Pilum

The ''pilum'' (; plural ''pila'') was a javelin commonly used by the Roman army in ancient times. It was generally about long overall, consisting of an iron shank about in diameter and long with a pyramidal head, attached to a wooden shaft by either a socket or a flat tang.

Design

A ''pilum'' had a total weight of between , with the versions produced during the earlier Republic being slightly heavier than those produced in the later Empire.

The weapon had a hard pyramidal tip, but the shank was sometimes made of softer iron. The softness could cause the shank to bend after impact and so render the weapon useless to the enemy. Some believe that the ''pilum'' was not meant to bend after impact but that bending came from improper handling/removal of the weapon when it became stuck in an object. If a ''pilum'' struck a shield it might embed itself, the bending of the shank would force the enemy to discard his shield as unusable without removing the ''pilum'', which would be time-consuming. Even if the shank did not bend, the pyramidal tip still made it difficult to pull out. However, there were many cases in which the whole shank was hardened, making the ''pilum'' more suitable as a close-quarters melee weapon and also making it usable by enemy soldiers.''

Although the bending of its shank is commonly seen as an integral part of the weapon's design and as an intentional feature, there is little evidence to suggest that. The most commonly-found artifacts suggest that the ''pilum'' was constructed to use the weight of the weapon to cause damage, most likely to be able to impale through armour and reach the enemy soldier's body. The combination of the weapon's weight and the aforementioned pyramidal tip (the design of which would be seen in the Middle Ages in the form of bodkin arrow tips), made the ''pilum'' a formidable armour-piercing weapon. If the weapon was meant to be used against armour and to use its mass (as opposed to its speed) to cause damage, the bending of the shank seems to be a beneficial result of its intended use, which is to pierce through layers of armour. That the ''pilum'' needed to pierce layers of armour (through the shield, into body armour and past clothing) necessitated a lengthy shank, which was prone to bending. In one work, M.C. Bishop wrote that the momentum of the ''pilum'' caused the shank to bend upon impact, and although unintended, that proved a useful characteristic of the weapon. However, a newer work by M. C. Bishop states that ''pila'' are "unlikely to bend under their own weight when thrown and striking a target or ground"; rather, it is human intervention such as improper removal of a pilum stuck in a target that is responsible in some way, and Caesar's writings should be interpreted as the ''pilum'' bending when soldiers tried to remove them.

Since the pyramidal tip of a ''pilum'' was wider than the rest of the shank, once it had penetrated a shield, it left behind a hole larger than the rest of the shank, and it could move through the shield with little resistance, stabbing the soldier behind. The length of the shank and its depth of penetration also made it difficult to pull out of a shield even if it failed to bend. If the bearer of the shield was charging and a ''pilum'' penetrated the shield, the end of the heavy shaft of the ''pilum'' would hit the ground, holding the shield in place. Some ''pila'' had a spike on the end of the shaft, which made it easier to dig into the ground.

''Pila'' come in two models: heavy and light. Pictorial evidence suggests that some versions of the weapon were weighted by a lead ball to increase penetrative power, but archaeological specimens of that design variant are not (so far) known. Recent experiments have shown ''pila'' to have a range of approximately , although the effective range is up to . The earliest known examples of the heavy version of the ''pilum'' have barbed heads and their tangs have a figure-eight shape.

Romans also used the ''pilum'' as a melee weapon in close-quarters combat. Note pictorial depictions from the Tropaeum Traiani monument, descriptions of Caesar's troops using javelins as pikes against the Gauls in Caesar's ''Gallic War'', Book VII, and descriptions of Caesar's men using javelins to stab at Pompey's cavalry in Plutarch's ''Life of Caesar''.

The '' angon'' was a similar weapon used in late-Roman and post-Roman times.

The origin of the design of the ''pilum'' is a matter of contention. Arguments have been proposed which suggest that the design stemmed from ancient Italian tribes or from the Iberian Peninsula. Considering that there are two versions of the ''pilum'' (the heavy and the light), the Roman ''pilum'' may be descended two different weapons, perhaps from different cultural groups. The two weapon-designs may have coalesced into the form of the typical Roman ''pilum'' as it is known today.

Tactics

Legionaries of the late Republic and early Empire often carried two ''pila'', with one sometimes being lighter than the other. Standard tactics called for Roman soldiers to throw one of them (both if time permitted) at the enemy, just before charging to engage with the ''gladius''; however, Alexander Zhmodikov has argued that the Roman infantry could use ''pila'' at any stage in the fighting.

The effect of the ''pilum'' throw was to disrupt the enemy formation by attrition and by causing gaps to appear in any protective shield wall. The design of the pilum's tip is such that once wedged inside a shield, it is difficult to remove: a shield thus penetrated by a pilum became very awkward to wield, and was usually discarded. This resulted in the aforementioned gaps in the protective shield wall, which could then favor the short ''gladius'' in tight hand-to-hand mêlée.

''Pila'' could also be used in hand-to-hand combat; one documented instance of this occurred at the Siege of Alesia, and another during Mark Antony's Parthian campaign. Additionally, ''pila'' could be employed as a thrusting implement and a barrier against cavalry charges. Some ''pila'' had small hand-guards, to protect the wielder if he intended to use it as a melee weapon, but it does not appear that this was common.

Vegetius' commentary

The Roman writer Vegetius, in his work ''De re militari'', wrote:

And later in the same work:

It may be argued that a short iron shaft has very few confirmations from archaeology. Vegetius wrote about a one-foot iron shaft because at Vegetius' time the ''pilum'' had disappeared and been replaced by similar shorter weapons such as the ''plumbatae'' and the ''spiculum''.

Results of experimental archaeology

Thanks in part to experimental archaeology, it is generally believed that the design of the ''pilum'' evolved to be armour-piercing: the pyramidal head would punch a small hole through an enemy shield allowing the thin shank to pass through and penetrate far enough to wound the man behind it. The thick wooden shaft provided the weight behind the punch.

In one description, one of the two iron nails that held the iron shaft in place was replaced with a weak wooden pin that would break on impact causing the shaft to twist sideways. Gaius Marius is sometimes given credit for that modification.Plutarch, "Gaius Marius", 25.2

Gallery

Image:Pilum lg.jpg, Reconstruction of a post-Marian ''pilum''
Image:RV Antoniniano Carinus - transparent background.PNG, A Roman coin showing an '' antoninianus'' of Carinus holding ''pilum'' and globe
Image:Pilum.jpg, Close-up of re-enactment ''pila''

See also

* '' Hasta''
* Lance
* '' Lancea''
* Pole weapon
* Projectile
* Roman military personal equipment
* Spear
* '' Verutum''

Citations

General and cited references

* Connolly, Peter. ''Greece and Rome at War''. Reprint: Greenhill Books, 1998 .
* Connolly, Peter. "The ''pilum'' from Marius to Nero: a reconsideration of its development and function", ''Journal of Roman Military Equipment Studies'', vol. 12/13, 2001/2, pp. 1–8.
*

External links

{{commons category, Pilums
* Ross Cowan
The Samnite Pilum
* Ross Cowan
Etruscan and Gallic Pila


Caerleon's Roman Legion


www.romanlegions.info

Archaeological discovery of a pilum
Ecomuseum de Cap de Cavalleria.

Ancient Roman legionary equipment
Ancient weapons
Javelins
Personal weapons
Roman spears
Throwing spears