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Pilum. The pilum (Latin: [ˈpiːɫʊ̃]; pl.: pila) was a javelin commonly used by the Roman army in ancient times. It was generally about 2 m (6 ft 7 in) long overall, consisting of an iron shank about 7 mm (0.28 in) in diameter and 600 mm (24 in) long with a pyramidal head, attached to a wooden shaft by either a socket or a flat tang.
The entire Roman army was destroyed at the Battle of the Allia in a crushing defeat that prompted reforms by Marcus Furius Camillus. [4] Under the new system , men were sorted into classes based on wealth; the hastati were the third poorest, with the rorarii being slightly poorer and the principes slightly wealthier. [ 5 ]
A spiculum is a late Roman spear [1] that replaced the pilum as the infantryman's main throwing javelin around 250 AD. 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, their culture and traditions became a ...
The pilum (plural pila) was a heavy javelin commonly used by the Roman army in ancient times. It was generally somewhat less than two metres (6 ft 7 in) long overall, consisting of a wooden shaft from which projected an iron shank about 7 mm (0.28 inches) in diameter and 60 cm (23.6 in) long with a pyramidal head.
In the late Roman Empire, the Roman infantry came to use a differently-shaped javelin from the earlier pilum. This javelin was lighter and had a greater range. Called a plumbata, it resembled a thick stocky arrow, fletched with leather vanes to provide stability and rotation in flight (which increased accuracy).
The pilum was a short-range javelin with an effective range of about 15 meters (50 ft), but could also be used as a spear in situations where an enemy had to be held back. [44] It was hurled at the enemy formations right before the charge and this hail of javelins was intended to break the force of the enemy charge as well as demoralize the ...
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Pages in category "Roman spears" The following 7 pages are in this category, out of 7 total. ... Holy Lance; J. Javelin; L. Lancea (weapon) P. Pilum; S.