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For other uses, see Pilum (disambiguation).

Reconstruction of a post-Marian pilum

A Roman coin showing an antoninianus of Carinus holding pilum and globe.

Roman Legionary re-enactors armed with pila

Close-up of re-enactment pila.

The pilum (plural pila) was a heavy javelin commonly used by the Roman army in ancient times. It was generally about two meters long overall, consisting of an iron shank about 7 mm in diameter and 60 cm long with pyramidal head. The iron shank may be socketed, but more usually widens to a flat tang; this was secured to a wooden shaft. A pilum usually weighed between two and five kilograms, with the versions produced during the Empire being a bit lighter. Pictorial evidence suggests that some versions of the weapon were weighted by a lead ball to increase penetrative power, but no archeological specimens have been found.^[1] Recent experiments have shown pila to have a range of approximately 30 metres (98 ft), although effective range is up to 15–20 m (49–66 ft).

Legionaries of the Late Republic and Early Empire often carried two pila, with one sometimes being lighter than the other. Standard tactics called for a Roman soldier to throw his pilum (both if there was time) at the enemy just before charging to engage with his gladius. They could also be used in hand to hand combat, or as a barrier against mounted charges.^[2] 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.

[edit] Vegetius' commentary

The late Roman writer Vegetius, in his work De Re Militari, wrote:

As to the missile weapons of the infantry, they were javelins headed with a triangular sharp iron, eleven inches (279 mm) or a foot long, and were called piles. When once fixed in the shield it was impossible to draw them out, and when thrown with force and skill, they penetrated the cuirass without difficulty.^[3]

And later in the same work:

They had likewise two other javelins, the largest of which was composed of a staff five feet and a half long and a triangular head of iron nine inches (229 mm) long. This was formerly called the pilum, but now it is known by the name of spiculum. The soldiers were particularly exercised in the use of this weapon, because when thrown with force and skill it often penetrated the shields of the foot and the cuirasses of the horse.^[4]

[edit] Results of experimental archaeology

Thanks in part to experimental archaeology, it is generally believed that the pilum's design 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 a distance sufficient to hit the target. 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 this modification.^[5] Most later pila were constructed such that the iron shank would bend on impact; early pila do not seem to have had this characteristic. A pilum, having penetrated a shield through a small hole and its shank having bent would now be difficult to remove. It is likely that the shaft would hit the ground and thus stop the charging enemy in his tracks.

Further injury would occur if the enemy did not discard the shield quickly enough or if he was "bumped" into the head by collision from the rear. An enemy, if not killed by the pilum, would have little time before closing with the legionaries and would have to discard his now-unwieldy shield before going into combat. Additionally, bent pila would be less suitable for reuse by a resourceful opponent. Opinion among archaeologists used to be that the main function of the shank was to disable the pilum by bending, but it is now thought that the pilum was a weapon designed primarily to kill, the 'non-return' aspect being a bonus.

[edit] See also

Military of ancient Rome portal

[edit] Notes

^ Connolly, 1998, p233.
^ Arrian's Array against the Alans. "And the front four ranks of the formation must be of spearmen, whose spearpoints end in thin iron shanks. And the foremost of them should hold them at the ready, in order that when the enemies come near them, they can thrust the iron points of the spears at the breast of the horses in particular. Those standing in second, third and fourth rank of the formation must hold their spears ready for thrusting if possible, wounding the horses and killing the horsemen and put the rider out of action with the spear stuck in their heavy body armour and the iron point bent because of the softness. The following ranks should be of the javelineers." http://members.tripod.com/~S_van_Dorst/Ancient_Warfare/Rome/Sources/ektaxis.html
^ Vegetius. "Book I". De Re Militari. http://www.pvv.ntnu.no/~madsb/home/war/vegetius/dere03.php#18. Retrieved 2006-08-24.
^ Vegetius. "Book I". De Re Militari. http://www.pvv.ntnu.no/~madsb/home/war/vegetius/dere05.php#09. Retrieved 2006-08-24.
^ Plutarch, "Gaius Marius", 25.2

[edit] References

Plutarch (2005). Penguin Classics: Fall of the Roman Republic. Translated by Rex Warner, Robin Seager. Penguin Classic; Revised edition. ISBN 978-0140449341. chichin and the empire

Connolly, Peter. Greece and Rome at War. Greenhill Books, 1998 ISBN 185367303X.

[edit] External links

The Pilum - The Roman Spear, Caerleon's Roman Legion
Lance / Spear / Pilum / Catapult points, www.romanlegions.info
Archaeological discovery of a pilum, Ecomuseum de Cap de Cavalleria.

[0] Connolly, 1998, p233.

[1] Arrian's Array against the Alans. "And the front four ranks of the formation must be of spearmen, whose spearpoints end in thin iron shanks. And the foremost of them should hold them at the ready, in order that when the enemies come near them, they can thrust the iron points of the spears at the breast of the horses in particular. Those standing in second, third and fourth rank of the formation must hold their spears ready for thrusting if possible, wounding the horses and killing the horsemen and put the rider out of action with the spear stuck in their heavy body armour and the iron point bent because of the softness. The following ranks should be of the javelineers." http://members.tripod.com/~S_van_Dorst/Ancient_Warfare/Rome/Sources/ektaxis.html

[2] Vegetius. "Book I". De Re Militari. http://www.pvv.ntnu.no/~madsb/home/war/vegetius/dere03.php#18. Retrieved 2006-08-24.

[3] Vegetius. "Book I". De Re Militari. http://www.pvv.ntnu.no/~madsb/home/war/vegetius/dere05.php#09. Retrieved 2006-08-24.

[4] Plutarch, "Gaius Marius", 25.2

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