The commentaries of C. Julius Cæsar of his warres in Gallia, and the civil warres betwixt him and Pompey / translated into English with many excellent and judicious observations thereupon ; as also The art of our modern training, or, Tactick practise, by Clement Edmonds Esquire, ... ; where unto is adjoyned the eighth commentary of the warres in Gallia, with some short observations upon it ; together with the life of Cæsar, and an account of his medalls ; revised, corrected, and enlarged.

THE FOURTH OBSERVATION.

THe souldiers which Caesar sent to relieve Bi∣brax were Archers of Creta and Numi∣dia,* 1.1 and Slingers of the Iles Baleares, which are now called Majorica and Minorica: which kind of weapon because it seemeth ridiculous to the souldiers of these times, whose conceits are held up with the fury of these fiery engines, I will therefore in brief discover the nature and use thereof.

The Latines (saith Isidore) called this wea∣pon funda, quod ex ea fundantur lapides, be∣cause out of it stones are cast. Plinie attri••uteth the invention thereof to the Islander•• called Ba∣leares. Florus in his 3 book and •• chap. saith that these Baleares used three sorts of slings, and no other weapon besides; and that a boy had never any meat given him before he had first struck it with a sling. Strabo distinguisheth these three sorts of slings which the Baleares used, and saith that they had one sling with long reines, which they used when they would cast afarre off; and another with short reines, which they used near at hand; and the third with reines of a mean sise, to cast a reasonable distance. Lipsius saith that in Columna Antonina at Rome he observed that the Balearean was made with one sling about his head, another about his belly, and the third in his hand; which might be their ordinary manner of carrying them. The mat∣ter whereof they were made was threefold: the first was hemp or cotton, the second hair, and the third sinews; for of either of these stuffs they commonly made them. The form and fashion of a sling resembled a platted rope, somewhat broad in the middest, with an Ovall compasse, and so by little and little decreasing into two thongs or reines. Their manner of slinging was to whirle it twice or thrice about their head, and so to cast out the bullet. Virgil speaking of Mezentius saith,

Ipse ter adducta circum caput egit habera. He fetcht the rein three times about his head,

But Vegetius preferreth that skill which cast the bullet with once turning it about the head. In Suidas we find that these Baleares did com∣monly cast a stone of a pound weight: which agreeth to these names in Caesar, fundas libra∣les. The leaden bullets are mentioned by Salust, in the warre with Jugurth, and by Livie, where he saith that the Consul provided great store of arrows, of bullets, and of small stones to be cast with slings. This weapon was in re∣quest amongst divers nations, as well in regard of the readinesse and easy reiterating of the blow, as also for that the bullet fled very farre, with great violence. The distance which they could

easily reach with their sling, is expressed in this verse,

Fundū Varro vocat,* 1.2 quem possis mittere funda. Fundum according to Varro is so much ground as a man may sling over. Which Vege∣tius interpreteth to be six hundred foot. Their violence was such, as the same authour affirmeth in his first book and sixteenth chap. that neither helmet, gaberdine, nor co••selet could bear out the blow; but he that was hit with a sling, was slain sine invidia sanguinis, as he saith in the same place. Lucrece, Ovid, and Lucan, three of the Latine Poets say, that a bullet skilfully cast out of a sling went with such violence, that it melted as it flew:* 1.3 whereof Seneca giveth this reason, Motion, saith he, doth extenuate the ayre, and that extenuation or subtilty doth inflame; and so a bullet ca•••• out of a sling melteth as it flieth. But howsoever▪ Diodorus Siculus affirmeth that these Balearean slingers brake both target, head-piece, or any other armour whatsoever.

There are also two other sorts of slings, the one mentioned by Livie, and the other by Vegetius. That in Livie is called Cestrophendo, which cast a short arrow with a long thick head: the other in Vegetius is called Fustibalus, which was a sling made of a cord and a staffe. But let this suf∣fice for slings and slingers, which were reckoned amongst their light-armed souldiers, and used chiefly in assaulting, and defending towns and fortresses, where the heavy-armed souldiers could not come to buckle; and present the place of our Harquebusiers, which in their proper nature are levis armatur•• milites light-armed souldiers, although more terrible then those of ancient times.

Notes

• * 1.1

  Slingers with their art and use.
• * 1.2

  Lib. ••.
• * 1.3

  Lib. 2. 〈◊〉〈◊〉. quest.