the Cretan landscape is graphically portrayed in Rackham and Moody's 1996 study, which presents a topography over which only goats, their herders, and light-armed infantrymen might traverse with any degree of agility. The direct impact of terrain on military approaches was not specific to Crete and is implicit in Mardonius' claims, just prior to the Persian invasion, that the Greeks sought out smooth, level ground once warfare was declared (Herodotus 7.9; for further implications of terrain for military strategy see Hanson Reference Hanson1991, 5; 1998, 86–7 and 97). The lack of flat terrain on Crete (beyond the Omalos and Lasithi plateaux) would certainly preclude the orderly formation associated with hoplite warfare.

Fig. 1.

Aerial view of the acropoleis of Praisos in Eastern Crete (courtesy of J.W. Myers, E.E. Myers and G. Cadogan, and University of California Press; Myers, Myers and Cadogan Reference Myers, Myers and Cadogan1992, 258, fig. 37.2).

DISTRIBUTIONS OF SLINGSHOT DISCOVERIES ON CRETE

Cretan slingshots have never been addressed as a group and only appear decontextualised in museum catalogues and sporadically in excavation reports. On Crete, inscribed lead sling bullets have been reported from Knossos, Gortyna, Lato (although issued by Gortyna), Aptera, Prinias Patela (possibly ancient Rhizenia – the slingshot was again issued by Gortyna), Rethymnon (ancient Rhithymna), Khania (ancient Kydonia), Trypetos and Xerokambos (often identified as ancient Ambelos), while an inscribed slingshot from the Cretan city of Phalasarna has also been discovered on the neighbouring island of Antikythera (cat. nos. 1–40) (Fig. 2). This discovery of lead slingshots in the Cretan landscape is highly significant in view of the dearth of tangible Late Classical and Hellenistic weaponry throughout the archaeological record of Crete.

Fig. 2.

Map of Crete, with distribution of slingshots (satellite image courtesy of J.W. Myers, E.E. Myers and G. Cadogan, and University of California Press; Myers, Myers and Cadogan 1992, frontispiece).

The slingshot, like the arrowhead, has a long association with Crete. The mythical giant Talos, said to have roamed the island, is depicted hurling hand-held spherical weapons on third century bc staters from Phaestos (Grose Reference Grose1926, 243 Phaestos no. 4) (Fig. 3). The lead slingshot makes an early appearance on the island and Sir Arthur Evans discovered the potentially Cretan prototype in an undisturbed context associated with the shrine of the Double Axes in the Palace at Knossos (cat. no. 39) (Fig. 4). Evans noted that ‘they are not of the same late fabric [although they are lead] as the specimens that are not infrequently found on the site of the Greco-Roman city’ (Evans Reference Evans1928, 344). He observed that, unlike the later examples, these had a round midsection and a prominent ridge resulting from their crude casting; but perhaps their most distinctive feature was that they were pared to a sharp point at the ‘action end’ (Evans Reference Evans1928, 344). Another problematic slingshot context was recorded by Hutchinson in 1935 in a mixed Middle Minoan stratum at Knossos (Laura Preston and Don Evely, personal communication) (cat. no. 38).Footnote ⁷ The typology of this lead slingshot fits comfortably into a Late Classical or Hellenistic date range in terms of manufacture and emblem and I can only deduce that it is a later intrusion (Fig. 5).

Fig. 3.

Phaestos coin depicting Talos hurling stones on obverse (after Grose Reference Grose1926, 243 Phaestos no. 4).

Fig. 4.

Early slingshot from Knossos (after Evans Reference Evans1928, 345, fig. 196).

Fig. 5.

Slingshot with possible ‘trident’ from mixed deposit at Knossos (photograph courtesy of Laura Preston).

THE CHRONOLOGICAL RANGE FOR SLINGSHOTS

The slingshot (manufactured in a variety of materials including clay, stone and lead) has a lengthy utility. The lithic variety was presumably used for hunting as early as the Early Neolithic, as attested on Malta (dating to the Grey Skorba Phase 4500–4100 bc) (Trump and Cilia Reference Trump and Cilia2002, 52). Its application in early siege warfare is attested by the depiction of slingers on the silver siege rhyton from Mycenae (Korfmann Reference Korfmann1986, 133, pl. 3; Vutiropulos Reference Vutiropulos1991, 284), while they also appear in a depiction of mixed troops in a combat scene on a Geometric vase from Paros of c.700 bc (Wheeler Reference Wheeler, Sabin, van Wees and Whitby2007, 194, fig. 7.1). Similarly, they proved effective in the siege of Lachish (c.700–691 bc), as evidenced both in the relief friezes from the palace of Nimrud and from the vast quantity of spherical stone slingshots discovered during excavations (Fagan Reference Fagan, Fagan and Trundle2010, 93–5, fig. 8). The iconography of the slinger in the Aegean is presented in a paper by Buchholz, who listed nine different representations from reliefs, vases and coins (Buchholz Reference Buchholz1965, 133–59).

The utility of the lead sling bullet is attested by its survival into the Roman period. Vegetius' omission of the lead slingshot, in his discussion of slingers (Concerning Military Matters 1.15–16; 2.23), is problematic and while, in attempting to explain this oversight, it has been suggested that their use pre-dates his source material, the inscriptions on lead slingshots would clearly refute such a terminus ante quem. It is clear that the weapon was deployed throughout the Roman period from its inscribed content denoting various Roman generals (for its use under Octavian at the siege of Perusia see Hallett Reference Hallett1977, 151–71). An inscription on a lead slingshot from Vindonissa pertains to the Legion XIII who were stationed there until ad 45, thereby representing one of the latest inscribed ‘glandes’ to be recorded (Simonetti Reference Simonetti1947, 18, abb. 5).Footnote ⁸ The lead variety is purportedly used as late as the close of the second century ad, according to the anonymous biographer of the Emperor Septimius Severus in his report on the battle in ad 197 with Clodius Albinus, near Lugdunum, when the emperor suffered a direct hit from a lead slingshot (ictu plumbeae) (Scriptores Historiae Augustae, Severus 11.3).

The stone and clay varieties also enjoyed lengthy services as plain ballistics, and auxiliary slingers are famously represented in scenes 167 and 177 on Trajan's Column in Rome (Gilliver Reference Gilliver1996, 61 n. 42), where these forces carry large spherical missiles (both held directly in the hand and also suspended in loose textile slings), a shape which intimates that they represent the stone variety.Footnote ⁹ The majority of the Greek inscriptions on slingshots, however, seem to relate to the Late Classical and Hellenistic periods and are a characteristic of the lead variety.

LEAD SLINGSHOT MANUFACTURE

The transition from stone to lead was integral to the effectiveness of these missiles, as lead is easy to cast and provides maximum weight in a small volume.Footnote ¹⁰ Lawrence estimates that weights of c.40 g could achieve distances of 400 m (perhaps at speeds of up to 100 km/h) (Lawrence Reference Lawrence1979, 39).Footnote ¹¹ There is a trade-off between force of impact and optimum range, since heavier bullets, while not commanding the same reach (at least if the launching technique remains constant), achieve a more violent impact. In tactical terms, advantages in range are key contributors to a successful assault since the troops with the longest range hold strategic immunity, once that distance can be maintained, by virtue of their freedom to attack without fear of reprisal. That the initial volley could be a determinant in securing a ‘tearless battle’, that being when one line fled beyond any range of attack, has been outlined by Sabin (Reference Sabin2000, 13). Mithridates' slingers outreached the opposing javelineers at the Battle of Cunaxa, forcing the rearguard into a futile charge (Xenophon, Anabasis 3.3.7–11).Footnote ¹² Xenophon, however, also informs us that, among the Greeks, the Rhodians understood the use of the lead sling and preferred the relatively light lead shots which travelled twice the distance of the Persians' heavier stone missiles (Xenophon, Anabasis 3.3.16–17).Footnote ¹³

Any text on slingshots was conceived of, and cast, as an integral component of the weapon, thereby representing a fundamental aspect of the weapon's design. Lead slingshots, along with any script they might carry, were cast in clay or stone moulds, only a few of which have survived.Footnote ¹⁴ The cavities in the mould are connected by a channel, much in the same manner as coin manufacture, as illustrated by a mould from the Canellopoulos Collection bearing the name TIMONOΣ/Τίμωνος (Empereur Reference Empereur1981, 555–61, fig. 29; Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum 31 [1981], 1603; Pritchett Reference Pritchett1991, 45, fn. 80) and another in the National Museum in Athens (personal observation). Nine missiles found at the rustic sanctuary at Mines in Cyprus still preserve their connecting joints, effectively representing a tree of bullets (Nicolaou Reference Nicolaou1977, 213, fig. 2). We can deduce from their condition that they have never seen action, and their articulated state attests their manufacture rather than their application (Nicolaou Reference Nicolaou1977, 213; Michaelidou-Nicolaou Reference Michaelidou-Nicolaou1969–70, 361).Footnote ¹⁵ Six of the nine lead slingshots discovered in the 1988 excavations of House IV in the West Quarter in Eretria form a cluster representing their conjoined condition during the casting process (Brélaz and Ducrey Reference Brélaz and Ducrey2003, pl. 23, 1–2; Ma Reference Ma2010, 163). Similarly, at Caerhun (Gwynedd), in Britain, between thirty and forty clayshots (dating to the Flavian–Trajanic period) were found in an ashy deposit in a small circular hearth, with the context representing their manufacture by firing (Baillie Reynolds Reference Baillie Reynolds1930, 78). Biconical clay slingshots seem to be favoured in Britain, where they far outnumber their lead counterparts, being found in hoards (presumably as stockpiles awaiting use) at Ardoch (Tayside), Strageath (Tayside), Caerhun (Gwynedd) and Abergavenny (Gwent) (Greep Reference Greep1987, 16). Similarly, in Cyprus, at Idalion, a munitions dump of lead slingshot bullets, copper projectile points, and a catapult stone was also recovered from the wall surrounding the West Acropolis (Stager Reference Stager1972, 221).

Due to their portable nature and ease of manufacture, it is entirely plausible that slingshots could be made to order at the battle site as demand dictated. Caesar established smithies within his camp to cast lead bullets in preparation for battle in Africa (On the War in Africa 20). Evidence for impromptu slingshot casting was discovered at the fort of Velsen in Holland, where the Romans resorted to pressing their fingers into the soft ground to create cavities into which they poured molten lead to create crude, yet effective, slingshots (Thorne Reference Thorne and Erdkamp2007, 222; Pritchett Reference Pritchett1991, 45, fn. 80).Footnote ¹⁶ This desperate measure was presumably carried out during a battle associated with the Frisian Revolt of ad 28 (Bosman Reference Bosman and van Driel-Murray1995, 99–103).

THE USE OF TEXT ON SLINGSHOTS

Personal names on slingshots and their significance – Cretan examples and their conformity with the broader milieu

Slingshot inscriptions frequently denote a personal name, usually that of a squadron commander.Footnote ¹⁷ Ma (Reference Ma2010, 171) maintains that the inscription and accompanying symbol serve to advertise an allegiance with that particular troop, and an affinity within its wider military structure. This role is explicit in an example from Sestrino, in the region of Petrich in southwestern Thrace, which bears the script IIII C^R, possibly referring to the fourth cohort, c(oho)r(tis) IV, thereby representing that particular military unit (Paunov and Dimitrov Reference Paunov and Dimitrov2000, no. 3). In a Greek context, military divisions are more commonly represented through reference to their commanding personnel; at Olynthus over 500 slingshots were found, 100 of which were inscribed, many with the name of Philip II, while ethnic divisions were also denoted and are discussed below (Robinson Reference Robinson1941a, 419; see footnote 25). The presence of these titles encourages group identity within a corps and presents the group as a united front to the enemy.Footnote ¹⁸

The deployment of foreign forces by Cretan cities constitutes an integral aspect of Hellenistic warfare on the island, with cities often inviting allied troops and their generals (as distinct from mercenaries) to conduct campaigns on their behalf (Chaniotis Reference Chaniotis2005, 21). Strabo, writing at the turn of the millennium, informs us that his ancestor, Dorylaus (surnamed Tacticus, or ‘The General’), visited Knossos at the outbreak of a war between Knossos and Gortyna (Strabo, Geography 10.4.10; Launey Reference Launey1949, 274). Chaniotis classifies Dorylaus as a xenologos, effectively a recruiting officer, whom Mithridates Euergetes often sent to Greece and Thrace to enlist mercenary troops for the royal forces (Chaniotis Reference Chaniotis2005, 83). His prestige, as officer and friend of Mithridates Euergetes, and his arguably serendipitous presence at Knossos ensured that he was entrusted with the command of the Knossian army, an appointment which led to a sweeping victory and ensuing accolades (Strabo, Geography 10.4.10).

From Cretan treaties, we also know that the Cretan poleis did organise joint military enterprises – usually targeting war booty and captives – under the command of either civic officials or private individuals (Chaniotis Reference Chaniotis1996, 93 – also see footnote 22). In cases such as these, clear distinctions between allied forces become economically significant and we might therefore expect to find the names of the commanders of military units inscribed on slingshots.Footnote ¹⁹

On Crete an onomastic reference may be represented by a slingshot from the west of the island bearing the text ΣYΛAΔA (cat. no. 26) (Fig. 6). The traditional reading Sylada, the genitive of the personal name Syladas, one of the numerous Cretan names deriving from sylon (τὸ σῦλον/τὰ σῦλα), concurs with the Cretan tradition of choosing names which allude to the gaining of booty, i.e. names related to the word syle (‘spoils’) such as Syladas, Sylichos, Solos Sotosylos and Damaisylos (Chaniotis Reference Chaniotis2005, 137; see also Pritchett Reference Pritchett1991, 116–24). In the war between Perseus and Rome (ad 174) 3000 Cretans were under the command of Sosos of Phalasarna and Syllos of Knossos (Livy, History of Rome 42.51).

Fig. 6.

Slingshot bearing the name ΣYΛAΔA (after Guarducci Reference Guarducci1939, xxx no. 16).

The text AINE (cat no. 32) on a slingshot from the fortified remains at modern Xerokampos (often flagged as the ancient city of Ambelos) possibly constitutes an abbreviated personal name, despite the fact that Halbherr interpreted the inscription as a verb (Halbherr Reference Halbherr1898, 93–4 no. 34). The text could relate to the common proper noun Ainesidemos (ΑΙΝΗΣΙΔΗΜΟΣ/ΑΙΝΕΣΙΔΑΜΟΣ) which would then represent the name of a commander (Chaniotis, personal communication) (Fig. 7). John Ma (Reference Ma2010, 169) adroitly highlights the dangers of misinterpreting proper nouns, relating to commanders, as directives or taunts.Footnote ²⁰

Fig. 7.

Slingshot from Xerokampos area (possibly ancient Ambelos) bearing the text AINE (after Halbherr Reference Halbherr1898, 93–4, no. 34).

A slingshot from the west of Crete, bearing the monogram ΠΑ, possibly refers to Panares (Guarducci Reference Guarducci1939, xxx no. 17), the commander at Kydonia (modern Khania) in 69 bc when the Romans attacked (Velleius Paterculus 2.34.1) (cat. no. 27). A possible Roman example, from north central Crete, may be identified in the slingshot from ancient Rhithymna bearing the monogram ME (cat no. 28). Guarducci ascribed the monogram to Quintus Metellus, who besieged the Cretan cities of Lappa and Eleutherna which had, in turn, absorbed the port city of Rhithymna. Cassius Dio, an admittedly later source, informs us that Quintus Metellus could only secure Eleutherna through treachery, when he fired and destroyed a brick tower which had previously been weakened through applications of vinegar (Cassius Dio 36.18).Footnote ²¹ The alleged aggression of Metellus is arguably conveyed through his treatment of the opposing Cilician troops stationed at Lappa in 68 bc (under Pompey's legate Octavius), all of whom he had executed on the fall of the city (Cassius Dio 36.18; Sanders Reference Sanders1982, 4), which represents a possible deviation from the regular protocol for the treatment of prisoners of war, as outlined in the epigraphic record of Crete.Footnote ²² After such a brutal response, panic might be incited in the inhabitants of any Cretan cities subsequently under attack, through the mere advertisement of his generalship (Fig. 8).Footnote ²³ The inscribed onomastica on the slingshots serve to both promote a sense of group identity, among the firing troops, and instil a corresponding fear in their targets.

Fig. 8.

Lead slingshot from ancient Rhithymna (after Guarducci Reference Guarducci1939, xxiv no. 24).

Group identity might also be reinforced through an emblem on a slingshot: a bovine head is depicted on three examples reported from the area of Gortyna in Crete (cat. nos. 23–5), three further examples from Megalopolis and another example from the Boeotia region (Everson Reference Everson2004, 168, fig. 63, museum no. 719; Foss Reference Foss1975b, 40). The examples found on Crete, like the examples from the Greek mainland, bear the name Kleandros on one side and a bovine head on the other (cat. nos. 23–5) (Fig. 9). The possibility of associating the name with that of the commander Kleandros, son of Polemokrates, who famously supplied Alexander with 4000 mercenaries, is tempting (Arrian, Anabasis of Alexander 1.24.2 and 2.20.5) and would imply that the Gortyna slingshots represent mercenary troops returning to that Cretan city. Following this model, the spread of identical slingshots, bearing the name of a squadron commander, over such a wide range of locales affords insight into the disparate nature of auxiliary troops and their consequent need for self-cohesion (see Chaniotis Reference Chaniotis2005, 95).

Fig. 9.

Slingshots bearing the name Kleandros (after Guarducci Reference Guarducci1935, viii 79, nos. 46–7).

Civic allegiance and ethnicity as inscripted on slingshots – Cretan examples and their conformity with the broader milieu

In Crete the traditional correlation between citizenship and military service ensured that every Cretan city in the Hellenistic period, regardless of scale, had its own army (Chaniotis Reference Chaniotis2005, 21). In Hellenistic Crete civic soldiering was regarded as a defining civic duty, as arguably overplayed at Lyttos, where military service constituted the predominant prerequisite for securing citizenship (Chaniotis Reference Chaniotis1996, 124–6; 2005, 21). Warfare could be profitable, enabling soldiers to contribute to the civic treasury and to actively partake in the common meals in the andreia of Hellenistic cities (Gorlin Reference Gorlin1988, 161). This high-profile engagement in a daily public ritual visibly elevated civic status, a social endorsement which, in turn, promoted soldiering as an attractive career prospect among young men (Chaniotis Reference Chaniotis2005, 135–6).Footnote ²⁴

While the preceding examples of slingshots discovered on Crete may be representative of either mercenary troops returning to the island or corps of civic soldiers, the presence of civic identifiers on slingshots, although relatively rare, constitutes an indisputable representation of civic forces. Such Cretan examples advertise affiliations with Knossos, Gortyna, Phalasarna and possibly Aptera.Footnote ²⁵

At Knossos Guarducci reports three examples, bearing the monograms KNΩ or K, in the Herakleion Museum (cat. nos. 1–3) (Fig. 10), while two similar examples from Knossos are reported by Boardman (cat. nos. 4–5) (Fig. 11). The monogram ‘Kappa Nu Omega’ clearly refers to the actual ethnic (Κνωσίων), as opposed to the more commonly evidenced proper noun referring to a commander or some military personage.

Fig. 10.

Slingshots bearing the monograms KNΩ or K, in the Herakleion Museum (after Guarducci Reference Guarducci1935, viii 79, nos 43–45).

Fig. 11.

Slingshots from Knossos in the Ashmolean in Oxford (after Boardman Reference Boardman1961, 124, 127, pl. XLVIII; AN 1941.186 and 186a).

Also in Crete, at the Hellenistic fort at Prinias Patela two lead slingshots were found with the letters ΓOP (cat. nos. 6–7). It is tempting to view these slinghots as representative of the action which prompted a subsequent negotiated alliance between ancient Rhizenia (although the identification of Prinias Patela as the ancient city is admittedly problematic) and Gortyna. The relationship between the ancient cities is illuminated by a fifth century bc inscription which establishes the subservient partnership that Rhizenia held with Gortyna, since this city was obliged, as stipulated by Gortyna, to contribute 350 staters' worth of sacrificial victims for Zeus Idaios (Chaniotis Reference Chaniotis and Chaniotis1999, 196–7). Demargne also notes a slingshot with the name of Gortyna at Lato, which he sees as evidence of Gortynian forces in the area (Demargne Reference Demargne1903, 232; Ma Reference Ma2010, 172) (cat. no. 8).

The potential for the discovery of vast quantities of projectile weaponry along city defences has been recently realised at Aptera, in west Crete, where catapult stones, slingshots and arrowheads were found in considerable numbers along stretches of the fortification walls which were originally constructed around 350 bc (Niniou-Kinteli Reference Niniou-Kinteli2008, 26 and 53). Many of the lead slingshots found in these ‘battle layers’ carry the monogram ‘A’ (Niniou-Kinteli Reference Niniou-Kinteli2008, 27), which at least suggests an Apteran affiliation.Footnote ²⁶ The excavator has tentatively suggested that the battle contexts could relate to a siege of the city led by Gortyna's allies following the destruction of Lyttos by the Knossians (c.222–218 bc) (Niniou-Kinteli Reference Niniou-Kinteli2008, 27).Footnote ²⁷ The Knossian victory prompted a series of reprisals on Aptera, Kydonia and Eleutherna, meted out by Polyrrhenia and Lappa and aided by Philip V and the Achaeans (Niniou-Kinteli Reference Niniou-Kinteli2008, 27).

Moreover, at Gortyna continuing work on the defensive walls by Nunzio Allegro and Maria Ricciardi (Allegro and Ricciardi Reference Allegro and Ricciardi1999) could also yield similar artefactual evidence associated with the siege of Gortyna in c.220 bc. This siege, conducted during the Lyttian War (c.222–218 bc), allegedly involved blockades aimed at starving the besieged into capitulation (Chaniotis Reference Chaniotis2005, 79) – a tactic which is generally characteristic of earlier siege strategy.

On Antikythera a slingshot was discovered at the fortified site of Kastro inscribed ΠΑΡΑ ΦΑ[ΛΑΣ]ΑΡΝΙΩΝ, implying that the slingshot was thrown, or was issued, by the Phalasarnians of western Crete (cat. no. 22). The quantity of third century bc bronze coinage of Phalasarna discovered at Kastro on the islet would suggest that at this stage the acropolis settlement was under their control (Martiş et al. Reference Martiş, Zoitopoulos, Tsaravopoulos, Luca and Sîrbu2006, 125). Moreover, the presence of the stylised image of a warship prow accompanying the nymph Phalasarne on an inscription outlining the peace treaty between Phalasarna and Polyrrhenia strongly suggests that Phalasarna had consolidated its naval strength by the early third century bc (Fig. 12).

Fig. 12.

Peace treaty between Phalasarna and Polyrrhenia (after Guarducci Reference Guarducci1939, xi no. 1).

The pictorial scene accompanying this peace treaty depicts the goddess Dictynna, Polyrrhenia's patroness, armed with quivers, shaking hands with the nymph, Phalasarne. Hunting dogs confront each other on the incised pediment framing the main scene, perhaps representative of the opposing powers (Guarducci Reference Guarducci1939, xi no. 1) (Fig. 12). The two deities stand before contrasting contexts: Dictynna emerges from a rustic agricultural scene, denoted by a tree and a goat, while Phalasarne advances from the prow of a warship. The vignettes convey the cities' contrasting spheres of governance, physical setting and military strengths. These aspects are also expressed numismatically, with Polyrrhenian coinage employing the emblem of an arrowhead (Grose Reference Grose1926, 243 Polyrrhenia no. 13; Svoronos 1890, 38) (Fig. 13), while Phalasarna incorporates maritime symbols, such as the trident and the dolphin (Grose Reference Grose1926, 243 nos. 5–8). Furthermore, the copy of this treaty found at Kalyviani, where it was thought to mark a sanctuary of Tyliphos (Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum 50 [2000], 936), is decorated with a trident flanked by two dolphins in the pediment, perhaps signalling the more prominent position held by the associated signatory, i.e. Phalasarna.

Fig. 13.

Coin of Polyrhennia (after Grose Reference Grose1926, 243, Polyrrhenia 13; arrowhead on coin).

The harbour at Phalasarna, in west Crete, was heavily fortified, and catapult stones were discovered at the base of its towers. The excavator, Hadjidaki, noted two examples (each c.20 cm in diameter), found together with a pair of statuettes of the late fourth/early third century bc (Hadjidaki Reference Hadjidaki1988, 472, 474, fig. 15). The physical evidence, including the scale and sophistication of the harbour defences, points to a prowess in naval affairs which, in turn, bestows a militaristic character on the maritime vignette accompanying the treaty and, by inference, intimates a corresponding prominence in bowmanship within the civic forces of Polyrrhenia. Moreover, the date of the inscription outlining the peace treaty between the powers of Polyrrhenia and Phalasarna in western Crete (complete with the stylised image of a warship prow) suggests that Phalasarna had consolidated its naval strength by the early third century bc (Guarducci Reference Guarducci1939, xi no. 1; Hadjidaki Reference Hadjidaki1988, 467–8) – a strength attested by the city's inscribed slingshots discovered on the islet of Antikythera (cat. no. 22).

I also should add that this combined evidence demands the presence of a shipshed at the site at Phalasarna in order to facilitate the swift launch of light warships (as demonstrated at other Cretan shipshed facilities such as Trypetos and Matala; see Baika Reference Baika2011). In the case of Phalasarna these ships would clearly have been equipped with forces of slingers. Slingers were not exclusively confined to land manoeuvres, and were deployed on landing ships due to their agility, as demonstrated by their efficacious role in the landing of Julius Caesar's troops in Britain (Caesar, Gallic War 4.25; Pritchett Reference Pritchett1991, 61) and in the siege of Motya in Sicily (Diodorus Siculus 14.50.4; Livy, History of Rome 24.34).Footnote ²⁸ We should envisage a similar strategy in the attacks on the fort of Kastro on the islet of Antikythera, with the Phalasarnian slingers being initially used on board to facilitate a successful docking, only to swiftly disembark and infiltrate the terrain.

THE REALITY OF WAR IN THE CLASSICAL AND HELLENISTIC PERIODS – A SNAPSHOT

That ancient warfare was equally as horrific as its modern counterpart is amply conveyed by Thucydides in describing the dying and wounded beseeching retreating comrades on being left to die on the battlefields of Syracuse (Thucydides 7.75.2–5). Horrendous injuries and disfigurements feature in the Epidaurean Miracle Lists, where wounded men survive for years with arrowheads embedded in chest cavities and spearheads wedged in jaws (Hiller von Gaertringen 1929, no. 121; Chaniotis Reference Chaniotis2005, 96; Tritle Reference Tritle and Raaflaub2007, 181; LiDonnici Reference LiDonnici Lynn1995, 109, 95l; Salazar Reference Salazar2000, 212–15; Plutarch, Moralia 217C, 241F).Footnote ³⁹ The high praise heaped on the Koan physician Hermias, son of Emmenidas, operating on Crete, is not surprising in the light of such testimonies. This physician was sent to Gortyna from Kos, upon request, where he fulfilled a five-year contract, presumably during the Lyttian War of c.221–219 bc (Polybius, Histories 4. 53. 7; 55. 6; Massar Reference Massar2005; Samama Reference Samama2003; Salazar Reference Salazar2000, 69). He was duly praised for having saved many of those wounded in the civil war in an inscription discovered at the shrine of Asclepius on Kos (Guarducci Reference Guarducci1935, viii no. 7; 1950, no. 168). He served not only the Gortynians, but also the Knossians, and attended to the wounded from a later battle near Phaestos and, again, at Halicarnassos. Similarly, the praise bestowed upon another physician from Kos (Kallippos, son of Aristokritos) by the citizens of Aptera, in west Crete, is understandable in view of the recent discoveries of archaeological strata lining the fortifications which yielded a dense mix of catapult stones, slingshots and arrowheads, attesting ferocious attacks on the city walls (Niniou-Kinteli Reference Niniou-Kinteli2008, 26–27, 53, 55; Guarducci Reference Guarducci1939, iii no. 3; Samama Reference Samama2003, 247 no. 136).

That injuries sustained were not always purely physical is attested by accounts of mania and conversion disorder (more commonly referred to as hysterical blindness) in soldiers. Herodotus tells us of the Athenian Epizelus, who lost his sight at Marathon on witnessing a man being killed at close quarters (Herodotus 6.117.2–3; Tritle Reference Tritle and Raaflaub2007, 181), while mercenary soldiers rendered silent regain their power of speech in a fragmentary epigram of Posidippus of Pella (cited by Voutiras Reference Voutiras1994, 31). Tritle references the ‘Encomium of Helen’, attributed to the sophist Gorgias, who describes the full effects of witnessing the violence of the battlefield, which reduces survivors to ‘useless labour and dread diseases and hardly curable madnesses’ (Gorgias, B. Fragment 11, 16–17 [Diels and Kranz 1952, no. 82]; Kennedy's [1972, 53–4] translation cited in Tritle Reference Tritle and Raaflaub2007, 181).

Hunt draws our attention to laws catering for instances of deilia (δειλία, cowardice), lipotaxia (λιποταξία, desertion) and astrateia (ἀστρατεία, failure to show up for duty) which point to associated traumas (Hunt Reference Hunt, Sabin, van Wees and Whitby2007, 131–2). Battle survivors encountered varying receptions on their return and Tritle outlines the fate of the two notorious survivors of Thermopylae (Tritle Reference Tritle2009, 190). Pantites was driven to suicide through guilt and/or public shame (Herodotus 7.232), which Tritle parallels with the suicide of Major C. Whittlesey in 1918, a recipient of the Medal of Honour for his command of the ‘Lost Battalion’, yet who committed suicide through the guilt of surviving when others had perished (Tritle Reference Tritle2009, 190). The other survivor, Aristodemus, however, subsequently joined the forces at Plataea, thereby refuting the extent to which he was shunned (Herodotus 7.231), as his inclusion among the ranks affirms that he was deemed fit for battle. Moreover, Herodotus disagrees with the verdict of the ensuing Spartan debate concerning his lack of valour at Plataea, where, although he fights to the death, he is denied any honour due to his reckless disregard for his own life (Herodotus 9.71; Garrison Reference Garrison1991, 13). The account provides an illuminating insight into the question of what constituted military bravery, a question which seems much debated in antiquity: Aristodemus was considered for a medal, the ensuing debate settled against him, yet Herodotus voices dissent sixty years later.

READING SLINGSHOTS – DEGREES OF LITERACY IN THE MILITARY

Beyond any possible psychological implications, messages on slingshots have interesting implications for general levels of literacy among the troops, as the personal names, civic reference, insulting imperatives and scriptive irony all demand a degree of scriptive comprehension in order to achieve an effective delivery, even though intent can hardly be realised by every common soldier due to the unavoidable disparity in erudition. Nonetheless, Bryan Ward-Perkins believed that the slingshots fired during the siege of Perusia carrying the Latin message ‘Lucius Antonius the bald, and Fulvia, show us your ass’ (‘L.[uci] A[ntoni] calve, Fulvia, culum pan[dite]’) were intended to be understood by someone at the receiving end (Ward-Perkins Reference Ward-Perkins2005, 157–8; Mommsen Reference Mommsen1863, no. 684; Zangemeister Reference Zangemeister1885, 59–60, no. 65). It could, however, be argued, using modern comparative material, that the slingshot dispatcher's perspective is predominantly egocentric. After all, in a modern setting the choice of language on bombs does not address the enemy; the Germans wrote in German to the British (World War II), the Argentinians in Spanish to the British (Falklands War) and the Americans in English to the Japanese (Pacific War) – intimating that the assailant's gratification was weighted more on the ritual of delivering the abuse than on its effective delivery.

Clearly, modern warring sides do not often share a common language, rendering the dispatcher's disregard for the language of the recipient, or any appropriate lingua franca, painfully evident. Furthermore, in a modern context, these messages are never intended to be understood by the targets, as the script (and the human targets) would not survive the explosion following a direct hit. Therefore, in the modern world, the act of writing on the incendiary device can serve only to boost morale at source (however distasteful this might seem when appraising far removed from a warring context).Footnote ⁴⁰

While it is tempting to apply this interpretation to the ancient model, it should be cautioned that there are fundamental distinctions between the ancient and modern examples: the spontaneity of the act finds no parallel in the ancient world when the messages were cast in moulds as part of the manufacturing process, and the mode of conveyance was not destroyed through the very act of firing in an ancient context where the messages were delivered in multiple. Appian relates how two Athenian slaves in Piraeus wrote down everything that occurred inside the city and delivered their messages using lead balls (πεσσοῖς ἐκ μολύβδου) discharged from slings, and, by their doing so repeatedly, these messages came to Sulla's attention (Appian, The Mithridatic Wars 5.31).Footnote ⁴¹

The monopoly of Greek script in lead slingshot inscriptions during the Hellenistic period is symptomatic of the widespread use of the language across multiple enemy lines.Footnote ⁴² In Herodotus, Mardonius wonders why the Greeks, who all share the same language, could not find a way of settling their differences through negotiation and diplomacy or by any other means than waging war on open battlefields (Herodotus 7.9). Perhaps the lack of slingshots bearing Aramaic inscriptions is a moot point here (for language barriers see Miller Reference Miller2004, 130–3). The Persians certainly used slingers according to Xenophon but reportedly preferred stone missiles, a medium which does not facilitate haste in scriptive duplication (Xenophon, Anabasis 3.3.16–17; but see footnote 13).

In the light of the combined evidence, we might suggest that any comprehension on the part of the ancient recipient, although a secondary consideration (and not a necessary precondition), would certainly constitute a bonus, and might also be linked to the incorporation of malign emblems on slingshots. Despite fluctuating levels of erudition and any language barriers, the illiterate on the battlefield were not immune to the taunts of the enemy which could also be conveyed on slingshots using evidently malign symbolism of thunderbolts, coiled snakes, bees, and scorpions, among a range of motifs (Niniou-Kinteli Reference Niniou-Kinteli2008, 55; Paunov and Dimitrov Reference Paunov and Dimitrov2000; Michaelidou-Nicolaou Reference Michaelidou-Nicolaou1969–70, 364, fig. 2; Guarducci Reference Guarducci1969, 520, fig. 154; Parsons Reference Parsons1943, 242 fig. 26).

Emblems on Cretan slingshots conform to the broader Greek assemblage. In west Crete several examples of lead slingshots depicting thunderbolts were discovered in besiegement strata lining the massive fortification walls of Aptera (cat. nos 34–7), while a separate example was discovered in east Crete at the Hellenistic port of Trypetos (cat. no. 33). Similar representations are found on examples from Cyprus (specifically from Vigla, at Dhekeleia), where over 70 late fourth century bc slingshots have been found in association with bronze arrowheads and scrap lead (Nicolaou Reference Nicolaou1977, 216, no. 5, fig. 6; 1980, 261).

Through their reliance on visual metaphor slingshots dispense with the need for mass literacy and a common tongue. These physical objects can therefore represent either the group as a whole or some trait or historical episode pertaining to the group or its collective identity (a significance which is also applicable to the bovine emblem on the Kleandros examples cat. no. 23–5). Such motifs could also be used to emphasise text, lest there be any doubt as to the harmful intent of the slinger. The commander's name βαβύρτα (a reading which most scholars now favour over the potentially abusive term; see footnote 20 in favour of an onomastic reading) is accompanied, rather than reinforced, by the image of a socketed spearhead on the reverse, an emblem which could be physically complemented by volleys from this associated branch of the light-armed forces (Empereur Reference Empereur1981, 557, fig. 34; Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum 32 [1982], 1691 – originally from Rhodes).

Recognition devices implemented in battle were highly visual and ubiquitous, and Russell cites emblems on shields, whitened helmets or flags on ships, presenting a corpus to which slingshots might be added (Russell Reference Russell1999, 182). That the emblems on slingshots promote cohesion within a particular unit or civic force is evident; however, the malign aspect inherent in the choice of these symbols is purposeful in terms of the aggressive intention that they advertise to the enemy.

CATALOGUE OF PUBLISHED INSCRIBED SLINGSHOTS DISCOVERED IN CRETE WHICH ARE INCLUDED IN DISCUSSION

• (i) Published slingshots discovered on Crete carrying texts denoting Cretan cities

• Cat. nos. 1–3. Inscription – ΚΝΩ/K

• Provenance: Unknown (Knossos?).

• Current location: Herakleion Museum.

• References: Guarducci Reference Guarducci1935, viii 79, nos 43–45.

• FIG: 10

• Description: Three lead slingshots bearing the monograms ΚΝΩ or K.

• Comment: The monogram/initial clearly refers to the actual ethnic Κνωσίων, as opposed to the more commonly evidenced proper noun referring to a commander or some military personage.

• Cat. nos. 4–5. Inscription – ΚΝΩ

• Provenance: Knossos.

• Current location: Ashmolean Museum in Oxford (inv. no.: AN 1941.186 and 186a).

• References: Boardman Reference Boardman1961, 124, 127, pl. XLVIII; Foss Reference Foss1975b, 40; Evans Reference Evans1928, 345, fig. 197.

• FIG: 11

• Description: Two lead slingshots bearing the monogram ‘Kappa Nu Omega’, ΚΝΩ.

• Comment: see cat. nos. 1–3.

• Cat. nos. 6–7. Inscription – ΓOP

• Provenance: Hellenistic fort at Prinias Patela (ancient Rhizenia?).

• References: Guarducci Reference Guarducci1935, xxviii no. 28; Faure Reference Faure1963, 17; Sanders Reference Sanders1982, 155.

• Description: Two lead slingshots were found inscribed with the letters ΓOP.

• Cat. no. 8. Inscription – ΓOP

• Provenance: Lato.

• References: Demargne Reference Demargne1903, 232, cited in Ma Reference Ma2010, 172.

• Description: Demargne noted a slingshot, scuffed through use, carrying the letters ΓOP, to which he adds [τυνίων], discovered in a room in the prytaneion of Lato. He interprets the find as evidence of Gortynian forces in the area.

• Cat. nos. 9–21. Inscription – A

• Provenance: Aptera, found in strata lining the Hellenistic fortifications (essentially the city walls).

• References: Niniou-Kinteli Reference Niniou-Kinteli2008, 27.

• Description: Representative group of lead slingshots inscribed with the letter A.

• Cat no. 22. Inscription – ΠΑΡΑ ΦΑ[ΛΑΣ]ΑΡΝΙΩΝ (Phalasarna)

• Provenance: Antikythera – at the fortified site of Kastro.

• References: Martiş et al. Reference Martiş, Zoitopoulos, Tsaravopoulos, Luca and Sîrbu2006, 125.

• Description: A slingshot inscribed ΠΑΡΑ ΦΑ[ΛΑΣ]ΑΡΝΙΩΝ.

• Comment: The text implies that the slingshot was thrown, or was issued, by the Phalasarnians of western Crete.

• Date: Possibly early third century bc, based on the quantity of third century bc bronze coinage of Phalasarna discovered at Kastro.

• (ii) Slingshots discovered on Crete carrying inscribed texts referring to individuals (commanders)

• Cat. nos. 23–4. Inscription – ΚΛΕΑΝΔΡ[ΟΣ]

• Provenance: Unknown provenance (Gortyna?).

• Current location: Herakleion Museum.

• References: Guarducci Reference Guarducci1935, viii 79, nos. 46–47.

• Description: As cat. no. 25, but with surviving letters KLEANDR[OS] and [KLE]ANDROS. Bovine head in relief on reverse.

• FIG: 9

• Comment: An identical example from Boeotia is currently housed in the Shefton Museum of Greek Art and Archaeology in the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne (museum no. 719).

• Foss contends that the Kleandros mentioned on these slingshots was a general in Phalaecus' forces (Foss Reference Foss1975b, 41). Phalaecus was formerly a general of the Phokians and Foss associates the Kleandros slingshots with Phokis on the basis that the coinage of the Phokians shares the same bovine emblem (Foss Reference Foss1975b, 41). He proceeds to associate the slingshots with the attack on Megalopolis by the Spartans in 351 bc when Phalaecus served as a mercenary captain (Foss Reference Foss1975b, 41). Subsequently, in 346/5 bc, Phalaecus and his Phokian force were hired by Knossos and captured Lyttos. Repelled from there by the Spartans (under Archidamus III), they attacked Kydonia where Phalaecus was killed (Diodorus Siculus 16.62–4) – thereby explaining the Cretan distribution.

• Although Foss presents an interesting interpretation, bovine motifs are common numismatic emblems and are attested on the coinage from a variety of Cretan cities, such as Praisos, Polyrrhenia and Phaestos, and elsewhere, which contests any exclusive correlation with Phokis. Examples of iconography evidently serve as both codifiers and visual insignia on coins and slingshots, but comparable (and even identical) imagery between the two artefact types may reflect different allegiances. On Greek coinage the city is the prime identifier (although civic insignia do not monopolise currencies), while with the slingshot, the corps and its general constitute the prime group identifier (although civic affiliations do feature and, moreover, the city and corps may connote the same thing if the members of an entire corps all hail from the same city – which is clearly not the case with the KLEANDROS examples).

• Cat. no. 25. Inscription – ΚΛΕΑΝΔΡΟ

• Provenance: Gortyna.

• References: Boardman Reference Boardman1961, 124, 127.

• Description: Slingshot with the text KLEANDRO in retrograde/sinistrorsum. See cat. nos. 23–4. Bovine head in relief on reverse.

• Comment: See cat. nos. 23–4.

• Cat. no. 26. Inscription – ΣYΛAΔA

• Provenance: Unknown provenance (possibly ancient Kydonia as it is now in the Khania Museum).

• Current Location: Khania Museum inv. 95.

• References: Guarducci Reference Guarducci1939, xxx no. 16.

• FIG: 6

• Description: Lead slingshot bearing the text ΣYΛAΔA.

• Comment: The traditional reading is Sylada, the genitive of the personal name Syladas (Chaniotis Reference Chaniotis2005, 137).

• (iii) Slingshots carrying monograms relating to a possible commander

• (See also Cat. no. 31 for possible example)

• Cat. no. 27. Inscription – ΠΑ

• Provenance: Unknown provenance (possibly ancient Kydonia as it is now in the Khania Museum).

• Current location: Khania Museum inv. 95.

• References: Guarducci Reference Guarducci1939, xxx no. 17.

• Description: The slingshot bears the monogram ΠΑ.

• Comment: It is at least plausible that the monogram refers to Panares, the general at Kydonia when the Romans attacked in 69 bc (Velleius Paterculus 2.34.1).

• Cat. no. 28. Inscription – ME

• Provenance: Ancient Rhithymna in north central Crete.

• Current location: Rethymnon Museum inv. 59.

• References: Guarducci Reference Guarducci1939, xxiv no. 24.

• FIG: 8

• Description: Slingshot with the monogram ME.

• Comment: The monogram may refer to Quintus Metellus, who besieged the Cretan cities of Lappa and Eleutherna which had, in turn, absorbed the port city of Rhithymna.

• Cat. nos. 29–30. Inscription – ΔY

• Provenance: Aptera, in ‘battle layers’ outside of the fortification walls.

• References: Niniou-Kinteli Reference Niniou-Kinteli2008, 27.

• Description: The two representative illustrated examples from Aptera carry the inscription ΔY.

• (iv) Cretan slingshots conveying taunts

• Cat. no. 31. Inscription – MOPA

• Provenance: The wider area of the small fortified coastal city at Xerokampos in eastern Crete (ancient Ambelos?).

• Current location: Sitia Museum, inv. 4633.

• References: Papadakis Reference Papadakis1984, 138–9; Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum 35 (1985), 994.

• Description: Of four lead slingshots discovered in the area of Xerokampos, one example bears the text MOPA. It is one of three almond-shaped shots discovered in this locale in the 1980s, while the fourth example is spherical and its identification as a slingshot is questionable.

• Length 0.025 m; weight 29.20 g.

• Comment: Papadakis (Reference Papadakis1984, 139) notes that it remains uncertain whether this inscription relates to a military unit or whether it carries some ironic humour addressing the target.

• Cat. no. 32. Inscription – AINE

• Provenance: The wider area of the small fortified coastal city at Xerokampos in eastern Crete (ancient Ambelos?).

• Current location: Herakleion Museum inv. 9 (formerly Sitia Museum, inv. 4637).

• References: Halbherr Reference Halbherr1898, 93–4, no. 34; Guarducci Reference Guarducci1942, i no. 6; Papadakis Reference Papadakis1984, 138–9; Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum 35 (1985), 994.

• FIG: 7

• Description: This example represents the fifth lead slingshot to be discovered at Xerokampos. It bears the text AINE, reportedly in letters of the 4th or 3rd century bc. The cross-bar of the alpha runs at a diagonal, downwards from left to right, which may represent a chronological indicator.

• Date: Papadakis (Reference Papadakis1984, 139) attributes the style of lettering to the 4th or 3rd century bc.

• (v) Slingshots carrying emblems

• Cat. no. 33. Thunderbolt

• Provenance: Trypetos – at the site of a Hellenistic harbour town, with a rock-cut boat slipway, located on the north coast in eastern Crete.

• Reference: Papadakis Reference Papadakis1989–90, 291–2.

• Description: A lead slingshot depicting a thunderbolt.

• Comment: Similar representations of thunderbolts have been found at Aptera (see cat. nos. 34–7) while other examples were found in association with scrap lead and bronze arrowheads on Cyprus (specifically from Vigla, at Dhekeleia) (Nicolaou Reference Nicolaou1977, 216 no. 5, fig. 6; 1980, 261).

• Date: The comparable material from Cyprus dates from the late 4th century bc.

• Cat. no. 34–7. Thunderbolt

• Provenance: Aptera, in ‘battle layers’ lining the exterior of the fortification walls.

• Reference: Niniou-Kinteli Reference Niniou-Kinteli2008, 55.

• Description: Two lead slingshots (constituting a representative sample) depicting thunderbolts.

• Comment: For slingshots discovered on Crete carrying bovine emblems see cat. nos. 23–5 above.

• Cat. no. 38. Trident?

• Provenance: Knossos. Found on the Acropolis Hill (to the west of the valley), in a Bronze Age burial cave context. Said to be from ‘Taphos B1’, in mixed Middle Minoan stratum (Don Evely, personal communications, with permission to include here, courtesy of Laura Preston).

• Current location: Stratigraphical Museum, Knossos. Box with label: Knossos Area SF. Inscriptions Amphora Stamps; within small cigarette box with date 31.3.35.

• References: Unpublished. Mentioned by Hutchinson in a list compiled in 1941, from a trial he made in 1935.

• FIG: 5

• Description: Slingshot, ovoid. Complete. Lead, one side slightly corroded. Moulded, seam along sides visible. Low-relief trident (?) takes up most of one side; very angular form. If there was any inscription on the reverse, it is now no longer visible.

• Measurements: Length 3.4 cm; width (long axis) 1.7 cm; width (short axis) 1.2 cm; weight 31 g.

• (vi) Early Cretan slingshot

• Cat. no. 39. Early Slingshot from Knossos

• Provenance: Knossos – discovered in an undisturbed context associated with the Shrine of the Double Axes in the Minoan palace.

• References: Evans Reference Evans1928, 344, 345, fig. 196.

• FIG: 4

• Description: A lead slingshot was reported by Sir Arthur Evans, who noted that ‘they are not of the same late fabric [although they are lead] as the specimens that are not infrequently found on the site of the Greco-Roman city’. Evans observed that, unlike the later examples, these had a round midsection and a prominent ridge resulting from their crude casting; but perhaps their most distinctive feature is that they were pared to a sharp point at the ‘action end’.

• (vii) Plain slingshots

• Cat. no. 40. Slingshots on display in the Sitia Museum

• Provenance: Unknown (Xerokambos?).

• Current location: Sitia Museum.

• Description: There are eight uninscribed slingshots in a display case in the Sitia Museum (presumably three of which are from Xerokampos where five were reported, only two of which carry script).