by liberal japonicus
From this article
However, while many are bare or depict scorpions and thunderbolts, one recently recovered sling bullet is the first inscribed example ever recovered at Hippos and the only known sling bullet ever inscribed with the letters ΜΑΘΟΥ meaning “Learn your lesson!”
[…]
The inscribed Hippos sling bullet was only inscribed on one side, making it unlikely to represent a personal name. Instead, the authors suggest the inscription is more likely to be a form of taunt. Similar taunts have been recovered on other sling bullets bearing inscriptions such as “take a taste,” “receive this,” or “take it.”
The Hippos sling bullet would likely have read as μαθοῦ, meaning “Learn your lesson!” The grammatical form used in the inscription of the bullet (Greek middle-voice) would intensify the mockery, Dr. Eisenberg explained. “The reading of the sole word in Greek on the bullet is made with a very high degree of confidence, as it is clear and does not miss any letters.
“Its interpretation took more time as it is the only instance in which such a word appears on a bullet and its imperative in the middle voice, which could make the case even more sarcastic—the bullet is telling itself to learn and hit the enemy well.
The aorist middle was a beast and I remember trying to figure it out in my ancient Greek class back in uni. It has disappeared from the modern language and I’m assuming that the interpretation in the article is cleaned up, and with the other inscriptions,the meaning is more like ‘go fuck yourself’. I wish I had realized that back when I was studying, it might have made more sense. Of course, I wish I had Gemini to explain these grammatical points back then too. It says:
In Greek grammar, the middle voice means the subject is acting on themselves. However, applying this to the bullet is a bit of a stretch. In reality, soldiers in 101 BCE weren’t linguists; they were trolls. They weren’t making a philosophical statement about the bullet’s career goals—they were shouting at the enemy.
It has me wonder what graffiti is being written on those drones in the Strait of Hormuz.
[ed note: I’m going to go with the monospaced typefont whenever I put up something from AI, in this case Gemini. Don’t know if it will catch on, but I thought it would be worth a try]
I don’t know if the Iranians are going with inscriptions on their drones. Nor the Russians, although I seem to recall the Ukrainians doing so at least occasionally.
But consider that there were definitely comments painted on some US bombs during WW II. A tradition which has endured over rwo millennia seems unlikely to have disappeared in less than a century. Soldiers (i.e. people) just haven’t changed their attitudes towards their enemies all that much. Technology changes. Strategy and tactics change. But attitudes? Not so much.