Already in antiquity, specialization began to play a large role in military affairs. The best cavalry came from nomads who spent half their lives on horseback, hoplites spent their entire lives training in phalanx movement, and archers constantly trained their rate of fire and accuracy. Often certain tribes and lands were famous for a particular skill. Spartan hoplites were almost invincible, the Thessalian cavalry was respected by everyone who saw it in battle, Phoenician sailors and Cretan archers were famous.There were two ways to get “professional craftsmen” - to win them and force them to serve in your army, or to hire the required number for a certain fee. Thanks to established regional brands, mercenaries were quite loyal and steadfast in battle.

Special conditions arose on the poor and sun-burnt Balearic Islands, off the coast of what is now Spain. There were practically no resources here; the local land could not feed everyone. But the islands managed to fit into the ancient “market”. There was something they could do better than anyone else. It was sling throwing. First for hunting, and then for war. Weapons were cheap, accessible and effective with skill. It was a sling, which is what the biblical David used to kill the giant Goliath.The sling is one of the oldest devices invented by man primarily for hunting. Simple, fast and very cheap. A piece of leather, rope, fabric, hemp, hair, sinew and reed and stone or a special clay or lead projectile. In general, the simplest throwing weapon. It was used in almost all ancient armies - Assyria, Persia, Egypt, Greece, Rome, Carthage and others.

The most commonly used sling was made of rope. It had a wider part in the center where a projectile (stone, ceramic or metal ball) was placed. The usual length of a sling is about 90 cm; it was often worn on a campaign instead of a belt. At one end of the rope there was a loop that was attached to a finger or wrist for fixation; the thrower held the other end in the same hand. To throw, the sling with the projectile was spun over the head to maximum speed, then the free end of the rope was released and the projectile flew with acceleration to its destination.
If the slingers “worked” in a denser formation, then the rotation could be carried out in a vertical plane. Projectiles" were either selected from smooth round stones of approximately the same weight, usually about 100 grams (often 200-400 grams), and shaped to facilitate aiming, or were made "industrially" from baked clay or cast from lead. The shape was chosen based on the primitive aerodynamics so that it flies further and penetrates better.
Lead ones had the longest range, weighed 45-90 grams, had maximum penetration power, but were quite expensive. Most often, only developed regular armies such as the Roman one could afford them. Clay ones had less strength, but due to standardization, the slinger could shoot much more accurately, and the cost of such products made it possible to keep entire warehouses in case of war.

One of the remarkable customs of ancient slingers (people, in fact, do not change) were inscriptions on shells intended for the “recipient,” often indecent, with words and drawings. For example, during excavations near Perusia, besieged in 41 BC. Octavian's troops found sling shells, which were exchanged between the besiegers and the besieged (Mark Antony's brother Lucius and his wife Fulvia were defending in the fortress).If the besieged wrote on their lead ball “I’m looking for Octavian’s ass!”, then the besiegers no less angrily answered on their ball “Lucius Antony, bald, and Fulvia - open your asses.” The “firing” range for the sling was up to 100 meters (effective - half as much), when using lead shells it increased to 280. Iron shells (given the high cost of iron in ancient times, spending it on sling shells was simply wastefulness and extravagance) hit 180 meters.

The sling, despite its simplicity and cheapness, had a high lethal force, a hit to the head was almost fatal, the armor, due to the kinetic energy of the ball of several hundred grams, could not withstand the blow, the stone broke bones, and ancient sources mention cases when a projectile from a sling having pierced the clothes, it remained inside the body. Metal shells had even higher penetrating power, their striking power was even higher. A squad of trained slingers could easily cope with heavy infantrymen.
Compared to a bow, the sling was simpler, cheaper and more accessible, the supply of shells in rocky terrain was practically inexhaustible, slightly inferior to ancient bows in range, the sling was superior in stopping and lethal power. Still, a stone of 400 grams, arriving at the speed of a whistle, leaves an indelible impression. On the Balearic Islands, the art of throwing stones has reached its highest peak. Moreover, they made their slings from local hard reed.
For some time, the Rhodian slingers competed with them, but the Balearians still turned out to be cooler. Strict natural selection began from childhood. According to ancient authors, mothers hung food on trees so that children could only get it with a well-aimed throw from a sling. With age, the complexity of the tasks increased. As a result, an adult Balearic was already a ready-made, trained and trained slinger. The Balearians hit more accurately and used heavier projectiles than numerous competitors.

The Balearic Islands are a poor, sultry piece of land off the coast of what is now Spain. Local residents lived on meager fish catches and often became robbers unwillingly - there was no way out. Just as there was no iron to make formidable weapons. But there were a lot of stones and ropes - they became the terrible weapons of the Balearians. On the Balearic Islands, so named from the verb “to throw,” slingers were trained from childhood. Mothers hung cakes or baskets of food from trees, and sons could eat only if they knocked it down with a sling throw.

And the Balearic slinger could kill a bull with two or three of his “shells” at a distance of up to one and a half hundred meters. The slingers carried ammunition in a special bag. In addition to the sling, the islanders had a dagger or short sword. As light infantry, they were not entitled to armor, helmets or other equipment. A small shield at most.

“They have three slings, one of which is on the head, another at the waist and the third in the hand; Using this weapon, they are able to throw larger projectiles than other slingers, and with such force that the projectile appears to have been thrown by a catapult. Because of this, in attacks on cities, they are able to destroy defenders located on the walls, and if we talk about battles in the open field, they can break a large number of shields, helmets and shells of all kinds. Diodorus Siculus All roads were open to the Balearic slinger. They were willingly hired for various Mediterranean showdowns for gold, silver, wine, oil and women.

What was missing on the impoverished islands. Naturally, the mercenaries were also entitled to a share of the spoils. The Balearians practiced a kind of magic - on their shells they wrote the name of the enemy commander or ruler, the one whom they would like to kill first of all. Balearic slingers became famous during the Punic Wars, the wars of Carthage with Rome. Balearic slingers were hired by the Carthaginian commanders Hamilcar Barca, Hasdrubal, Hannibal, Hasdrubal (Hamilkarovich) and Mago - and never regretted it. In 311 BC. The war resumed between Carthage and the Syracusan tyrant Agathocles.

The treacherous Agathocles violated the agreement and began to capture the cities of Sicily assigned to Carthage. Sent to the island to restore order, Hamilcar, the grandson of Hanno the Great, brought with him 2,000 Carthaginian soldiers (most likely the Sacred Band), 10,000 Libyans, 1,000 mercenaries, 200 Etruscans and 1,000 Balearic slingers. The armies of Hamilcar and Agathocles set up camps opposite each other, separated by the Chimera River. Agathocles had 40 thousand, the Carthaginians 40 thousand infantry (including 1000 Balearians) and 5000 cavalry.

One of the forays of the Punics, chasing Greek cattle rustlers, into the Greek camp ended in an ambush and failure. On the shoulders of those fleeing, the Syracusan army burst into the Carthaginian camp. The situation was saved by the Balearians, who killed the attackers with a hail of stones. And the arriving reinforcements put the Greeks to flight. Agathocles lost about 7,000 people, Hamilcar 500. “Showering down large stones, they wounded many and even killed many among the attackers, piercing the protective armor of most of them.” The attackers, penetrating the protective armor of most of them.”

At Cannae, the Balearic slinger so successfully killed the Roman consul Aemilius Paulus that he, remaining alive, could no longer lead the troops and was trampled by his own legions.

The Roman commanders appreciated the merits of the Balearic throwers, but they decided to get them into their army in a different way. It took Rome two years to conquer the islands. To avoid the destruction of ships under a hail of stones, Quintus Caecilius Metellus of Balearic ordered his ships to be upholstered with soft leather, which absorbed part of the kinetic energy of the shells. During excavations in Minorca, they found a sling shell addressed to him personally.The islands submitted to Rome in 123 BC. As a result, the Balearians began to supply soldiers to the Roman auxiliary troops. The Romans actively used Balearic slingers in their many wars with Dacia, Parthia, Gaul, the Germans and the Goths. The Empire provided the Balearians with the ability to use more effective lead projectiles.

Slingers were also very effective during the siege of fortresses. When he tried to stick his head above the fortress wall, a few seconds later a warrior received a lead block in his forehead, completely knocking out his brains.
Julius Caesar wrote in his Civil Wars that some Roman soldiers wore wicker “baskets” on their heads to cushion fatal blows to their helmets. While fighting for Rome, in one of the battles with the Goths, Balearic slingers brought victory to the empire. The Balearic, pursuing the wounded Goth, overtook him, cut his throat, drank his blood, and then howled like a wolf at the sky. The Goths, themselves not graduates of the Institute of Noble Maidens, decided not to tempt fate with the legions of “werewolves”, and agreed “on good terms”. Perhaps the episode was somewhat embellished by contemporaries.

The tactics of slingers, like all ancient light infantry, were simple; they served as skirmishers, the first line in a loose formation, in front of a phalanx or heavy infantry formation. Their task was to disrupt the enemy formation, make gaps in it and knock out the most active fighters, break enemy shields. They avoided close combat, moving behind the line of heavy infantry. Despite the fact that the slinger's weapons and equipment were very cheap, skilled slingers were highly valued.They were even depicted on ancient coins. The sling was actively used before complex compound bows appeared on the battlefield. Their lethal power and range were much higher. Moreover, learning archery took much less time than the decades during which the Balearians honed their skills. The Huns and their archers, who appeared during the Great Migration, bankrupted the first mercenary corporation with a famous brand.

The Balearians had to look for other ways to earn money...

The remnants of the traditional craft in Mallorca are supported by local competitions. Aborigines compete in 30- and 50-meter board throws.