[Latin: ‘lead acorn’]. A slug of lead, an item of hand ammunition in the Roman army. They were used in quantity and at high velocity (mostly by specialized corps of funditores, ‘slingsmen’) and as an alternative to stones. Both stone and lead missiles are found inscribed with epigrammatic wishes or instructions as to their lethal intent.
The Macmillan dictionary of archaeology, Ruth D. Whitehouse, 1983Copied