Lucretius in De rerum natura, book 6 verses 310 tries to explain the nature of lightning. Apparently he says that a body moving quickly through the air acquires some heat.

The Latin verse is:

non alia longe ratione ac plumbea saepe fervida fit glans in cursu, cum multa rigoris corpora dimittens ignem concepit in auris.

English translation

And when, swift-winged, the ball of missle lead Heats, by degree its gross unkindled parts Losing, and fires by atoms gained from air

Also lines 182-183 of Book VI:

Melted, as melt the missile balls, at times Of lead shot rapid.

Lucretius wrote in 1-st century BC. What kind of "missile leads" could fly at that time with such velocity that they could be appreciably heated by air? Heated so much that they are melted??

Lucretius in De rerum natura, book 6 verses 310 tries to explain the nature of lightning. Apparently he says that a body moving quickly through the air acquires some heat.

The Latin verse is:

non alia longe ratione ac plumbea saepe fervida fit glans in cursu, cum multa rigoris corpora dimittens ignem concepit in auris.

English translation

And when, swift-winged, the ball of missle lead Heats, by degree its gross unkindled parts Losing, and fires by atoms gained from air

Also lines 182-183 of Book VI:

Melted, as melt the missile balls, at times Of lead shot rapid.

Lucretius wrote in 1-st century BC. What kind of "missile leads" could fly at that time with such velocity that they could be appreciably heated by air? Heated so much that they are melted??

Edit. Let us make a simple calculation. Specific heat capacity of lead is 0.13, J/(g.K) (from Wikipedia). So to heat a 100 g lead bullet by 10 degrees one needs the energy of 130 J, or about 13 Kilogram-force.meters. A slinger probably cannot transfer much more energy to a projectile. And it does not matter how this energy is converted to heat: by air friction or by the impact. Very far from "melting lead".

Lucretius in De rerum natura, book 6 verses 310 tries to explain the nature of lightning. Apparently he says that a body moving quickly through the air acquires some heat.

The Latin verse is:

non alia longe ratione ac plumbea saepe fervida fit glans in cursu, cum multa rigoris corpora dimittens ignem concepit in auris.

English translation

And when, swift-winged, the ball of missle lead Heats, by degree its gross unkindled parts Losing, and fires by atoms gained from air

Lucretius wrote in 1-st century BC. What kind of "missile leads" could fly at that time with such velocity that they could be appreciably heated by air?

Lucretius in De rerum natura, book 6 verses 310 tries to explain the nature of lightning. Apparently he says that a body moving quickly through the air acquires some heat.

The Latin verse is:

non alia longe ratione ac plumbea saepe fervida fit glans in cursu, cum multa rigoris corpora dimittens ignem concepit in auris.

English translation

And when, swift-winged, the ball of missle lead Heats, by degree its gross unkindled parts Losing, and fires by atoms gained from air

Also lines 182-183 of Book VI:

Melted, as melt the missile balls, at times Of lead shot rapid.

Lucretius wrote in 1-st century BC. What kind of "missile leads" could fly at that time with such velocity that they could be appreciably heated by air? Heated so much that they are melted??