Roman Slingers originally Egyptian?

[Onasander]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bocchoris_(City)

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bakenranef

 

I came across this coincidence just now.

 

I recall seeing a reference a while back that Egypt used mercenaries from Sardinia (90% certain Sardinia, might of been Corsica)

 

This is right smack in the middle of Carnage and Rome's territorial squabbles.

 

I never knew why Slingers from the Baleric Islands were so prized....it's a island, they should be fishermen..... how many rabbits and birds can you get before they die off, right?

 

Now I think it makes more sense. Egypt had gold reserves, but a limited amount of land to maintain a hereditary army caste on. Factor in shuffles between dynasties and questionable loyalty, and threats from outside the country, and you have a need to recruit over and beyond your base of local support to prevent coups and better your odds in borders wars.

 

I still can't say why 'Slingers'.... but if everyone was uniformly trained, and lived on the same Islands.... it's exceptionally hard to loose that background. It's similar to American Samoa.... it was never conquered by the US, but was denied by the US to the Germans during colonial times, and like most islands, garrisoned by the US. The islanders learned American combat fighting, never lost that skill. They've stayed in the US ever since as a legal wobbly improbability somewhere between a territory and full independence (it's impolite to ask just what the status is, as it causes head scratching all around).

 

They also learned football, and have the highest statistical probability of any population of becoming a professional football player. Its a small island, so expert knowledge tends to be retained and taught at a young age.

 

I'm guessing Slingers in the Baleric Islands parallel. While it makes no more sense for a Samoan to need to play football as a Balerian to hit things with pebbles, the capacity to retain elite knowledge in the population is high.

 

Plus, American Samoa receives a boatload of money from the US from us buying fisheries and preceded immigration and naturalization status. The name of this city in the Baleric could parallel something similar.

 

Or I can be very wrong.

Probably the latter.

[caldrail]

Slingers from the Baleric isles would represent a cadre of skilled men rather than the islanders as a whole, who fund useful employment of those same skills on the battlefield as mercenaries. The availability of skill with slings might also might have been a local cultural emphasis too.

[Onasander]

Yes, but why? Island...... slings?

[Maladict]

Hunting birds?

[Onasander]

It's really easy to hunt birds and small game to extinction on a island. Ships and migratory routes are a boon, but none the less, I don't see the long term success of such a hunting style maintaining the population, and pelting one another as a means to warfare seems doomed to failure unless it was highly ritualized to a degree of absurdity. 

 

I want you to try to image two Slinger units trying to hash out a fued..... how long would any sort of formation last before either side just disperses to take cover, flank and ambush a equally nebulous enemy? This is light infantry who's main skill is projectile fighting, sword and shield would be secondary.

 

It seems obvious to me this was a export trade. In order to have it, it would be mass communal training, not necessarily regimented, but a wide spread popular pastime. Hard to loose a skillbase like that, easy to maintain it. A island culture can identify with such things.

[caldrail]

Slingers operated in loose formation as any other skirmisher type, but for that matter, taking cover wasn't necessarily the done thing. If there's any cavalry nearby, you're in serious trouble if you don't tough it out togetjher. Historically there are many examples of units standing under fire - I concede that sometimes they had little choice - Carrhae, Adrianople, et al - but you find that taking cover was sometimes viewed as a cowardly way of behaving on the battlefield.

[Pompieus]

Odd about islands, Crete was famous for its mercenary archers.  As was England

Edited January 4, 2014 by Pompieus