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The pilum (plural pila) was a throwing spear commonly used by the
Roman army in ancient times. It was generally two meters long, consisting
of a one meter iron shank with pyramidal head socketed into a wooden shaft of similar length. A pilum usually weighed between two
and four kilograms, with the versions produced during the Empire being a bit lighter. It had a diameter of about 7.5mm. Some
versions of the weapon were weighted by an iron ball to increase penetrative power. Recent experiments have shown pila
to have a range of 30 meters, although effective range of about half.
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 a common tactic.
Most pila were constructed such that the iron shank would bend after it had penetrated a shield. In this way, it could not be
easily removed and the enemy, if not killed by the pilum, would have to discard his now-unwieldy shield before going into combat.
Early pila do not seem to have had this characteristic, and Gaius Marius is sometimes
given credit for this modification.
Info picture: from left to right: thin pilum, thick pilum, and weighted pilum.
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