Illustrated Companion to the Latin Dictionary/Funditores

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Rich, Anthony (1849). The illustrated companion to the Latin dictionary, and Greek lexicon. p. vi. OCLC 894670115. https://archive.org/details/illustratedcompa00rich. 

FUNDITO'RES (σφενδονήται). Slingers; mostly with reference to foreign nations. But, amongst the Romans, the slingers were a body of men selected from the fifth class of the Servian census, who were formed into a corps, and attached to the levis armatura, or light-armed division of the army. They were scarcely considered as regular troops, being ranked in the lowest grade amongst the supernumeraries, trumpeters, and band (Liv. i. 43.); and, consequently, like them, wore no body armour, nor any offensive weapon, besides their sling (see the example s. FUNDA, 1.), with which it was their duty to annoy the enemy from any part of the field to which they were ordered. (Sal. Jug. 99. Val. Max. ii. 7. §§ 9. and 15.) The difference between the Accensi, Funditores, and Ferentarii, who are distinguished by Vegetius (Mil. i. 20.), appears to be this, that the first used nothing but their hands for throwing stones; the second employed a sling for the purpose; and the last, who were of a higher grade than the other two, probably used other missiles as well as the sling.