Editing Pilum (section)

==Design==
A ''pilum'' had a total weight between {{convert|2|and|5|lb|order=flip|round=0.5|kg|abbr=on}},{{Citation needed|reason=2 to 5 pounds seems too heavy|date=February 2018}} with the versions produced during the earlier [[Roman Republic|Republic]] being slightly heavier than those produced in the later [[Roman Empire|Empire]].

The weapon had a hard pyramidal tip, but the shank was sometimes made of softer iron. The softness could cause the shank to bend after impact, thus rendering the weapon useless to the enemy.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Pilum (Spear) |url=https://romanmilitary.net/tools/pilum/ |access-date=1 January 2021 |website=romanmilitary.net}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=http://archive.org/details/weaponvisualhist0000unse_x0p6 |title=Weapon : a visual history of arms and armor |date=2013 |publisher=New York : DK Publishing |via=Internet Archive |isbn=978-5-00100-945-0 |pages=8 |language=en}}</ref> According to Davide Antonio Secci, the ''pilum'' was not meant to bend on impact, but instead was meant to break.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Secci |first=Davide Antonio |date=2012-01-01 |title=Priam's Spear and Pyrrhus' Shield (Verg. A. 2.544-6)1) |url=https://brill.com/view/journals/mnem/65/3/article-p413_4.xml |journal=Mnemosyne |language=en |volume=65 |issue=3 |pages=413–424 |doi=10.1163/156852511X547956 |issn=0026-7074}}</ref>  If a ''pilum'' struck a shield, it might embed itself, and the bending of the shank would force the enemy to discard his shield as unusable without removing the ''pilum'', or carry around the shield burdened by the weight of the ''pilum''.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Anglim |first1=Simon |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=13SV4nOCLHsC |title=Fighting Techniques of the Ancient World (3000 B.C. to 500 A.D.): Equipment, Combat Skills, and Tactics |last2=Rice |first2=Rob S. |last3=Jestice |first3=Phyllis |last4=Rusch |first4=Scott |last5=Serrati |first5=John |date=2003 |publisher=Macmillan |isbn=978-0-312-30932-9 |pages=7 |language=en}}</ref> Even if the shank did not bend, the pyramidal tip still made it difficult to pull out. Many cases occurred, though, in which the whole shank was hardened, making the ''pilum'' more suitable as a close-quarters melee weapon and also making it usable by enemy soldiers.<ref name="Cowan200322">{{cite book |last=Cowan |first=Ross |title=Roman legionary: 58 BC - AD 69 |publisher=Osprey Publishing |year=2003 |isbn=978-1-84176-600-3 |pages=25–26 |chapter=Equipment |access-date=8 February 2012 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0TKO7lOzuxMC&pg=PA25 }}{{Dead link|date=May 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

Although the bending of its shank is commonly seen as an integral part of the weapon's design and as an intentional feature, little evidence suggests that. The most commonly found artifacts suggest that the ''pilum'' was constructed to use the weight of the weapon to cause damage, most likely to be able to impale through [[armour]] and reach the enemy soldier's body. The combination of the weapon's weight and the aforementioned pyramidal tip (the design of which was seen in the [[Middle Ages]] in the form of [[bodkin arrow]] tips), made the ''pilum'' a formidable armour-piercing weapon. If the weapon was meant to be used against armour and to use its mass (as opposed to its speed) to cause damage, the bending of the shank seems to be a beneficial result of its intended use, which is to pierce through layers of armour. That the ''pilum'' needed to pierce layers of armour (through the shield, into body armour and past clothing) necessitated a lengthy shank, which was prone to bending. M.C. Bishop wrote that the momentum of the ''pilum'' caused the shank to bend upon impact, and although unintended, that proved a useful characteristic of the weapon.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bishop |first1=M.C. |title=Roman Military Equipment from the Punic Wars to the Fall of Rome |last2=Coulston |first2=J.C.N. |date=2009 |publisher=Oxford Books |isbn=9781842171592 |edition=2nd |location=Oxford, UK |pages=50–51}}</ref> However, a newer work by M. C. Bishop states that ''pila'' are "unlikely to bend under their own weight when thrown and striking a target or ground"; rather, human intervention such as improper removal of a ''pilum'' stuck in a target is responsible in some way, and Caesar's writings should be interpreted as the ''pilum'' bending when soldiers tried to remove them.<ref name="The Pilum: The Roman Heavy Javelin22">{{cite book |last1=Bishop |first1=M.C. |title=The Pilum: The Roman Heavy Javelin |date=2017 |publisher=Osprey Publishing |isbn=978-1472815880}}</ref>
[[File:AdamclisiMetope27.jpg|left|thumb|Legionaries carrying ''pila'', as depicted on the [[Tropaeum Traiani]]]]
Since the pyramidal tip of a ''pilum'' was wider than the rest of the shank, once it had penetrated a shield, it left behind a hole larger than the rest of the shank, and it could move through the shield with little resistance, stabbing the soldier behind. The length of the shank and its depth of penetration also made pulling it out of a shield more difficult, even if it failed to bend. If the bearer of the shield was charging and a ''pilum'' penetrated the shield, the end of the heavy shaft of the ''pilum'' would hit the ground, holding the shield in place. Some ''pila'' had a spike on the end of the shaft, which made it easier to dig into the ground.{{citation needed|date=July 2017}}

The two versions of ''pila'' are heavy and light. Pictorial evidence suggests that some versions of the weapon were weighted by a lead ball to increase penetrative power, but archaeological specimens of that design variant are not (so far) known.<ref>Connolly, 1998, p233.</ref> Recent experiments have shown ''pila'' to have a range around {{convert|33|m|ft|sigfig=2|abbr=on}}, although the effective range is up to {{convert|15|-|20|m|abbr=on|round=5}}. The earliest known examples of heavy ''pila'' have barbed heads and their tangs have a figure-eight shape.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bishop |first1=M.C. |title=Roman Military Equipment from the Punic Wars to the Fall of Rome |last2=Coulston |first2=J.C.N. |date=2009 |publisher=Oxford Books |isbn=9781842171592 |edition=2nd |page=52}}</ref>

Romans also used the ''pilum'' as a melee weapon in close-quarters combat.<ref name="The Pilum: The Roman Heavy Javelin22" /> Note pictorial depictions from the [[Tropaeum Traiani]] monument, descriptions of [[Julius Caesar|Caesar]]'s troops using javelins as [[Pike (weapon)|pikes]] against the Gauls in Caesar's [[Commentarii de Bello Gallico|''Gallic War'']], Book VII, and descriptions of Caesar's men using javelins to stab at Pompey's cavalry in [[Plutarch]]'s [[Parallel Lives|''Life of Caesar'']].

The ''[[angon]]'' was a similar weapon used in late Roman and post-Roman times.

The origin of the design of the ''pilum'' is a matter of contention. Arguments have been proposed which suggest that the design stemmed from ancient Italian tribes or from the Iberian Peninsula. Considering that two versions of the ''pilum'' are known (the heavy and the light), the Roman ''pilum'' may be descended from two different weapons, perhaps from different cultural groups. The two weapons designs may have coalesced into the form of the typical Roman ''pilum'' as it is known today.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bishop |first1=M. C. |title=Roman Military Equipment from the Punic Wars to the Fall of Rome |last2=Coulston |first2=J. C. N. |date=2009 |publisher=Oxford Books |isbn=9781842171592 |edition=2nd |location=Oxford, UK |page=52}}</ref>