Roman Pilum - ScholaGladiatoria Mini Documentary
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- Опубликовано: 1 окт 2024
- The Roman pilum (also known as the Roman javelin) came in a variety of types and had a number of uses. In this mini documentary ScholaGladiatoria explores the history of the Roman pilum weapon in detail, and has a go with a Roman pilum replica.
@scholagladiatoria
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This is really good, and a welcome diversification of the channel. I'm in!
Many thanks.
I'm proud of you, Matt. You said it was going to be short and it was less than 45 minutes.
You thought he was talking about duration?
Is this a low key predecessor to Matt's first book?
Next video: 44:59
But I like the longer videos. The longer the better! ^_^
Sorry to be offtopic but does any of you know of a tool to get back into an Instagram account??
I was stupid forgot my account password. I love any assistance you can give me.
I really enjoyed this more "academic" format. It's nice for the occasional in-depth review, especially your artwork slides. Two thumbs up.
10/10 will watch again
Love the new documentary format, hope to see more.
10/10
Good to hear, thanks!
@@scholagladiatoria You're welcome.
Agreed!
Same. Excellent video that probably required a lot of research and editing, so let's thank Matt for the hard work. 100% worth it (as a viewer), very informative and clear. That's the type of content I came for and will gladly share.
I second that statement (OP). This format is great.
I love it. How long does this type of video take to make compared to "talk to camera" type videos?
Thanks. Unfortunately most of a day, as I had to research it all, check the facts and then write a kind of script. Not nearly as easy as talking at a camera about something I am more familiar with for 10 minutes!
Thanks! Good stuff though, this seems to have a real timeless, formal academic quality to it.
scholagladiatoria thank you for putting in the extra work. The visuals are very engaging and make the whole learning process a lot more enjoyable
I was surprised by how sturdy real pila really are, I always thought they were just very thin javelins only ment to be thrown
Can really penetrate deeply if it snapped
Ouch
There is a lot of evidence that the Romans used the pila in melee combat as thrusting spears (so they had to be sturdy): 1) Caear's writings about Alesia said he had his troops first use pilums as spears/pikes before switching to swords. "omissis pilis gladiis rem gerunt" (with their javelins set down they pressed the attack with their swords). -Gallic Wars Book VII
2) Plutarch describes Caesar's men at Pharsalus jabbing upwards at the faces of Pompey's cavalry with their javelins. "And this was what actually came to pass; for they could not endure the upward thrust of the javelins..." -"The Life of Julius Caesar" by Plutarch
3) Plutarch in Life of Antony 45 talks about Mark Antony's legions using their pila to thrust at Parthians in melee. In this incidence, pilas would definitely be of primary importance and much more useful in melee than their short swords,
4) We have reliefs on Roman artwork showing Romans using pila in melee combat stabbing at Dacian infantry. See Tropaeum Traiani
5) Arrian in Array against the Alans (2nd century AD) talks about legionary heavy infantry equipped with an iron shank weapon used to thrust at horses: "And the front four ranks of the formation must be of spearmen, whose spearpoints end in thin iron shanks. And the foremost of them should hold them at the ready, in order that when the enemies near them, they can thrust the ironpoints of the spears at the breast of the horses in particular. Those standing in second, third an fourth rank of the formation must hold their spears ready for thrusting if possible, wounding the horses and killing the horsemen and put the rider out of action with the spear stuck in their heavy body armour and the iron point bent because of the softness." -Array against Alans by Arrian
The plural of "pilum" is "pila".
Err... as point out in the video, it depends on the pilum.
The lancia was light, fast but usually rusted or broke down on the way to the battlefield.
Always overheating in the heat of battle too.
Nearly sucked me in!
Only the privately owned ones ;-) The speed of the professionally used good ones was so incredible that for 10 times they became the fastest weapon of all. And an Italian and a Finn each got named champion of the world twice while using a certain variant.
L
Mid-view thought... imagine getting a pilum in your shield, and then the Romans clash in your line. No time to get the pilum out, the lines are beginning to push into each other more and more, and your shield is getting pushed right up into you... And now, the pilum itself is slowly getting pushed into you, and you're wearing no armour... Oh man. That's horrifying.
deektedrgg That’s a horrific thought. I always tend to think of the “immediate” kill when a pilum punctures straight through, but put into that context, that’s a nasty way to go.
Why would you not be wearing armor?
@@duranpredur1098 Because you are to poor and most of Rome's Imperial enemies lacked the slave power and economic organization to make armor inexpensive for every fighting man. Most troops in imperial Rome's enemies just have a helmet and no real body armor..
I always imagine it hitting your hand and/or arm behind your shield. Effectively nailing them together. Now you're in horrible pain with a severely encumbered shield, a mostly useless shield arm, and lots of angry Romans coming at you.
@@duranpredur1098 Some Gallic tribes would usually wear only clothes or be naked sometimes wearing only war paint.
"The long and narrow shaft leads to deep penetration"
Oh my.
Puts the plumbata into utter shame and severe belittlement.
"The pilum's purpose was penetration, primarily." I was thoroughly enjoying this vid before, but that elevated it to the sublime.
Exalted to the ultimate penetration elation.
Ah the context of penetration.........
So the pilum throw was an ancient elongated pommel strike?
10:19
I for one thoroughly enjoy a good shaft-deep penetration after tossing my pilum.
Only tangentially related to the discussion, but in case anyone was wondering: the Romans did also have a dedicated NON-throwing spear, the hasta, though it was rarely equipped to the legions after the Marian reforms of the late republic created the highly-uniform cohort-centric professional armies used in the Social Wars and through the Imperial period, and only by the Triarii (elite third line of battle generally held in reserve for if the other two were having trouble) in the mid-Republican “manipular” legions that preceded them. In the early Republic and throughout the Kingdom of Rome, however, the Romans were basically copying the Greek phalanx, so everybody had hastae.
Good addition to the conversation. Personally I like the idea that I read, that the Triarii had spears in the back rank to present a wall of points to deter any units from routing, since they would have to run into a wall of their own spears. Probably not real, but the idea tickles some absurdist part of my brain.
One place they did see major use was with cavalry, who employed their _hastae_ as lances.
@@yetanother9127 Makes sense, but I'm surprised they didn't have a dedicated cavalry spear. I would think cavalry would want a longer spear, in the nine to ten foot range.
Longer spears more useful for horsemen did exist; they just weren't differentiated from infantry spears, both being referred to as _hastae._
AriasRequiem I think the tacit threat of “don’t you dare route and besmirch the Legion’s honor, or we’ll skewer you harder than the enemy will” was definitely one part of it-especially since the legions in that period were often a mix of career veteran soldiers and green ad-hoc conscripts, with the least experienced at the front. And in the earliest days of the maniple strategy, all the most elite/veteran fighters would have been far more experienced with phallanx combat than maniple combat, so it probably eased the transition significantly. I would argue that the main reason that the triarii were equipped with hastae, however, was that a phallanx of spears and shields is a just plain broken, easily exploitable tactic, with its only real weaknesses being time and location to set up properly and the need for more mobile units to protect their flanks. The maniple addresses those weaknesses and as such is a more versitile tactic, but by the time the principes (“vanguard”, least experienced first line) and hastati (literally “spearmen” even though they no longer used spears at this point, the veteran-but-still-young second line) were doing badly enough that they needed to send in the Triarii to save the day, they had had plenty of time to set up and the retreating forward ranks streaming past their flanks provided plenty of buffer in that regard.
The massed roman pilum double throw killed all momentum in the wild gallic, Briton and germanic charge... Brilliant
Hey Matt, a longtime sub and watcher, but I still wanted to write and thank you for taking this step with your work product. I know it can be easier to talk to a camera and just show us examples - and those are great - but I think the illustrations and more formal scripting really made for a tremendously compelling essay. It's been great watching this channel expand, and I'm excited to watch as you continue to grow. Cheers!
I can tell that Matt was smiling every time he said “deep penetration”
As the Leader of LEGIO II AVG COH V, based in Northern California, we used to throw Pilum, but after a few throws, they bend. The will go through a 1/4 inch plywood and impale the holder if through a wood part. It is tricky get them out of shields. They can be hammered straight but weakens the iron shaft. What we let the public throw is 1.5 to 2 meter tall Lancea, 18 mm thick hard wood and tip iron about 30 cm long. They will stick into a shield but not penetrate. They will go into the ground about 8 inches with a good 25 meter throw.. or only 5 inches for a short throw of 8 meters. These will right through a foot or a stomach easily. Like throwing a steak knife with a 6 foot wood shaft. We have Hasta, thrusting spears… thick wood, 2.5 to 3 meters long. What a guard would use. Rarely throw them for they are very heavy. We had a lead ball Pilum… boy, hard to throw over 10 meters….
Great video Matt. Loved it and I wholeheartedly agree. The long thinner shaft with the bodkin like point, seems indicative of getting as much penetration as possible with the smallest amount of resistance as possible. The bending of the shaft is most likely a symptom rather than a feature. People seem to have a great affliction with observing rare evidence and concocting their own fantastical reasons behind it.
Rare? No, lots of pila are bent, just out of the ones we found. We can only guess how common it was back in the day, but founding a bunch of bent ones, sometimes extremely bent like 45 degrees, makes it pretty plain that a long, thin, soft-metal (iron) shank at the end of a heavy javelin is... well, that's just physics, it would be weird if it didn't bend.
You can call it a symptom or intent, but obviously no one minded this happened and didn't design for it to stop happening.
I agree that this is 100% designed for penetration to not only damage a shield but the person behind it( why else would you need such a long iron shaft?). Or........to get through armour or horses or elephants or anything that gets in the way. The fact they have the sharp butt end leads me to believe they were stuck in the ground for easy access if and when needed. I see the front line only being able to launch one effective volley, then forming a shield wall. However.......the back ranks could continue plucking them from the ground and throwing them well after the enemy lines thicken up. So one volley to take out shields and men at first contact. Then you wait a bit until the enemy adjusts and fills their ranks with new men and shields, fatigue sets in and shields begin to drop a bit. Then BAM you hit them with another volley from the back ranks. This would also explain why the number of pilla carried seems to vary. In fact each rank might carry a different number.
This is a good summary. Many uses, many tactics, versatile. 10,000 legionaries with 20,000 pilum between them would decimate in a few seconds the approaching force at close range, and then the second, third rank etc and so would throw.
It's the ancient equivalent of a volley fire formation - later used with crossbows to the same effect - take out the armoured and bravest of the enemy and sow discord.
Auxilia enter battle with three light Lancea (spears). Legionaries go into battle with one Pilum but there would be more brought up. After we throw (letting the public throw out 20 light spears, the battlefield looks like a porcupine’s back… and they do stick well in soft ground. I tell the public tossing these it to get the enemy to drop their shields… and you have 4 of them stick in your shield, it becomes difficult to use.
Just some small observations which may improve your videos. Very occasionally you mix your small plurals. For instance when talking about a lot of something you might say “there is thousands of them”. Should be “ there are thousands of them”.
I like this more structured type of video. Good work! I still want some mad ranting, though!
"Man going insane in his backyard over Bannerlord multiplayer loss"
You also gotta put it into context what types of foes the Romans were fighting when they decided to make larger heavier javelins and basically develop the "Roman style" of infantry that they are known for, which was primarily the Phalanx style that Alexander had spread across the ancient world. They weren't using large shields in fighting and instead relied on the "forest of spears" to deflect the energy away from missile weapons, so your assessment that the Pilum are not designed as an "anti-shield" weapon specifically makes sense, but as part of a combined arms weapons set that includes the large scutum and a short cut and thrust sword like the gladius. I can imagine that after seeing the lighter javelins thrown by the auxillia bounce around the phalanx formation some ingenious Roman went "Imagine if instead we threw a really heavy spear that head heavy that can do damage just from the weight alone even if it hits the pikes before landing on someone".
I completely agree. I believe it's primary function was to wound through a shield facing.
You know my friend if they (the Romans) had only been a bit more successful and a bit less corrupt you’d be narrating this video in Latin instead of this mish mash old German derived language !
I wonder if having to carefully watch a volley of pila coming at you just before the charge hits to parry or dodge, meant the Romans could hit an unbalanced, unnerved & distracted enemy.
A good video Matt.Some years ago Frederick Forsyth did a TV series called "Soldiers" and commented on the Roman pilum bending in opponents shields although the primary purpose was to take the soldier behind the shield.
On top of the mandatory innuendo typical of all of your videos Matt, this is even more amusing considering the fact that "pila" in my native portuguese is an informal cutesy form of saying "dick".
You didn't find a use for the ball below the socket?
Then it must be ceremonial!
Wonderful, captures a couple centuries of western academic historians' lazy approach to so many things. "The is no evidence that the ____ was _____, therefore it is believed to have been ceremonial." No sequitor and negative evidence based conclusions, simple marvelous. When translated, the author means: "We could not think of or find evidence of utility, therefore, we being experts, there must have been no utility. Then we went to pub; expoert thinking is thirsty work..."
"Long range" is not very far. Archers are what I would consider minimum of long range.
My thoughts on the Pilum bending has always been that when it hits the shield of the opponent who is charging you The weight of the Pilum and the shield gets unwieldy making the wielder lower it and that the "Butt of the Pilum" hitting the ground all while he is charging making it bend. That what I thought would happen when I first heard that it would "bend on impact"
That makes sense. Spike sticks in shield, pilum hangs down, forward movement drives the butt spike into the ground, and the charging warrior's own momentum is what bends the pilum. Another idea I've read is of the thrower stepping onto the butt of the pilum that is stuck in the shield and using his weight to lever the enemy's shield downwards, leaving the enemy open to a gladius thrust.
*is reminded of the spear units in Bladestorm*
Ah yes, waiting until they're right on me, then CHOOOOOM and they all go flying.
Or they're cavalry and why am I fighting them but...
Intentionally designing the shank to bend, or come loose from the shaft, on impact would probably make it too weak. So this would be mostly an urban myth.
Could the pilum also have evolved with a secondary purpose of deterring cavalry charges?
I don't have a source for this, but I think there were defensive formations used by legionaries with the pila used as spears in the first and second rank to deter cavalry charges.
@@hazzardalsohazzard2624 Yes. Plutarch writes that pila were used as thrusting spears against cavalry in several different occasions in "Life of Caesar" and "Life of Antony."
ChristophInns well, they come up with design that requires significantly more iron for some reason.
Did you look at the pila in the video? Just the ones he showed had incredibly narrow shanks, and even his extra-heavy one ended up bending against straw (he somehow made it worse, taking it out). This wasn't an urban myth, but something attested by historians, and people with a knowledge of physics.
@@vanivanov9571 I agree that they would often bend on hard impact, but I don't think that was the goal in the design, simply what happens when they are made of iron instead of hardened steel. Steel would have been costly for weapons meant primarily to be thrown, and thus likely lost.
I really like the planned and organized presentation. This is an excellent presentation to use as the very argument itself.
The head is also likely to pass through soft armour (padded or the greek linen layered armour) better than a broadheaded spear.......
I wonder what the weight of the metal part of the pilum is. Maybe the metal shaft was originally a gladius that was messed up in forging and turned into a pilum.
I enjoyed the new format, more lecture like with copious illustration, but still love your more traditional one with superdry clothes and shiny head in front of the camera :)
I really like your essay like video. Do more of these videos more often good job.
may I ask you Matt, why did you not mention it used as a anti cavalry weapon, such as in the battle of Pharsalus?
excellent piece very informative - I was lucky enough to go to the Novium museum (Chichester.). I was able to see the armour and gladius and pilum that they have. These are top class reproduction pieces. The Pilum explantion makes perfect sense.
Thanks that study. I would suggest that in the early stages of the battle, the second row of soldiers could assist the first row with the pilum.
Interesting, thanks!
In the battle of Pharsalus Ceaser vs Pompei, Ceaser drew 1 cohort from each legion to form a third line which he drew behind is numerically inferior cavalry in the flank to "stab the horses of the pompeians" once his cavalry gave ground which it was expected to
Yep, there is a lot of evidence that the Romans used the pila in melee combat as thrusting spears (so they had to be sturdy), including: 1) Caear's writings about Alesia said he had his troops first use pilums as spears/pikes before switching to swords. "omissis pilis gladiis rem gerunt" (with their javelins set down they pressed the attack with their swords). -Gallic Wars Book VII
2) Plutarch describes Caesar's men at Pharsalus jabbing upwards at the faces of Pompey's cavalry with their javelins. "And this was what actually came to pass; for they could not endure the upward thrust of the javelins..." -"The Life of Julius Caesar" by Plutarch
3) Plutarch in Life of Antony 45 talks about Mark Antony's legions using their pila to thrust at Parthians in melee. In this incidence, pilas would definitely be of primary importance and much more useful in melee than their short swords,
4) We have reliefs on Roman artwork showing Romans using pila in melee combat stabbing at Dacian infantry. See Tropaeum Traiani
5) Arrian in Array against the Alans (2nd century AD) talks about legionary heavy infantry equipped with an iron shank weapon used to thrust at horses: "And the front four ranks of the formation must be of spearmen, whose spearpoints end in thin iron shanks. And the foremost of them should hold them at the ready, in order that when the enemies near them, they can thrust the ironpoints of the spears at the breast of the horses in particular. Those standing in second, third an fourth rank of the formation must hold their spears ready for thrusting if possible, wounding the horses and killing the horsemen and put the rider out of action with the spear stuck in their heavy body armour and the iron point bent because of the softness." -Array against Alans by Arrian
@@Intranetusa I like your 5th example shows how scary cavalry intent on charging was if the fourth rank at to be ready tohopefully give the final blows to the horse and horseman, the first 2 ranks are expected to get trampled haha, not equipping your infantry with some sort of polearm is almost retarded
The glaring sucess of Caesars army in routing pompeian cavalry at Pharsalus might not be so decidedly resting on using pilas in melee though. There are many examples of smaller cavalry force ovewhelming the opposing cavalry, when intermingled with groups of their own infantry of generally any kind and armament, which allowed them to gain an advantage quickly. Not keeping unengaged reserves and charging too far away from any available supporting units caused general rout and subsequent dissolution of their whole cavalry force, which ceased to exist as an efficient fighting force in short amount of time and with minimal losses for the opponent, if this could be supposed by extrapolation from more recent examples of such events.
@@vegapunk100 Haha, ye...I wouldn't want to be in the first few ranks. The Romans usually adopted what works, so the core legions wouldn't have abandoned polearms such as the heavy thrusting spear if the pila wasn't also able to serve as a polearm/thrusting spear when the situation required.
You shoul test your pilum against some armor
I plan to test it on wood/shield first. Armor is also a possibility.
Would be wise to do it in one video, a little piece of chainmail 10x10cm on top of your archery thingy (sry i m not a native speaker...) will be sufficient. or maybe a little more-depends on your accuracy in throwing 😁
@@scholagladiatoria Maybe look at pilum versus curved and flat shields. The curved scutum may better deflect the pilum and avoid unwanted penetration. Just a thought …...
There are videos about it. Pilum goes right through mail armor with ease.
Check the ThegnThrang videos
Very educational and an excellent companion video to your previous one. Thank you and thanks to everyone who answered my question on that previous video. :)
First of all i want to say that this was a well put together video, informative and decent. Second i want to say that i love the osprey books and the artwork in them is incredible.
To my eyes the main objective of the pilum is armour penetration. Maximum effort over the smallest surface area is the old recipe for armour penetration. I remember seeing a piece of artwork showing a pack mule with the legion carrying bundles of replacement shafts for the pilums and the two/three pins would make it easy to get these weapons serviceable again post battle. I imagine you wouldnt need much of a furnace/heat to get them to bend back into shape. As for the ball bit i believe it to be a lead weight, something to make it heavier to transfer more energy into the target. the best way to find out tho is to recreate them and test them loads. Just my oppinion mind.
Something that's been nagging me for a while is whether it is possible to launch Pila with a throwing string like other javelins, you should test that.
It might even explain what those balls are, not weight, but something to tie strings to.
The sling loop needs to be anchored behind the hand grip on the shaft to work, so the balls could not be used in the way you suggest. A throwing thong would work to some degree, though I think it is wrapped around the shaft so when thrown the javelin spins in flight to give a bit more stabilisation as much as for greater range.
There are far easier ways to attach a string than to put a spherical ball on the shaft. That aside, carvings from the time *do* often show the throwing string on javelins, but don't show it on pila. They have sufficient attention to detail to show the shape of the pilum's weighted shaft, so they would have shown the string if there was one.
Matt, I love this style of video. I guess you were able to work from a script or at least a set of notes because you weren't talking directly to the camera. Really informative and well illustrated, Thank you. Missed your friendly face, though. :)
Interesting stuff. I kept waiting for it to bend in the vid yesterday, and was like, either that's built better, or all those docs I've seen were BS.
Yes, it was built a LOT better. Matt mentioned in a comment in the video he first posted, of throwing the pilum, that it was very thick. Like, pilum vary a lot in thickness, but he got one thicker than the thickest. It's also some kind of mild steel, rather than iron with impurities.
Despite all this, and throwing it into a straw mat, it still bent. Somehow, he concluded a thinner shank thrown by a stronger man into a shield would not bend.
Waiting for Metatron's response video.
This is at least as pleasing as reading and looking at A well illustrated book on historical warfare!
Thnx from Amsterdam,
Another great video! Thank you!
I always imagined the pilum was thrown forward-upwards as apposed to at the target shown in your previous video. Thus the force receiving the charge had to choose; defend against the (now) traveling downwards pilum or defend against the charge
Loved this Matt. Its fascinating to hear about weapons in such amazing detail. You can keep talking as long as you like as far as im concerned . The high level of argument and close analysis of sources is wonderful. I wish I had a tutor like you at University.
Outstanding format and presentation.
peelum? I've always said pielum, idk man
I am confused, its clearly a missile weapon but how did ceasars legionnairs used it as a spear against pompeys cavalary ?
I think that was more of an improvisation than tactical doctrine
This video was fascinating! Very nicely presented :-)
More documentaries like this? Nice!
So much good information; it cleared a lot of my questions. Looking forward to more!
Essentially, what minecraft tried to do with axes (disable enemy shield), the Romans did better 2k years earlier with their pilum. Plus armor piercing and other good stuff. Neat.
Jeepers, could you imagine being in a formation trying to survive a volley of those things flying at you? Arrows are bad enough, but 400 or so of those things hammering in from a volley? Madness!
As I understand, from MUSEUM REPLICAS LTD some 30 years ago, there was another spear called a "varutum". Anything on that?
Thank you for this very educational video! Can’t wait to show it to my friends.
I really like the new style of video. Maybe you could add a part at the end in the usual style, that we can get a good look on the real thing.
*Matt Easton is wrong about the pila bending, and it's painfully obvious: He's basing his ideas off some recent historians (and only named one Osprey book...), and some truly horrible testing he did personally. I will first describe the origin of the idea of pila bending.*
First, it has widely been understood that pila bent in shields not just from the public, but from historians looking at Roman artifacts and sources.
Plutarch is the only primary source Matt explicitly mentioned, where he comments about Marius having pila that were designed to become unusable. I'm not going to argue whether a wooden peg was used or not, as there's no way to confirm that archaeologically (and it is disingenuous to suggest otherwise, considering wood rots). Needless to say, the many examples of bent pila contradict Matt's claim that bending was "rare" and mentioned only due to its extreme rarity. Far from being an unusual and extreme occurrence, the extreme examples tend to be bent at a 45 degree angle! I would love to know how Matt thinks someone could manage to bend iron 45 degrees, while trying to remove it from a shield. Were they TRYING to bend it and make it worse?
Historians have recreated the pilum bending against shields. They showed that yes, it can happen, just as mentioned in the accounts. It of course would have the effect of making the javelin useless and harder to remove from a shield. That shows it's entirely possible, which is much better than the idea that people thought bending the pilum would somehow make it easier to remove from a shield.
There are criticisms that the test isn't absolute proof, but nothing ever is. There were some minor issues with their test, as there are with most. Some people were complaining about cheap iron being used... because as we all know, Roman pila in the iron age were always high-carbon steel with barely any impurities? Obviously not, so you need to use some kind of iron that has some more impurities in it to represent Iron-Age metal.
People also point out that Plutarch was from 200 years after Marius... they point this out two thousand years after the fact, and centuries after the javelin stopped being a weapon of war. Plutarch is our best primary source, so unless there's reason to doubt him, you generally should go off what people saw, heard and believed at the time; rather than whatever you imagine or would like to believe. Considering the tests and physics are in favour of Plutarch's notion, I see no issue in trusting him.
*Now, onto the issues of Matt Easton's ideas, particularly from his test.*
He recently threw a "light or medium" pilum (his words) at a straw mat, and concluded pila never were designed to bend. Many people pointed out various issues with this test. He responded with some interesting details.
His pilum was some sort of mild steel, not iron (he wasn't detailed about the type or carbon content). It being modern, and not specifically poor quality metal, of course means it has basically no impurities, unlike Iron-age metal. But more importantly, he commented that the pilum's shank was thicker than any in the archaeological record.
Quote: "Some are thicker, some are thinner - they also vary in length a lot. This replica I am using probably does have a tougher and thicker shank than most original examples, if not all."
Quote from 10:30 in the previous video: "This is iron, probably mild steel actually[...]"
As he also points out, the length varied significantly, and his is far certainly not the longest. A longer shaft means more leverage to bend it.
Even a millimeter of extra thickness can make a huge difference to structural strengths. He then threw this at a straw mat meant for archery--something that preserves your arrows I will remind you--and decided this proves that a pilum would not bend when thrown against shields. Which is strange, considering Matt Easton's pilum DID BEND, even under these terribly inaccurate conditions.
It didn't bend as much as he expected, and he said it kind of still works as a javelin. On the point of reusing his javelin... in his example, barely. Not if you want to pierce shields and armour with it. It also bent this much despite him not being much of a thrower. Romans would practice for many hours every week with their pila, and he thinks he can throw with the same strength as a legionnaire throwing in anger?
*Now, I shall address the physics of why a pilum bends. The short version is because it's a long, thin, iron shank at the end of a heavy javelin, but apparently some people don't know why that's conducive of bending.*
There were some interesting defences of Matt Easton's flawed test. Some claimed that metal will bend on contact with straw and dirt... and this is why it is tragic that physics is not part of standard curricula in grade-school. Obviously, hitting a straw mat with a javelin is not the same as hitting plate armour with an arrow (it's obvious to you, right?). With an arrow against plate, you often get a flattened arrowhead. When you try to stab a knife through non-frozen butter, however, the knife isn't going to bend, no matter how lousy it is or how thick the butter.
So why did Matt Easton's pilum bend? Perpendicular force, or transverse load. If it was stabbed perfectly straight through a soft material, it won't bend. Even if it was three feet of dirt, it would only become harder to drive it through. Eventually, you could theoretically compact the soil enough to increase its effective density, which may result in flattening of the material in an uneven manner that could cause bending, if you want to get technical... but basically metal won't bend from stuff you can stick a finger through (seriously, how did someone think soil will bend metal?). What will cause it to bend, however, is flexure. If you stick something like a sword deep into the earth, then lever it to one side in an attempt to bend it, you can bend it (if it's a lousy, unhardened sword with little resistance to such). It doesn't matter if you have it in a vise or deep in the ground, or are stepping on the end with your foot--it's still perpendicular force.
The reason pila bend is because when thrown, the momentum of the javelin itself creates this perpendicular force, due to the uneven nature of the impact (AKA: It's not absolutely straight). There may also be some factor with turbulence in the medium of penetration (the shield) from the impact, but mostly it's just the fact your javelin has a bit much momentum for the metal shank to bear.
*Conclusion:*
Obviously, if the metal is thin and soft enough, it will bend from perpendicular force. Tests have recreated this, and it is likely to have been common due to the nature of the Roman pilum, being a heavy javelin and a long iron shank.
Obviously, they will not bend in half from this, so they're still good for penetration on the first throw. And obviously you can easily repair them back at camp with a bit of heating and hammering, so they're still reusable.
And again obviously, this wasn't necessarily done throughout the entire span of the Roman Empire's history, in the sweeping blanket statements that are popular with pila--that should already be obvious from the fact Plutarch was referencing an earlier time. Credit to Matt for pointing out there are a lot of types and uses, and that a pilum can accomplish more than one thing (penetration and shield-disabling), but no credit for failing to acknowledge that a long, narrow, iron shank on a heavy javelin is likely to bend.
PS: Most of the stuff in the video was still good, despite this myth that is being perpetuated against the original historical analyses. Matt Easton is a decent historian, so I hope he can see the point that his theory and test doesn't match up with physics or archaeology.
If you have that much to say, make a video.
@@davidmeehan4486 I could consider it. It would give me something to do during the pandemic. But largely I lack the cameras and the video editing skill. I merely understand physics and archaeology, a little.
It's kind of a pity that people will watch a video, but won't read an article.
@@vanivanov9571
Again. Too long. Just yell at an ipad, then upload it.
@@davidmeehan4486 TLDR, huh...? Meh.
I think the Pilum & short sword was Rome's answer to spears. the range of the pilum beats spears & if it was stuck in spearman's shield they would have them off balance by not just the thing hanging off their shield but it getting knocked around making spear fighting harder and getting into a useable formation with pilum sticking out of shields would make any second line spearmen useless unless the second line spearmen were willing to drop their own shields to support the first line.
Is there any evidence of lead ( for the Ball forms) being bought or carried as part of the armys requirments
Great video! I totally came to the same conclusion that it would be assumable that the pilum, with the shank being the length it is, was made to pierce the shield and continuing on to pierce the person holding the shield? Different weights being made to pierce different types of shields. In the East, wicker Shields were used by some armies, this the lighter pilum could easily skew through the shield and reach the person's center of mass. And the heavier pilum for wooden shields. That's my guess.
Very good video. Greetings from Rio de la Plata, South of Spain America. And, blessing in the Name of Jesucristo ❤
I like this as an alternative format: it makes for variety.
I have a sneaking suspicion that a lot of the variation in design and use was down to individual legions and their centurions (NCOs were one of the greatest Roman inventions). "Look, lad - I've been throwing pila since before you were a twinkle in your dad's eye. Do it my way, or you're on permanent latrine duty."
Yeah, so the idea that all pila were this or that way, as some have been throwing around, saying they all bend or none bend, is ludicrous. Matt's points about reinforced pila are almost totally irrelevant as to how pila were used in other times and places, it shows that military doctrines were changing with time and place.
What about wounding ELEPHANTS? The pilum's design would be great for penetrating the thick hide of a large animal, and Romans encountered elephants throughout their history. I wonder if Romans in the East or against Carthaginians were more often deployed with pila.
Pilums sound interesting.
And no, I see what you mean. Something that breaks on impact uses energy in order to break. Hm.
According to Caesar's Commentarii De Bello Gallico, in the Battle of Bibracte (58 BC), the Roman legionnaires threw their pilla into the Helvetian phalanxes, with many javelins penetrating the phalangists' overlapping shields and then bending, making it impossible to dislodge them and untangle the shields. I can't quote the source because mine isn't in English. :(
Wow. I have heard a lot of breakdowns of the pilum and this one stands out. Way to make it happen!
love this mini documentary format! Chock-full of concise information. I hope you do more of them
The Romans were nothing if not flexible. While we know that there were different types of Pila, we also know there were different types of troops. The regular legions of heavy infantry, and then native ("barbarian") auxiliaries. The sources do state that a great many of the auxiliaries were armed as missile troops-slingers, archers, and spearmen/javileneers. In all likelihood the lighter types of Pila were being carried by Auxiliary troops, not standard legionaries, who would have carried the "standard" pilum. And yes, the bending of the iron shaft was probably not by design but more along the lines of "well, that's a nice bonus".
Matt, what tactics did roman opponents use? Phalanx and shield walls. How would you defeat those? Not by throwing your weapons away but destroying the defense, the formation, block spears and drag down shields. Pila have a fair amount of steel. I suggest they would be repaired so not breaking would be important. Maybe it was used by the second line not thrown but stabbed over the scutum in front. Through the shield. Super effective.
Interesting to know there were different types for certain Combat scenarios.
On a tangentially related topic, can you talk about medieval lance use? I know you've mentioned early modern lances previously and how they were extracted but I don't see how that technique would be possible with heavy armour (let alone a lance rest). I've never liked the idea of lances being designed to break (surely negating all the innovations to maximise impact) but I can't see an alternative other than dislocating your shoulder.
Also in a cavalry-on-cavalry engagement, were men-at-arms expecting to skewer (again I can't see how) or simply whack each other with their lances (and did this change over time)?
Another argument against the intentional bending or pilum being disposable is that it would create a logistical nightmare for the Romans with little additional benefit. The legions often campaigned for extended periods of time, fighting multiple battles and / or skirmishes. Depriving your army of it's most important shock weapon after single engagement or relying on logistics to replenish it after each battle doesn't seem to be reasonable. At least, I don't think there are any sources that would highlight this as major concern, which it certainly would be if they used pilum as a disposable.
On the separate note, you really have to admire how holistically Romans approached combat. Pilum is THE weapon to augment your heavy infantry. It's simple enough not to encumber the soldiers with additional gear as bows would, it doesn't require you to break formation as slings would and it's still extremely effective in stopping enemy charge or soften the static line, like phalanx. Really amazingly clever and simple solution. From tactical standpoint, It's basically their equivalent of squad automatic weapon.
I feel like the pilum was used primarily to disable shields due to it's extremely heavier weight compared to other javelin- considering that the Greeks, for example, used phalanx strategies which depended on the shield. Without their shields, a phalanx would be rendered ineffective and might've caused morale shocks to the enemy force. However, the pilum's lethality is not to be ignored.
The image @ 1:43 ... I have the book that it comes from. It's a tabletop RPG resource book. Though, it has helped me in researching strange weapons. Some of its info is slightly wrong or outdated, but can point me in a new direction.
I'm sure Romans were so successful because they adapted. Sure, their weapons and armor were standardized, but their tactics were usually clever. I mean, they built walls and imprisoned their enemies at times. There was a war/battle of wall building between two different Roman legions who 'fought' against each other. They weren't about throwing their troops away, they weren't about dying mindlessly. They were about conservation of resources and defeating the enemy.
Sure, sure, they did stuff like decimation, which was no doubt brutal. But that was a severe punishment for troops that failed to do their job, that failed to do their part. Often battles were won or lost simply based on who fled first, and who stayed, and forces would fleet at about 1/3rd of so losses. If Romans didn't fleet at 1/3rd losses, and held out just a little longer than the average, that would win them the day. And when losing could mean everyone dies, decimation was brutal, but also not necessarily as bad as complete defeat that decimation was a punishment for preventing.
Staff, balls, long shank... demonetized!
Could the ball on some pilum be the precursor to the famous bolock dagger ? just asking ... :)).
13:20 I'm not entirely convinced that replacing a bolt with a wooden peg would actually result in a break-on-impact situation with the pila. Katanas and tachi swords from Japan traditionally use bamboo pegs to fasten the wooden handles onto the sword blade tangs, and no one accuses those swords of being weak and breaking apart at the hilt after a blow was struck. Maybe bamboo pegs are much, much stronger than the wood pegs used by the Romans, but I can't imagine it's really vastly better. It seems more likely going from two metal bolts to one bolt and one peg might have been a cost/material saving measure when they noticed that pegs didn't significantly reduce performance. But I dunno...
Certainly the best presentation on this subject I've seen....
As the pilum was thrown immediately before contact was made, and often remained embedded in the shield if not actually in the enemy, could part of the rationale for it have been to be re-grasped by a Roman, and used to pull down the enemy shield, or control his actions? Once the charge was made, could it have been pushed the rest of the way through the shield, skewering the opponent?
Would need an extra hand, so maybe???
@@tomdegisi uh no. The gladius could be scabbarded, freeing a hand. Perhaps the second maniple could either defend the first, or deal with the embedded pilium, a bit after the fashion of the second rank augmenting the first in the Greek Phalanx.
well, this was very interesting. Your argument is VERY difficult to counter, because so much historical and modern weapon engineering is ALSO for penetration and durability. .... Perhaps there is even some reason to suggest that the softer iron shaft (vs. a hardened shaft) is ALSO to assist in penetration and durability,,, such a long narrow shaft might be difficult to harden properly, it might break easily if it is hardened, and it might bounce or vibrate instead of penetrating, while the more deadened shaft will not so easily flex on impact. Also the softer shaft and mounting hardware might be more durable with the wood, as a much harder metal might more often result in broken wood on the shaft, while dampened iron will not. Although it is an interesting idea that the pilum was designed to not be thrown back, I can certainly see the logic in the alternate story that when they DID bend, soldiers would SAY things like that to "back up" the quality of their equipment.
His argument is a bit all over the place, which does make it difficult to counter. Largely though, this is based off recent theory, without tests, and an incredibly flawed test in his back yard, using a pilum he admitted was much thicker and stronger than any archaeological find. The guy who made it for him used mild steel, without any impurities like ancient stuff, and likely made it extra thick so that it wouldn't immediately bend with use.
Despite that, against a straw mat.... it bent.
We have found plenty of bent pila, sometimes bent like 45 degrees. You can NOT do that by accident, while removing it from a shield.
@@vanivanov9571 still,,, the argument for penetration first is pretty logical, and good bends can also come from using it as a spear. ,,, maybe even more likely from it.
@@tsmspace You would only want to use your strongest pilum as a spear, so I wouldn't worry about that. The bending takes place after penetration, same as aluminum arrows on deer.
Interesting new style! I hum... don't dislike it but it is missing some of the energy of "Matt standing in front of the camera with weapons in hand" style videos. Maybe a mix? With this style to begin and then the typical Matt, especially waving/using the weapon being discussed and demonstrating? Kinda like some classes have lectures then lab.
Hello Matt. Here is a fun fact Pilum invented by the Celts of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain / Portugal) and there is a javelin called Soliferrum which was made entirely of metal
I’m curious if the squared shape of the pilum’s point is easier to manufacture than a more blade or leaf-like shape. With the number of pila the manufacturers must have been cranking out, would economy have been a factor along with penetrating potential? Great video, I loved it!
About the multiple head shapes. It is important to remember that overcategorisation and a very mathematical "maximization" of results (3 or 4 inches penetration, potahto potato) seem to be features of more recent times, not of anything before the 17th century or even later. Unless any of those head designs function significantly differently from the others (e.g. the one with wooden pegs instead of metal rivets, something more for show), my guess is that they were interchangeable and varied from smith to smith, region to region, commission to commission , day to day, all at once. But not so much for some theoretical battle advantage or strategy, and they were likely used pretty much the same way. They didn't have perfect knowledge of their enemies troops and gear 99.9% of the time, just a ballpark at best, so not likely they would have any incentive micromanage the design of their weapons in advance - if it works the same in general terms, it is the same.
That’s huge ! Love it ! More of this ! Such condensed documentaries are rare and the well thought out argumentation is well appreciated!
I have had a thought. The Roman legion being specialised for close up combat would have been at a disadvantage when confronted with longer range weapons, that is to say long pikes. I don't know if they ever faced and enemy so equipped or whether that was a much later thing, but in any case if it was a thing, I guess a couple of volleys with the pilum (pl?) would start to even things up.
What about terrain? They may have had different designs to fit the terrain.
It's a long shot, especially since the ball is so high up, but maybe it was used for throwing. You could throw it like a ball.
Speaking of the ‘pilum’ - and how perfect and potent it was as a melee weapon…
ruclips.net/video/ZxY3CzN2Kkc/видео.htmlsi=QkXMKFP3_yrsWwH0
Great format. The organisation and clarity allowed your insight to come through very well. I'd love to see more videos like this in the future.
Giovanni Brizzi suggested that the heavy pilum with the ball shape was introduced to deal with heavy armoured targets such as the Partian armoured horseman. He also associates the introduction of the heavy pilum with the time of the Battle of Carrhae.
Impressive amount of information - i really enjoy your presentation. Always very detailed, on interesting subject!
We definitely need some experimental archaeology when it comes to that ball-attachment for the pilum. Get some pila made with some ball attachments, but have them made with iconographically-appropriate size, but out of various different materials (maybe: wood, copper, iron, and lead), then see how this changes the performance of the weapon. If the ball is too heavy, it might move the point of balance too far back to fly in a stable manner, so we might be able to either rule out a particular material, or rule out a pilum being used as a thrown weapon when modified that way.