NEW EVIDENCE OF ROMAN GOVERNORS AND OFFICERS ON GLANDES INSCRIPTAE FROM REPUBLICAN HISPANIA

: Four glandes inscriptae from the Iberian Peninsula are presented in this paper. For two of them a connection to the Republican gov ‑ ernors C. Flaminius and L. Mummius is proposed, and therefore a date in the 2nd century BC. A third slingshot bullet was most likely cast at the beginning of the governorship of the proconsul C. Valerius Flaccus, c. 92/91 BC. On the fourth specimen two names are inscribed, Afranius and Messalla, presumably two mil ‑ itary leaders; it is carefully suggested that they could have been active during the Sertorian War. The communis opinio regarding the use of glandes inscriptae on the Iberian Peninsula must be modified: rather than being a phenomenon of the 1st century BC, peculiar to the Sertorian War (82-72 BC) and the confrontation between Caesar and the Pompeian faction (48-45 BC), they can now be traced back as far as the early 2nd century BC.


NEW EVIDENCE OF ROMAN GOVERNORS AND OFFICERS ON GLANDES INSCRIPTAE FROM REPUBLICAN HISPANIA
Leaden inscribed slingshot bullets are a remarkably important group within the Latin inscriptions of Republican Hispania (cf. ELRH pp. 243-256;Díaz Ariño, 2005: 219-236;Díaz Ariño, 2008;Fernández Gómez, 2009;Pina Polo, Zanier, 2006;Valle, López Vilar, 2013;Moralejo Ordax, Saavedra, 2016).Borja Díaz Ariño emphasized in his overview of glandes inscriptae de la Península Ibérica, published in 2005, that they constitute a highly useful source for studies of the Roman military activity in the 2 nd and especially in the 1 st century BC in Hispania, partially due to their considerable amount in an era which produced only a limited number of epigraphic testimonies, and because of the importance of the data which the inscriptions contain (Díaz Ariño, 2005: 219).He concluded his article with a list of 95 inscribed slingshot bullets.The majority can be attributed either to the Sertorian War  or the Civil wars between Caesar and Pompey and his sons .Meanwhile the number of known glandes inscriptae from the Republican provinces of Hispania has been augmented not only by new findings but also by unpublished material preserved in museums and private collections (see e.g.Gamo Pazos, 2012: nos. 4-14, 16, 67-72;Fernández Gómez, 2009;Contreras, Müller, Muntaner, 2006-2007;López Vilar, 2013;Moralejo Ordax, Saavedra, 2016. Cf. also Pina Polo, Zanier, 2006: 29-50; on the same collection of glandes Grünwald, Richter, 2006, but not convincing).
The slingshot bullets presented here were studied since 2009 by autopsy and later discussed various times with colleagues. 1 No hints could be found that these hitherto unique pieces are not originals or that their inscriptions had been modified in modern times.Therefore, they give reason to rethink the conclusion drawn by Díaz Ariño in 2005, namely that glandes inscriptae "no eran utilizadas de forma habitual por los soldados romanos destinados en Hispania durante el siglo II a.e.", and to reconsider the hypothesis that their spread in the 1 st century BC was linked to the systematic use of these projectiles as carriers of political slogans in the context of civil wars (Beltrán Lloris, 1990).In addition, they provide essential new information on Roman officers and governors of Hispania in the Republican era.
Glandes plumbeae, some of them with Greek inscriptions, were introduced on the Iberian Peninsula during the 4 th century BC as a result of contacts with the Greek and Italic world (Aranegui Gascó, 2003;cf. Quesada Sanz, 1997: 475-480 and 922-924).As far as we know, they were not commonly used in the Iberian territories between the 5 th and 3 rd century BC, and only from the Second Punic war does this kind of light weaponry spread into the southern part of the Iberian Peninsula, presumably in the footsteps of Greek and Italic funditores enrolled in the Roman army (Quesada Sanz, 1997: 475-480 and 922-924;Quesada Sanz, 2008).
Within the framework of the Second Punic War, the last findings from Cerro de las Albahacas (Province of Jaén), recently identified as the battlefield of Baecula (208 BC), have to be mentioned.All twelve glandes found on site can be attributed to the Roman army that fought Hasdrubal and the Carthaginians, none of which is inscribed (Quesada Sanz et al., 2015: 346-355).Throughout the course of this conflict, Roman troops struggled with indigenous people in Hispania.In 206 BC and again in 205 BC, uprisings of a coalition of Ilergetes and the neighboring tribes were crushed by Scipio Africanus (Polyb. 11.32;.In the following two and a half decades Rome repeatedly clashed with local tribes on the Iberian Peninsula.One of the settlements destroyed by the Romans during that period was the Iberian town of Castellet de Banyoles (Province of Tarragona) on the lower Ebro in the northwestern part of the Iberian Peninsula.Excavations and surveys revealed inter alia Roman weaponry: spearheads, catapult bolt heads, and a number of leaden sling bullets (Noguera et al., 2014: 72-75).Therefore, we can conclude that Roman troops used leaden glandes in Hispania already around 200 BC.
Another observation is of considerable relevance; the sling bullets found at Las Albahacas and Castellet de Banyoles are not uniform but show a variety of types (Noguera et al., 2014: 73 fig. 12, photos 1-4).This in mind, it is important to note the lower dimensions (length) and the lower weight of the leaden bullets dated to the Second Punic War compared to those dated to the 1 st century BC, both in the Sertorian and the Caesarian period.For instance, two sets, one from Cerro de las Albahacas (Second Punic War) and the other from Cerro de Alvar Fáñez (civil war between the Pompeian faction and Caesar) reveal such differences.The average weight of the first set (12 bullets) in 38.7 grms, for the second set (15 bullets) it is 45 grms (Quesada Sanz et al., 2015: 351 fig. 18;Moralejo Ordax, Saavedra, 2016: 52-54, tab. 2-4).Regarding the forms, the glandes from the end of the 3 rd century BC are usually not of a stocky type, but reveal a slightly oblonged shape, quite like the first glans inscripta presented here.Considering the low number of pieces and the different findspots, it is not possible to establish defined groups and specific typologic ensemble criteria.Nonetheless, the bullets fit in general models: all of them are bivalve, and belong to the almond shape type (Völling-group II) rather than to the rounder one (Völling-group I).It is remarkable that two of them are heavier (60.55 and 64 grms), a weight class which is also attested in the 1 st century BC.

The first epigraphic evidence of Gaius Flaminius, praetor of Hispania citerior 193-190 BC
Almond shaped leaden sling-bullet damaged on the left end.Length 4.2 cm, diam.1.1-1.7 cm, weight 42 grms.The surface has been strongly cleaned, so that the object retained its dark grey colour (Fig. 1).Traces of whitish oxidation film have only survived at the edges of the moulded letters and in small scars and scratches.Elevated, moulded letters can be seen on one side.Height of letters 0.6-0.8cm.We only were informed that the sling-bullet was found by children before 1950 in the province of Cuenca (Spain) and then given to their teacher who gifted it to a collector; further data on the findspot is unfortunately not available.The object itself was kept in the family of this collector even when they migrated to Switzerland in the 1960s.Now stored at the teaching collection of the Department of History, Sun Yat-Sen University.
On first sight LAMFIN can be read, a hitherto unknown and enigmatic name or term.But a closer look at the inscription reveals that the alleged 'F' is an 'E'.Furthermore, slight traces of a letter in front of the 'L' can be observed.Two points, one above the other, can only be explained as the remains of two horizontal strokes, more likely of the letter 'F' than 'E'.From the two possibilities, FLAMEIN or ELAMEIN, only the first one makes sense as it can be directly understood as abbreviation of a Roman name.Therefore, we can reconstruct: FLAMEIN This is a unique inscription on Roman slingshot bullets.The search for similar texts leads to Ascoli Piceno, Italy, from where a glans with the legend L FLAM is known (Desjardins, 1874: 80 no. 399, cf. 42 no. 166: FLAM), identified by Zangemeister, 1885: 88-143, especially 131 no.47 as one of the many bullets from Ascoli with fake inscriptions (Benedetti, 2012 makes no mention of those two bullets).However, a connection to that group of Italian glandes spuriae can be excluded with certainty due to the type of this glans, its findspot, collection history, and its inscription.Doubtless, FLAMEIN is an abbreviated Roman name, Flamein(ius).Noteworthy is the use of the old diphthong 'ei' for 'i' (cf.Leumann, 1977: 13).As far as we can see, it seems to be the first epigraphic example of using the old spelling for Flaminius (no example can be found in the index of CIL I 2 ), comparable e.g. to Fabreinius (CIL I 2 2521) for Fabrinius or Serveilius (e.g.CIL I 2 937.938.2954) for Servilius.It is not surprising that the latter examples can be found on inscriptions of Republican date.
The old spelling together with the observation that the glandes which have been found in the provinces of Hispania can be dated to the Republican era, strongly lead to the conclusion that this sling bullet also should have been cast in Roman Republican times.
According to Borja Díaz Ariño, sling bullets inscribed in Latin were used for the first time on the Iberian Peninsula during the Sertorian War, bearing the names (or abbreviations of the names) of protagonists like Q. Sertorius and Q. Metellus (Díaz Ariño, 2005: 224-227 and 233-234).The same phenomenon can be observed during the confrontation between Caesar and the sons of Pompey the Great.Huge amounts of leaden sling bullets carrying the marks Cn(aeus) M(agnus), Cn(aeus) Mag(nus), Mag(nus) or Pompeii must have been produced in the years 48-45 BC (Díaz Ariño, 2005: 227-228 and 234 nos. 25-57).With this in mind, Flamein(ius) should also be a high-ranking Roman commander involved in a military conflict on the Iberian Peninsula.But a search within the known Roman officials of the 1 st century BC yields no results.
However, if we take into consideration all known Roman officials active in Hispania during the Republican era, we quickly come across the consul of 187 BC, Gaius Flaminius (cf. Díaz Fernández, 2016).Doubtlessly, he was the son of Gaius Flaminius Nepos, cos.223 and 217 BC, who fell at the Battle of Lake Trasimene against Hannibal in April 217 (Münzer, 1909(Münzer, : 2502)).His cursus is known in broad terms: he is attested as quaestor in Hispania in the entourage of P. Cornelius Scipio Africanus in 209 BC (Livy 26.47.8;26.49.10. MRR II: 286).Thirteen years later he was curule aedile in Rome (Livy 33.42.8;MRR II: 335).At the end of 194 BC he was elected as one of the six praetores and then allotted to Hispania Citerior (Livy 34.54.2;34.55.6;MRR II: 286 and 347).In 193 BC he reached the Citerior together with new reinforcements.We learn from Livy (34.56.8), that he was involved in military campaigns over the next years (see also Oros. 4.20.19;cf. Richardson, 1996: 54-55;Schulten, 1935: 197;Richardson, 1986: 97).It should be noted that Livy, our main source, does not give many details about Flamininus' governorship nor his campaigns.Instead, Livy's focus is on Hispania Ulterior and the campaigns led by its governor M. Fulvius Nobilior.The same phenomenon was noticed by Sumner (1970: 93) regarding Livy's description of the governorships of M. Helvius and C. Sempronius Tuditanus in 197-196 BC (cf. Brennan, 2000: 165).
Livy's report starts with the following general remarks on the situation in the year 193 BC: In Hispaniam nequaquam tantum belli fuit, quantum auxerit fama, then he adds for the winter 193-192 that there were proelia aliquot nulla memoria digna adversus latronum magis quam hostium (35.7.7).Only two successful operations of C. Flaminius are briefly mentioned: In the year 193 BC oppidum Inluciam in Oretanis cepit (35.7.7).And in 192 BC oppidum Licabrum munitum opulentumque vineis expugnavit et nobilem regulum Conribilonem cepit (35.22.5;cf. Schulten, 1935: 197).For the following years, 191 and 190 BC, Livy reports no campaigns of C. Flaminius (36.2.9 and 37.2.11).That there still must have been military confrontations can be concluded from a remark that new troops were sent to him by the senate in 191 BC.However, while his colleague M. Fulvius Nobilior, praetor of the Ulterior 193-191 BC, could celebrate an ovatio when he returned to Rome, nothing comparable was granted to C. Flaminius.Nonetheless, this did not stop his career within the senatorial class of Rome.In 188 BC, C. Flaminius was elected consul for the year 187 BC (Fast.Capitolini ad annum 187; Livy 38.42.2).In the following years he apparently did not come back to the Iberian Peninsula.
Taking all the mentioned observations into consideration, the glans presented here should be referred to C. Flaminius.It can be excluded that the sling bullet was cast during his first stay on the Iberian Peninsula under the command of P. Cornelius Scipio Africanus, as he had no military command during these years.
The only possible time period are the years of his praetorship in Hispania Citerior, 193-190 BC, when he led military operations in his province and in the neighboring regions of the Celtiberians.It is nearly impossible to determine if this glans was already cast in 193 BC when C. Flaminius operated within the lands of the Oretani (Livy 35.7.7), which is situated on the upper banks of the river Guadalquivir, or in the following years 192-190 BC.
Considering the aforementioned arguments, this leaden sling bullet should actually be regarded as the most ancient one with Latin text from the Iberian Peninsula, and as an outstanding testimony of C. Flaminius' activities during his praetorship in Hispania Citerior.

A slingshot bullet from Portugal -testimony of Roman military activities in Lusitania led by L. Mummius?
Almond shaped slingshot bullet with white patina.Dimensions and weight not recorded.Only the general information was available that it had been found in Portugal.Viewed in a collection in Lisbon in 2013, which had been inherited in the 1990s from the grandfather.One side is stamped in the center: Within a rectangular panel, worn off on the left, raised letters can be seen (Fig. 2).
On the left of that panel, near the rim, a vertical line is visible.The space between this line and the second letter shows no traces of a further letter.However, this space gives reason not to read an 'I' at the beginning of the line, but to restore an 'L'.Well preserved are the following letters: at first glance 'MM'.But restoring LMM is not really convincing: a tria nomina-abbreviation would be unusual on a glans, the same applies to l(egio)/l(egionis) M(…) M(…).Therefore, these readings should be ruled out.
The following observation leads to another interpretation: both 'M' seem to be intentionally connected, so that we have to take into consideration a ligature of three letters: 'MVM'.In that case, it can only be the abbreviation of the name Mummius (cf.e.g.Mocsy, 1983: 194).With all due caution, this currently seems to be the most convincing proposal for an interpretation of this hitherto singular stamp.Therefore, we suggest to read the following name:

L(ucius) Mum(mius)
As in the previous case, L. Mummius should be a Roman officer engaged in military activities in Hispania.If we consider both the name and the country where this glans was said to be found, it most likely should be L. Mummius, one of the consuls in 146 BC and known for the destruction of Corinth in the same year (Münzer, 1933; see also Pietilä-Castren, 1978 andMoralejo Álvarez, 2011 about L. Mummius in Hispania).
In the early stage of his senatorial career (in 153 BC), he was sent as praetor together with troops to Hispania Ulterior.There he was engaged in repelling the incursions of Lusitanian tribes.The most detailed, yet still brief, description of the events can be found in Appian cf. Diod. 31.42;Eutrop. 4.9.1).First, Mummius had to fight Lusitanians who were led by the warrior chief Kaisaros.These battles were not always successful, and the Lusitanians even came in possession of Roman standards, but finally L. Mummius managed to beat Kaisaros and his men.Appian mentions the advance of the Lusitanians to the shore of the Ocean.Therefore, it can be concluded that the military operations took place in the western parts of Hispania Ulterior and adjacent areas.
After the defeat of Kaisaros, L. Mummius had to fight other Lusitanian invaders led by Caucaenus.The latter managed to conquer Conistorgis, a city of the Conii, allies of the Romans, somewhere in the Alentejo.Then the Lusitanians went to the area of Gibraltar where they set off to Northern Africa.L. Mummius followed them and at last gained another victory over Lusitanian warriors.Back in Rome, he celebrated a triumph over the Lusitanians in 152 BC (Fast.Capitolini ad annum 152).

A new testimony of C. Valerius Flaccus, proconsul of Hispania citerior 92-81(?) BC
Leaden sling bullet damaged on the left end.Length 4.65 cm, maximum diam.1.4-1.95cm, weight 64 grms.Corrosion caused the typically whitish-grey surface of ancient lead artefacts.On one side of its surface moulded letters in two lines can be read (Fig. 3).Height of the letters 0.8-1.0cm.The only information about the findspot points to the border region of the provinces of Guadalajara and Soria.The glans was part of the same Spanish private collection as the sling bullet inscribed FLAMEIN and kept since the 1960s in Switzerland.Actually it is stored in the teaching collection of the Department of History (Zhuhai Campus), of Sun Yat-Sen University.The text reads:

VALER [---]COS
The first and the last letter in line 1 are less well preserved, but legible.Doubtless, the personal name Valer(ius) can be read.
The left half of the second line is worn, no more traces of letters are visible.In the middle and right half of that line CO can be read without any problems.The last letter is damaged in its lower part, but an S can be restored.COS should obviously be understood as the common abbreviation of co(n)s(ul).That means that the aforementioned Valer(ius) was in charge of a public office.
Similar texts are known from slingshot bullets which were used by troops of Q. Sertorius in the Sertorian War (82-72 BC).Many of them are inscribed in a comparable manner: In the first line appears the name Q. SERTOR, in the second line the title PROCOS.Q(uintus) Sertor(ius) / proco(n)s(ul) is repeatedly followed by a political slogan like pietas, ius, fides, or veritas, on the other side of the glans (ELRH: pp.244-247 G2-10;Díaz Ariño, 2005: 226-227).The latter are seemingly related to the political situation (see Beltrán Lloris, 1990).
Further letters cannot be observed on this sling bullet.However, it is necessary to consider if the second line should be restored in a similar way.Firstly, it has to be noted that on the left side there is enough space left for three letters.Then, if we look at the Republican consules and proconsules in charge of one of the Hispanic provinces, we quickly recognize that the mentioned Valer(ius) can only be C. Valerius Flaccus, consul in 93 BC together with M. Herennius, and proconsul of Hispania citerior from 92 to maybe 81 BC (MRR II: 9-10 with MRR III: 211; Badian, 1964).Since there is no trace of a Republican consul with the nomen gentile Valerius who had been in charge of one of the provinces of Hispania, the second line should be restored as [PRO] COS.Thus, the text on the sling bullet was Valer(ius) / [pro]co(n)s(ul) and refers clearly to the aforementioned C. Valerius Flaccus.
He is attested as praetor urbanus, and scholars like T.R.S. Broughton (Broughton 1951(Broughton , 1960) ) and T.C. Brennan suggested that he most likely held this office in 96 BC (Brennan, 2000: 422 and 552; MRR II: 9-10).An inscription from Claros informs that he also held the office of a governor of Asia, most probably in 95/94 BC, as suggested by J.-L.Ferrary (2000: 334-337 with fig. 3, no. 1).After the consulship in 93 BC he was sent to Hispania Citerior as proconsul.At the beginning of his governorship he was confronted with uprisings of Celtiberian tribes, which he successfully managed to suppress.Appian reports that he gave the order to execute the rebels of Belgeda, a town not yet located, and that in his further actions 20.000 Celtiberians were killed (App.Ib. 100).For the following years we hear nothing about his activities.As Ernst Badian argued, the Social War seems to have tied him to his post (1964: 88).In 87 BC he is mentioned as imperator in the Tabula Contrebiensis assigning a judgement of Contrebian magistrates: iudicium addeixit C. Valerius Flaccus imperator line 14,with fig. on p. 301).
It is unknown when the acclamation as imperator took place.Given the lack of further information on his governorship, we can only assume that his troops already proclaimed their commander imperator during the fighting in 92 BC.
Imperator was an important title for a member of the senatorial elite because it enabled him to apply for a triumph in Rome.IMP can be observed at least in two cases on glandes: CIL XI 67721 has RVFVS IMP and CIL II 4965 CN MAG / IMP.The first refers to Q. Salvidienus Rufus Salvius, the latter to Pompeius the Great.Therefore, we should expect that after the acclamation of C. Valerius Flaccus this extraordinary honorific title should have also been written on the sling bullets used by his troops.But as this one only shows the title proconsul, we suggest to date it to the beginning of his governorship, before his acclamation as imperator.

M. Valerius Messalla Niger, tribunus militum in Hispania (?), together with L. Afranius
Almond-shaped leaden sling bullet.Length 4.5 cm, diam.1.9 cm, weight 60.55 grms.On one side moulded letters in two lines (Fig. 4).Not only the findspot remains unknown, but also the circumstances how and when it entered the Museo Arqueológico Provincial de Sevilla (inv.no .ROD 1858; the ficha contains no further information; one of the reviewers took into consideration that it could have been part of the 19 th century collection "Mateos Gago" which entered the museum, and in this case maybe even had been acquired from outside Spain; but that remains a sheer unproved assumption).It was published by Fernando Fernández Gómez in 2009 without giving an interpretation of the text (Fernández Gómez, 2009: 151 no. 28).The text undoubtedly reads 2 :

AFR•ME SALA
A Roman Republican magistrate or military commander active in Hispania with the name Afr(…) Mes(s)al(l)a is not attested.If so, it would be highly surprising since Messalla is a cognomen used within the Roman aristocracy by a branch of the gens Valerii.A way to find a convincing explanation could be to look for two separate persons, although this would be extraordinary.However, if we take Afr(…) and Mes(s)al(l)a as two separate persons, it is possible to attribute this sling bullet with a certain degree of probability to two later consuls.
Afr(…) can be restored to at least a dozen different nomina gentilicia of half a dozen cognomina (Solin -Salomies, 1994: 8 and 289).Afranius, Africius, and Afrinius are the more frequent ones of the gentilicia, Africanus and Afrio of the cognomina.If we take into consideration the governors of Hispania within the first two centuries BC, we only find the homo novus Lucius Afranius, a follower of Pompey elected (with the support of Pompey) as consul for the year 60 BC (Klebs, 1893: 710-712).
When Hispania was granted as a proconsular province to Pompey in 55 BC, Pompey sent instead of himself L. Afranius, M. Petreius, and Terentius Varro to govern the Hispanic provinces for the next years (MRR II: 220).The Iberian Peninsula was no terra incognita for L. Afranius, as he had fought there already as military commander in the army of Pompey against Sertorius.He is mentioned two times in the literary sources: In 75 BC, in the Battle of Sucro, as commander of the left wing of Pompey's army (Plut. Sert. 19).A few years later at the end of the Sertorian War, in 72 BC, he besieged and took the city of Calagurris (Oros. 5.23.14).
Later, when the Civil War between Caesar and Pompey started, L. Afranius once more fought on the side of Pompey.Still in charge of Hispania Citerior in 49 BC, he neither could prevent the Caesarian legions to cross the Pyrenees nor could he successfully attack them.In the Battle of Ilerda he was defeated himself and captured by Vell. 2.50;.
very unusual abbreviation for a military unit.Stylow read the same as we do, but would not exclude an E for the F. But a name AER(esius) or AER(onius) MESALA is quite unlikely (for these two possible gentilicia starting with AER, see Mocsy, 1983: 7).
The written sources obtain no hint that L. Afranius fought in Hispania together with another military commander named Messalla.Within the family of the Valerii Messallae there exist two possible candidates, M. Valerius Messalla Niger and M. Valerius Messalla Rufus.Unfortunately, sources are lacking which could provide more detailed information on their cursus.Both are neither attested as magistrates nor military commanders in Hispania.
M. Valerius Messalla Niger was consul in 61 BC.The main source for his cursus is a later inscription found at the forum of Augustus in Rome (CIL VI 3826).We learn that he was pontifex, two times tribunus militum, quaestor, and praetor urbanus.After his consulate he was member of the five-man-commission responsible for the distribution of land in 59 BC, in 55/54 BC censor and three times (55, 53, and 52 BC) interrex (Münzer, 1955).He must have died before 46 BC, as Cicero mentions him as important, deceased orator in his work Brutus (cf.Sumner, 1973: 131).
M. Valerius Messalla Rufus was only a little younger than his cousin M. Valerius Messalla Niger.He was consul in 53 BC, and his praetorship should have been fallen either into the year 62, or 61 BC (MRR II: 173 and 227-228;Hanslik, 1955).Nothing is known about his early career, and if he collected military experience when he was a young nobilis.Later, in the civil wars between Caesar and Pompey he fought as legate on the side of Caesar (Hanslik, 1955: 168).
If we read the text on the glans as Afr(anius et) Mes(s)al(l)a, than it obviously cannot be dated to the years of the military confrontation between Caesar and Pompey.At that time L. Afranius and M. Valerius Messalla Rufus fought on different sides while the other possible candidate, M. Valerius Messala Niger, presumably had already deceased.Furthermore, if we take into consideration that the latter one was two times tribunus militum in his younger days, there is a high probability that L. Afranius and he could have fought together in the Sertorian War.If this hypothesis is correct, it would be extraordinary evidence that during the Sertorian War the soldiers of the senatorial armies not only produced sling bullets with the name of the commander in chief like Q. Caecilius Metellus (Díaz Ariño, 2005: 233-234), but also of other high-ranking commanders like presumably L. Afranius and M. Valerius Messalla Niger.
Two decades later, comparable cases can be observed in Gallia.The name of a legate of Caesar can be read on glandes found on the battlefield of Alesia: T•LABI, that is undoubtedly the skillful commander T. Labienus (Sievers et al., 2001: 238 no. 726-727 with pl. 84).And a bullet found at Saint-Pargoire (dép.Herault, F) bears the name of a centurion of the 10 th legion, C. Varius (Feugère, 2008).A few years later, another centurion of Caesar, Scaeva, is supposed to be represented in glandes from Picamoixons (Province of Tarragona) and Huete (Province of Cuenca) (López Vilar, 2013;Moralejo Ordax, Saavedra, 2016).
As far as we can see, this seems to be the first example with names of two officers on a Roman sling bullet from Hispania.At present, this is at least an attractive thesis, which maybe one day will be confirmed by further finds.That such an interpretation cannot be ruled out, is shown by several glandes from the Greek world.Peter Weiß and Niels Draskowski presented four leaden bullets from the eastern Mediterranean area each bearing the Greek names of two persons (Weiss, Draskowski, 2010: 143-146).

General considerations
The glandes presented here can be seen as remarkable and highly valuable testimonies of Roman military activities on the Iberian Peninsula.Even though all four leaden inscribed sling bullets presented here so far are only known by one single specimen, it seems to be most likely that the phenomenon of using inscribed glandes in Hispania is not limited to the 1 st century BC.The specimen bearing the name FLAMEIN must be considered not only as one of the oldest dated Latin inscriptions from the Iberian Peninsula, but also as one of the oldest inscribed Roman sling bullets.Only an unpublished glans from Sicily seems to be older: Giacomo Manganaro briefly mentioned this bullet, inscribed LAEVI, and connected it with M. Valerius Laevinus, governor of the province of Sicily and successor of M. Claudius Marcellus in 210/209 BC (Manganaro, 1982: 242 footnote 32 andManganaro, 2000: 129).
Generally, in the 2 nd century BC the number of inscribed Roman sling bullets is quite small.Again, there are glandes from Sicilia inscribed LEN and L. PISO L. F. // COS (CIL X 8063,2), giving the name of the praetor Cornelius Lentulus (c.137 BC) and of the consul of 133 BC, L. Calpurnius Piso Frugi, both fighting slaves in Sicily (Manganaro, 1982: 242-243 with footnote 33).Now, we propose to add two glan-des from Hispania: the aforementioned FLAMEIN-glans and the bullet from Portugal bearing probably the name of L. Mummius.Since a die was used to mark the latter one, we can assume that great quantities of leaden glandes were stamped in the army led by Mummius.
The 1 st century BC remains the century with the bulk of findings.Some valuable observations can be made with the new material: Q. Sertorius was not the first magistrate indicating his position (PRO COS); now there is evidence that prior to him PRO COS was used at least by C. Valerius Flaccus.In this regard, Sertorius was following the practice of his predecessor(s).
Generally, it can observed that in the course of the 1 st century BC glandes were used for increasingly diverse messages.Sertorius not only put his name and office on the bullets, but also political key words (pietas, ius, fides, and veritas) -an innovation in using glandes as carriers of political slogans.
Furthermore, the bullets were not only used to carry the name of the senatorial magistrate/commander in chief, but also of subordinate commanders.For the first time we presumably have two names of Roman commanders on a glans, a phenomenon which already could be observed in the Hellenistic East.

Table 1 -
Typology and values of 2 nd and 1 st century BC glandes presented here.