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The Roman Pilum
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The Roman pilum was a heavy javelin used by the Roman army at the height of its power that was about two meters in length comprised of a wood handle securing an iron shank of about 60 cm length and 7 mm diameter tipped with a pyramidal head called the pilum (plural pila). As a weapon in an initial charge, the pilum had a range of flight of 30 meters and would be employed by the soldier before engaging in close combat.
Once deployed, the small bullet-shaped point could penetrate the shield of the enemy. In later versions of the pilum the iron shaft would, upon impact, bend and become difficult to dislodge by the enemy much less re-deploy. The weight of the wood bar, leveraging the metal tip against the shield of the enemy, would make it very difficult for the enemy to remove the spear and he would be left with an unmanageable shield, vulnerable to further attack.
The Roman legionnaire might have carried two pila of differing weights with him into battle, the dislodging of which would be the opening call of battle. The use of the gladius and the defense of the scutum would follow this initial tactic.
For a time it has been disputed whether the main function of the shank was to inhibit the enemy with its bending mechanism, making movement and further protection with shield difficult, or whether the pilum was primarily engineered to kill. Archaeologists and specialists tend to concede that the pilum was probably a weapon of offense more than of strategic defense.
As Roman forces encountered Germanic tribes during the 3rd century C.E. and became exposed to their weaponry, the design of the pilum and Rome's reliance on it in warfare gave way to the shorter-pointed spiculum.
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