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| Roman bullets with the stopping power of a modern .44 magnum pistol. |
Roman military’s secret weapon: Wailing slingshot bullets with the power of a .44 magnum
But research published Wednesday in National Geographic showed a slingshot used by the Romans some 1,900 years ago had nearly the same stopping power as a .44 magnum.
They used it in the opening attack of a war with the restive tribes living among the hills of Burnswark, Scotland. That war dragged on for nearly two decades. Eventually, the Romans retreated to a fortified barrier they had built known as Hadrian’s Wall.
Archaeologists John Reid and Andrew Nicholson began excavating the site five years ago, hoping to discover exactly what occurred at the battle. What they found was an astoundingly powerful, ancient killing device that rivals today’s weaponry.
Americans had previously learned about the Battle of Little Big Horn by using metal detectors to search for bullets, so the duo decided to do the same in Burnswark. They began finding small lead bullets, eventually discovering more than around 2,700 of them. They dug up 400 for examination.
The lead bullets were about 50 grams each. Strangely, about 10 percent of them contained small holes.
The confused researchers made copies of several bullets, both holed and solid, and gave it to a trained slinger.
The solid ones flew at up to 100 miles per hour and could hit objects smaller than a human 130 yards away. Furthermore, they contained the stopping power of a .44 magnum, that gun Dirty Harry carried around specifically because it was so powerful.
Well, that certainly explains as well how David caved in the front of Goliath's head. Here is video of the battle site in Scotland from the NatGeo page.
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