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
ironIron is a metallic chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. Iron is a group 8 and period 4 element and is therefore classified as a transition metal. Iron and iron alloys are by far the most common metals and the most common ferromagnetic materials in everyday use...
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
EmpireThe Roman Empire was the post-Republican phase of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean. The term is used to describe the Roman state during and after the time of the first emperor,...
being a bit lighter. Pictorial evidence suggests that some versions of the weapon were weighted by a
leadLead is a main-group element with symbol Pb and atomic number 82. Lead is a soft, malleable poor metal, also considered to be one of the heavy metals. Lead has a bluish-white color when freshly cut, but tarnishes to a dull grayish color when exposed to air...
ball to increase penetrative power, but no archeological specimens have been found. Recent experiments have shown pila to have a range of approximately , although effective range is up to .
LegionariesThe Roman legionary was a professional soldier of the Roman army after the Marian reforms of 107 BC. Legionaries had to be Roman citizens under the age of 45. They enlisted in a legion for twenty-five years of service, a change from the early practice of enlisting only for a campaign...
of the Late
RepublicThe Roman Republic was the phase of the ancient Roman civilization characterized by a republican form of government. It began with the overthrow of the Roman monarchy, c...
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
gladiusGladius is a Latin word for sword. Early ancient Roman swords were similar to those used by the Greeks. From the 3rd century BC, the Romans adopted swords similar to those used by the Celtiberians and others during the early part of the conquest of Hispania...
. They could also be used in hand to hand combat, or as a barrier against mounted 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 late
RomanAncient Rome was a civilization that grew out of a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 10th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea, it became one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
writer
VegetiusPublius Flavius Vegetius Renatus was a writer of the Later Roman Empire. Nothing is known of his life or station beyond what he tells us in his two surviving works: Epitoma rei militaris , and the lesser-known Digesta Artis Mulomedicinae, a guide to veterinary medicine.The latest event alluded to...
, in his work
De Re MilitariDe Re Militari , also Epitoma Rei Militaris, is a treatise of Roman warfare and military principles written in the late Roman Empire, claiming to be a presentation of methods and practices in use during the height of Rome's power, and responsible for that power.Vegetius emphasized things such as...
, 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.
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.
Results of experimental archaeology
Thanks in part to
experimental archaeologyExperimental archaeology employs a number of different methods, techniques, analyses, and approaches in order to generate and test hypotheses, based upon archaeological source material, like ancient structures or artifacts...
, 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
shieldA shield is a protective device, meant to intercept attacks, either by stopping projectiles such as arrows or by glancing a blow to the side of the shield-user. Shields vary greatly in size, ranging from large shilds that protect the user's entire body to small shields that are mostly for use in...
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 MariusGaius Marius was a Roman general and politician elected consul an unprecedented seven times during his career...
is sometimes given credit for this modification. 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.
See also
- Pole weapon
A pole weapon or polearm is a close combat weapon in which the main fighting part of the weapon is placed on the end of a long shaft, typically of wood, thereby extending the user's effective range. Spears, glaives, poleaxes, halberds, and bardiches are all varieties of polearm...
- Javelin
A Javelin is a throw weapon, used more commonly in the modern athletics discipline: Javelin throw.Javelin may also refer to:* Javelin , a DC Comics supervillain...
- Verutum
The verutum, or plural veruta was a short javelin used in the Roman army. This javelin was used by the velites for skirmishing unlike the heavier pilum used by the hastati and principes for softening the enemy before advancing into close combat. The verutum's shaft was about 1.1 meters long, much...
- Lancea
The lancea was the Roman auxiliaries' short javelin. According to the OED, the word originally came from the Iberian Language.-See also:*Pole weapon*Javelin*Hasta *Pilum*Verutum*Spiculum*Roman military personal equipment...
- Spiculum
A spiculum is a late Roman spear that replaced the pilum at around 250AD as the infantryman's main throwing javelin. Scholars suppose that it could have resulted from the gradual combination of the pilum and two German spears, the angon and the bebra. As more and more Germans joined the Roman army...
- Roman military personal equipment
- Spear
A spear is a pole weapon consisting of a shaft, usually of wood, with a sharpened head. The head may be simply the sharpened end of the shaft itself, as is the case with bamboo spears, or it may be of another material fastened to the shaft, such as obsidian, iron or bronze...
- Projectile
A projectile is any object propelled through space by the exertion of a force which ceases after launch. Although a thrown baseball could be considered a projectile, the word more often refers to a weapon...
- Lance
The term lance has become a catchall for a variety of different pole weapons based on the spear. The name is derived from lancea, Roman auxiliaries' javelin, although according to the OED, the word may be of Iberian origin....
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