From  Heodotus' Persian Wars, Book VII

  He mentions a people called the Sagartians

" It is not the wont of this people to carry arm, either of  bronze, or steel, except for a dirk; but they use lassoes of thongs plaited together.
   Now, for the manner in which they fight is the following; when they meet their enemy, straightaway they discharge their lassoes, which end in a noose, then when the noose encircles, be it man or horse, they drag towards them, and the foe, entangled in its toils, is forthwith slain."

    Sounds good for offense, but what about defense?

I don't believe defense is the point.  Mongolians and other steppe peoples from early history to the middle ages used lassoes in combat, throwing the horse hair ropes from horses and charging off if possible.

 I just googled "Sagartians", and it said that they were nomads who used horses and lassoes, so I suppose they fought in the same style as lasso wielding Mongols.

In a book about arms and armour by Charles Boutell, there is a section on more primitive weapons and they talk about use of the lasso by the Peruvians. He says there is a regular (I picture a cowboy) lasso, and then one that is a rope with a rock tied to one end. The rock could be thrown at an opponent or steed's leg; if it hit, it may break the bone, and if it missed and went past, it could be jerked back and entangle the opponent.

...it could be jerked back...
That is a VERY BAD idea with a ropedart, and this is essentially a primitive ropedart. Beware of the rock if you want to try this!

Interesting.

I think the that "lasso" sounds like a single stone bola. I imagine that they were thrown fairly far, and that jerking back was less dangerous (just a guess)

Interesting that lasso's should be mentioned here. I was teaching someone how to rope yesturday (Cowboy style). I tied a honda, on a wonderfly worn rope, it was supple yet stiff enough to form a good lasso. The owner apparently got it from a vacedo (Original cowboys) on his way to el dorado.

(forgive the pun) He was very attached to the rope. I took it down after using it to hoist something for the celebation I was attending, and he came up asked for his rope. We began talking, and before you know it I'm roping my friends, and showing other people how to. It was alot of fun, but I started getting self concious when my friend said I was a good teacher.

 Funny how that works, when your minds off it you do fine and then someone mentions that your doing a good job, and you forget how to move.

Cool topic guys.

-Aaron