An Analytical Viewpoint

Andean sling - Img source Wikimedia commons This is a question that crops up in forums and discussions about ancient combat.  Slingers were described by the ancients in very positive terms.  Suddenly they were no longer present.  There are scanty records of sling combat post-antiquity and many explanations have been postulated for their demise. The first is that slings were replaced by bows.   Bows became predominant simply because they were better, more precise, farther reaching etc. The problem with this theory is that while both slings and bows are biodegradable, the oldest discovered bows (Holmegaarde, 6000 BC) predate the oldest sling discovered (2500 BC, Lovelock cave) by thousands of years.   The theory also discounts all written evidence concerning the sling.   Slings were crude but powerful weapons which could project missiles much further than an archer could shoot an arrow.   Long range throwing also depended on the type of ammun...

Roman republican legionary at Carrhae by Amelianvs - Deviantart Rome suffered many military disasters throughout its history.  Some, like Cannae and Arausio, stand out as the very worst.  The battle of Teutoburg forest was probably the worst, most humiliating defeat of the Principate period (27 BC to 284 AD).  In fact, the battle of Cannae in the Punic wars is one of the most studied battles in history.  The formations and tactics can be roughly imitated with line infantry, tanks and other military means.  It is standard curriculum in most military colleges today. The battle of Carrhae has received far less attention.  It deserves more. Rome had almost reached its territorial zenith by the end of the reign of Augustus.  Up until Trajan, the empire expanded no further.  Rome was far more aggressive during the republican era than in the Principate.  Crassus, the Roman leader at Carrhae, was very much part of the expansionist Republica...