 A Roman coin showing 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 or more usually widens to a flat tang, this was secured to a wooden shaft. A pilum usually weighed between two and four kilograms, with the versions produced during the Empire being a bit lighter. Pictorial evidence suggest that some versions of the weapon were weighted by a lead ball to increase penetrative power, but no archeological specimen have found.[1] Recent experiments have shown pila to have a range of 98 feet (approximately 30 m), although effective range of about half to two thirds. The branches of the Roman military at the highest level were the Roman army and the Roman navy. ...
The Roman army is the set of land-based military forces employed by the Roman Kingdom, Roman republic and later Roman empire as part of the Roman military. ...
This is a list of both unit types and ranks of the Roman army from the Roman Republic to the fall of the Roman Empire. ...
This is a list of Roman legions. ...
// Manius Acilius Glabrio -- Manius Acilius Glabrio (consul 191 BC) -- Manius Acilius Glabrio (consul 91) -- Titus Aebutius Helva -- Aegidius -- Lucius Aemilius Barbula -- Marcus Aemilius Lepidus (triumvir) -- Lucius Aemilius Paulus Macedonicus -- Marcus Aemilius Scaurus (praetor 56 BC) -- Flavius Aëtius -- Lucius Afranius (consul) -- Sextus Calpurnius Agricola -- Gnaeus Julius Agricola -- Flavius Antoninus -- Marcus...
The Roman Navy (Latin: Classis) operated between the First Punic war and the end of the Western Roman Empire. ...
The Roman Navy (Latin: Classis) operated between the First Punic war and the end of the Western Roman Empire. ...
Root directory at Military history of ancient Rome Ancient Rome was a state whose history was often closely entwined with its military history over the roughly 13 centuries that the Roman state existed. ...
The following is a List of Roman wars fought by the ancient Roman Kingdom, Roman Republic and Roman Empire, organized by date. ...
The following is a List of Roman battles (fought by the Roman Kingdom, the Roman Republic, and the Roman Empire), organized by date. ...
As with most other military forces the Roman military adopted a carrot and stick approach to military, with an extensive list of decorations for military gallantry and likewise a range of punishments for the punishment of military transgressions. ...
Root directory at Military history of ancient Rome From sticks and stones to ballistae and quinquiremes. ...
Roman military engineering is that Roman engineering carried out by the Roman Army - almost exclusively by the Roman legions for the furthering of military objectives. ...
Basic ideal plan of a Roman castrum. ...
Roman siege engines were, for the most part, adapted from Hellenistic siege technology. ...
List of ancient Roman triumphal arches (By modern country) // France Orange Reims: Porte de Mars Saint Rémy de Provence: Roman site of Glanum Saintes: Arch of Germanicus Greece Arch of Galerius, Thessaloniki Hadrians Arch, Athens Italy It has been suggested that List of Roman arches in Rome be...
A Roman road in Pompeii Road Construction on Trajans Column The Roman roads were essential for the growth of their empire, by enabling them to move armies. ...
Roman military personal equipment was not of a better quality than that used by the majority of its adversaries[1]. It was however produced in large numbers to established patterns and used in an established way. ...
Root directory at Military history of ancient Rome Romes military was always tightly keyed to its political system. ...
The strategy of the Roman military encompasses its grand strategy (the arrangements made by the state to implement its political goals through a selection of military goals, a process of diplomacy backed by threat of military action, and a dedication to the military of part of its production and resources...
Root directory at Strategy of the Roman military Roman infantry tactics refers to the theoretical and historical deployment, formation and manouvers of the Roman infantry from the start of the Roman Republic to the fall of the Western Roman Empire. ...
Map of all the territories once occupied by the Roman Empire, along with locations of limes Roman military borders and fortifications were part of a grand strategy of territorial defense in the Roman Empire. ...
The limes Germanicus, 2nd century. ...
This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...
Image File history File links Pilum_lg. ...
Image File history File links Pilum_lg. ...
Celsus Library in Ephesos (Turkey), anastylosis carried out 1970-1978 Anastylosis (from the Ancient Greek: ; = again, and = to erect (a stela or building)) is an archaeological term referring to a reconstruction technique where a ruined monument is restored after careful study and mensuration using original architectural elements where possible. ...
The Marian reforms of 107 BC were a group of military reforms initiated by Gaius Marius, a statesman and general of the Roman republic. ...
Image File history File links RV_Antoniniano_Carinus. ...
Image File history File links RV_Antoniniano_Carinus. ...
Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1704x2272, 1400 KB)[edit] Summary Legio III Cyrenaica of New England (United States) in a 1st century A.D. portrayal of a legion. ...
Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1704x2272, 1400 KB)[edit] Summary Legio III Cyrenaica of New England (United States) in a 1st century A.D. portrayal of a legion. ...
Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (2304x3456, 1133 KB) Classical roman pilum Photographed by myself during a show of Legio XV from Pram, Austria File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Pilum Metadata This...
Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (2304x3456, 1133 KB) Classical roman pilum Photographed by myself during a show of Legio XV from Pram, Austria File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Pilum Metadata This...
Javelin (Greek: ακόντιο, French: javelot, German: Speer) is the name of a pole weapon designed primarily for hurling as a missile weapon. ...
See: Structural history of the Roman military The branches of the Roman military at the highest level were the Roman army and the Roman navy. ...
General Name, Symbol, Number iron, Fe, 26 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 8, 4, d Appearance lustrous metallic with a grayish tinge Atomic mass 55. ...
For other uses, see Roman Empire (disambiguation). ...
For PB or pb as an abbreviation, see PB. General Name, Symbol, Number lead, Pb, 82 Chemical series poor metals Group, Period, Block 14, 6, p Appearance bluish white Atomic mass 207. ...
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. 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. Roman legionaries, 1st century. ...
See also Roman Republic (18th century) and Roman Republic (19th century). ...
// Gladius is Latin for sword (in general). ...
Vegetius' commentary The late Roman writer Vegetius, in his work De Re Militari, wrote: This article or section may contain original research or unverified claims. ...
Vegetius (Publius Flavius Vegetius Renatus) was a celebrated military writer of the 4th century. ...
De Re Militari (Latin On military matters) was a treatise of late Roman warfare that became a military guide in the middle ages. ...
- As to the missile weapons of the infantry, they were javelins headed with a triangular sharp iron, eleven inches 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.[2]
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 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.[3]
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. Experimental archaeology employs a number of different methods, techniques, analyses, and approaches in order to generate and test hypotheses or an interpretation, based upon archaeological source material, like ancient structures or artifacts. ...
A shield is a protective device, meant to intercept attacks. ...
Most later pila were constructed such that the iron shank would bend on impact. 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 its 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. Early pila do not seem to have had this characteristic; Gaius Marius is sometimes given credit for this modification. 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 an added bonus. Gaius Marius (Latin: C·MARIVS·C·F·C·N)¹ (157 BC - January 13, 86 BC) was a Roman general and politician elected Consul an unprecedented seven times during his career. ...
Notes - ^ Connolly, 1998, p233.
- ^ Vegetius. Book I. De Re Militari. Retrieved on 2006-08-24.
- ^ Vegetius. Book I. De Re Militari. Retrieved on 2006-08-24.
2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
August 24 is the 236th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (237th in leap years), with 129 days remaining. ...
2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
August 24 is the 236th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (237th in leap years), with 129 days remaining. ...
References
Primary Sources (none yet)
Secondary Sources - Connolly, Peter. Greece and Rome at War. Greenhill Books, 1998 ISBN 185367303X.
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