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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.
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 ...
A javelin is a light spear designed primarily to be thrown, historically as a ranged weapon. Today, the javelin is predominantly used for sporting purposes such as the javelin throw . The javelin is nearly always thrown by hand, unlike the sling , bow , and crossbow , which launch projectiles with the aid of a hand-held mechanism.
The hasta (pl.: hastae) was the spear carried by early Roman legionaries, for which the Roman soldiers known as hastati were named. In later republican times, the hastati were re-armed with pila and gladii, and the hasta was only retained by the triarii. Unlike the pilum, verutum and lancea, the hasta was not thrown, but used for thrusting.
The name is derived from the word lancea, the Roman auxiliaries' javelin or throwing spear; although according to the OED, the word may be of Iberian origin. Also compare λόγχη (lónkhē), a Greek term for "spear" or "lance". A lance in the original sense is a light throwing spear or javelin.
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Hastati were armed with short spears, or hastae, up to 1.8 metres (6 ft) long, from which the soldiers acquired their name. [6] They fought in a quincunx formation, usually carrying scuta , large rectangular shields, and wearing bronze helmets , often with a number of feathers fixed onto the top to increase stature.
A long heavy spear the Illyrians used was described by the poet Ennius according to Festius. [7] Hesychius of Alexandria, (5th century) calls it similar to a spear. Suda lexicon (10th century) calls it a Roman javelin.