The Roman pilum was a sort of heavy javelin used by the ancient Roman legions. The pilum probably has its origins in Celtic culture and was adopted by the Roman army somewhere between the fourth and third centuries BC. Over the course of many centuries, several variations coexisted and received steady refinement. Until Late Antiquity (3rd–8th centuries AD), the Roman pilum remained in widespread usage and after that, it was increasingly superseded by other throwing weapons like the plumbata.
Design of the Pilum
Size and Weight
The average length of a pilum spear used by the Romans was around 6.5 feet. It had a pyramidal head on top of an iron shaft that was around 24 inches in length. The shaft was constructed of wood and was about 4 feet in length. The typical pilum weighed between 2 and 5 pounds, with older Republic-era examples being somewhat heavier than Empire-era examples.
Appearance
The Roman pilum spear was a one-of-a-kind weapon that performed really well in combat:
- Tip design: The pyramidal barb at the end of the pilum was its defining feature. After striking a shield or an opposing soldier, it was tough to remove this spear due to its design.
- Bending shank: For this reason, the pilum’s shank was occasionally fashioned from softer iron than the rest of the spear, allowing it to bend upon contact and foil any attempts at retaliation by the opponent. This was an essential aspect of this Roman spear.
The Symbolism of the Weapon
The combination of pilum and gladius represented the legionary status of the wearer. Even when buried in civilian clothes, legionaries were typically represented clutching a pilum on their tombstones, while auxiliaries were identified by the hasta and spatha (long sword) they carried. It was also common practice to adorn victorious pilums with laurel wreaths.
Where Does “Pilum” Come From?
No one knows for sure where the term “pilum” came from; however, it may be related to the Latin word pistillum for pestle (which means “pounder”). Latin writers’ supposed etymologies are typically made up since they were writing long after this cold weapon‘s debut; for example, Varro (116–27 BC) thought in his On the Latin Language that the name derived from “perilum,” meaning “danger,” as the pilum was a dangerous weapon.
The name “pilum” was derived from various different types of weaponry in antiquity, including a catapult head to be used in siege weapons. It was also the foundation for various terms that designate the first lines of the fighting formation, such as “pilani,” “those who carry pilums,” alluding to the hastati class Roman soldiers and principes (spearmen), who are also called “pili” for the same reason.
Therefore, the “primus pilus,” which means “the first pilum” in Latin and is rendered as “centurion primipile,” is the leading centurion of an army. The term also gave rise to idioms. Plautus used this word with “iniecisti” to say “you have thrown the pilum,” to imply “you have attacked.”
In English, the term “pile” was adopted in the 10th century from the Latin word “pilum,” meaning “projectile, dart.”
Origin of the Roman Pilum Spear
The pilum’s origin is unknown; however, it is safe to say that it was not created by the Romans. Adolphe Reinach, writing in the early 20th century, credited the Samnites with developing the pilum; however, Adolf Schulten believed that, like the gladius, the pilum had been influenced by a Celtiberian weapon, in this case the soliferrum, a javelin used in ancient Iberia.
Today, there is still not a clear answer, but it is agreed that the pilum spear was first used by the Celts and then spread to other Italic peoples like the Etruscans and the Samnites. The existence of both a heavy and a light pilum, as well as a variety of construction techniques, suggests that the pilum may have been influenced by many edged weapons.
Between the fourth and third centuries BC, the pilum seems to have been introduced to the Roman army, perhaps with the big scutum shield that was used by various gladiators like Murmillo. As described by Polybius in Book VI of “Histories,” many types of pilum were in use at the time.
For example, the hastati and principes employed a heavy pilum and a light pilum, the latter of which was comparable to the javelin used by velites, a light infantry. Livy calls this weapon “hasta,” but Polybius’ description suggests that it was really a kind of pilum. Similarly, archeological digs have uncovered many sub-varieties of both socketed and shank (the back portion of the blade) models existing simultaneously at this period.
Pilum in History
In the Parallel Lives section devoted to Marius, Plutarch credits Marius with developing a method of joining an iron head to a wooden shaft using a pair of rivets. The wooden rivet would have been designed to shatter upon contact, rendering the thrown pilum useless.
However, no pilum with this configuration has been discovered. In addition, if the pilum spear changed at all towards the end of the Republic, it was done so with the intention of making it stronger, not weaker. Experimental archaeology has also failed to successfully recreate a pilum similar to the one described by Plutarch because weapons made in this fashion have been shown to be too frail for practical use.
The pilum heads discovered in the ancient city of Alesia reveal the introduction of a metal ferrule at the top of the shank toward the end of the Republic, presumably to lessen the likelihood of the wooden section breaking. In the first decades of the first century, this idea spread and was perfected.
The addition of weights to the weapon was another major change made in the final part of this century. These weights, which were fastened to the shaft just below the point where it joined the iron head, were added to the shaft in an effort to increase the weapon’s ability to penetrate armor, most likely as a result of the civil conflicts that broke out during the Early Roman Empire (31 BC–193 AD).
The pilum, which was used by the Roman infantrymen until at least the third century, faded from usage as the Late Roman Empire (250–450 AD) progressed. The pilum was replaced with the lighter and more easily produced plumbata, although troops still had a throwing weapon. The pilum’s offspring, the javelins like the Frankish angon, were still around and used until the 8th century AD.
Making of the Pilum Spear
The shaft of a pilum was often crafted from ash or hazel wood. The shaft and head were typically made of iron, while some Republican-era examples included a steel head. A pilum’s shaft and head were made using around 2 pounds of iron and 28–30 pounds of charcoal if no steel was used. The pilum was weighted by adding lead.
Ensuring that the iron’s length was proportional to the handle’s was crucial to keeping the spear balanced. Experiments show that it takes a skilled blacksmith and a helper roughly 10 hours to make one Roman pilum. For pilums with an iron shaft and a steel head, the additional time of production was probably what led to their eventual demise.
As with the rest of their gear, legionaries were responsible for purchasing their pilums, which they probably did beginning in the Principate period (27 BC–284 AD) by visiting one of the state-owned specialist factories known as fabricae. After combat, soldiers collected their pilums and tried to fix them if they could, or they reforged them if the damage was too great.
Legionnaires often returned their pilums to the state for sale when they retired. This explains why archeological digs often turn up few, if any, pilums in good form, since many discoveries include stacks of iron fragments gathered for repair or melting.
The Use of Pilum in Battle
As a Throwing Javelin
From Julius Caesar’s Gallic War, Caes. Gal. 1.25:
“His [Caesar’s] soldiers hurling their javelins from the higher ground, easily broke the enemy’s phalanx. That being dispersed, they made a charge on them with drawn swords. It was a great hinderance to the Gauls in fighting, that, when several of their bucklers had been by one stroke of the (Roman) javelins pierced through and pinned fast together, as the point of the iron had bent itself, they could neither pluck it out, nor, with their left hand entangled, fight with sufficient ease; so that many, after having long tossed their arm about, chose rather to cast away the buckler from their hand, and to fight with their person unprotected.”
Using a pilum as a javelin was the weapon’s principal function. However, there are some uncertainties about the precise throwing technique adopted by the Roman soldiers. Because the Roman legionnaires were highly constrained units with little to no freedom of personal movement.
They were an integral part of the fighting formation, whose cohesion had to be maintained at all costs. Therefore, it’s very unlikely that the throwing of the pilum was preceded by a sprint, which would have disrupted the formation, or that the throwing was carried out during a charge, which would have prevented the legionnaire from unsheathing his sword in time to strike without breaking the attacking formation.
According to most accounts, the throwing was accomplished either while stationary or with the impetus of a single swing. For example, Vegetius (d. 383 AD) wrote that the legionary stood with his left leg in front. The shield was a useful counterweight in this position; with the left leg extended forward, the thrower lifted the shield in the left hand and leaned back, shifting his weight to the right leg, which was slightly bent.
At the precise instant of the throw, he thrusted his right arm forward while moving his body’s center of gravity back onto his left leg and bringing the shield to the ground. However, this tactic couldn’t be used in a close formation since the thrower required 6.5 feet of open space behind him to avoid accidentally striking a man in the next rank. The legionaries would have had to break formation before the use of the gladius sword since the lateral spacing was, according to Polybius, six Roman feet (5.85 feet).
In these circumstances, investigations show that a light pilum could travel over 165 feet, but a hefty pilum had a range of just 100 to 130 feet. Legionaries might have preferred a shorter but more effective throw; therefore, it is unclear whether a large range was really desired. However, in pitched combat, it was crucial to be able to draw the sword before making contact with the opponent, which rules out a throw range of less than 30 to 50 feet.
As a Melee Weapon
Polybius claims the pilum was first employed exclusively as a throwing weapon at the Battle of Telamon (225 BC). Archaeological evidence supports this theory to some extent, showing that the oldest Roman pilums unearthed had unsuitable barbed tips. The iron head’s connection to the shaft was strengthened and the pyramidal tip was introduced to allow such novel applications. Strabo makes this potential very evident in his Geographica, while Plutarch writes of conflicts in which legionaries used the pilum like a lance. The sculpted metopes of the Tropaeum Traiani monument in Adamclisi also show this kind of melee use of the weapon.
These documents shed light on the tactics used by those who used the pilum. According to Plutarch, Julius Caesar instructed his legionaries during the Battle of Pharsalus (48 BC) to not throw pilums but rather to stab their opponents in the knees or aim for the eyes. This indicates that thrusting strikes to the lower body were a common tactic while employing the pilum in close combat. Before engaging the Alans, the Greek military commander and historian Arrian (d. 160 AD) had his troops prepare for a cavalry attack by planting their pilums in the chests of the horses and then using them to puncture the armor of dismounted horsemen.
When using the pilum in close combat, the Roman writer Vegetius (d. 383 AD) instructed the legionnaire to put his right foot forward. His description, however, does not make it totally apparent whether the pilum was lowered or lifted. For instance, the hasta was kept high, whereas the kontos (long wooden cavalry lance) was held low. But one Tropaeum Traiani metope seems to depict a row of legionaries holding their pilums beneath their arms in readiness for a charge. However, the stone’s current state precludes complete confidence.
The pilum was sometimes used as a torture and intimidation device, as shown by both historical accounts and archaeological finds. After Pompey‘s conquest of Valence in 72 BC, for instance, excavated artifacts indicate that this weapon was used to impale captives. Similar to how the skulls of usurpers like Pescennius Niger and Clodius Albinus were impaled on pilums in the Historia Augusta (500 AD).
Types of Excavated Pilums and Their Features
Telamon Pilums
The earliest specimens of Telamon-type pilums date back to the late 3rd century BC and were discovered on the site of the Battle of Telamon (225 BC) in Telamon. A barbed point and a rectangular shank secured by two square rivets distinguish this spear from other ones.
There are two variations: one with a flat shank and another with projecting edges throughout the length of the shank. The Telamon spears had an iron part that was generally between 11 and 13 inches, with the shank measuring between 3 and 4 inches in length and 1.5 to 2 inches in width. A pilum of this sort is thought to weigh about 2.5 pounds.
Šmihel Pilums
There are several different kinds of pilums found at the Šmihel archeological site in Slovenia. One of these varieties has a pyramidal apex and uses a socket for assembly, both of which suggest a time period around the end of the third century BC. The length of the iron in this pilum is anywhere from 8 to 15 inches, and the diameter of the socket can be anywhere from 0.6 to 0.8 inches.
Oberraden Pilums
The Oberraden pilums are so named because, in 1938, three exceptionally well-preserved pilums were unearthed in the town of the same name in Germany. This discovery allowed archaeologists to trace the evolution of the technique used to fasten the iron to the shaft. The first known examples of this type date back to 15 BC, when the Roman military commander Drusus led an expedition into the Alps to fight the Rhaetian people related to the Etruscans.
The length of its iron, with its pyramid-shaped head, was between 2.65 and 3 feet. Although the use of a shank to connect the iron was not novel, it was much more developed in the Oberraden kind, making it far less likely that the attachment would fail. In particular, the shank’s top end was encircled by a metal collar, and fittings around the rivets kept them from tearing the wood.
