Leeds_Lobber
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Oh, in other cultures - well, it was used by the Hellenistic successors to Alexander the Great quite a bit.
Prior to that I know not a lot, though i have always thoght the great big rocks found at Lachish were just TOO BIG to sling by hand, and may well be evidence for the use of staff slings by the Assyrians. They are the size of grapefruit, imagine how tired your wrist wouyld get after a while!
The 'Romans' (ie the citizens of Rome) started out with a typical 'city-state' army - if you were rich you rode a horse. If you were well-off you wore the armour and weapons you could afford, and grouped with the people that could afford the same sort of armour. The very poor were equipped as slingers and javelin-men.
Later, as the city grew in power the Romans become more and more Heavy Infantry only - the Legionary.
Cavalry, archers, slingers, etc etc were no longer Roman, but obtained from allied states as part of the treaty, or as Mercenaries from foreign powers.
I would not be surprised to learn that among those mercs were Staff-Slingers from Greece and the Hellenistic parts of Asia, they just never got mentioned by any Roman Author we can find.
Sorry for being so little help!
Pat
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