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Pilum. The pilum (Latin: [ˈpiːɫʊ̃]; pl.: pila) was a javelin commonly used by the Roman army in ancient times. It was generally about 2 m (6 ft 7 in) long overall, consisting of an iron shank about 7 mm (0.28 in) in diameter and 600 mm (24 in) long with a pyramidal head, attached to a wooden shaft by either a socket or a flat tang.
The sudis (pl.: sudes) was a stake carried by Roman legionaries for employment as a field fortification, sometimes also called vallus. It is frequently, but incorrectly, called a pilum murale (lit. ' wall spear '). Typically, two such stakes were carried by each soldier.
A sturdy pilum that does not bend upon impact would be in line with the numerous historical Roman writings that state the pilum was often used as a weapon in melee combat: For example, in "The Gallic Wars" Caesar writes that at Alesia his troops used the pila as spears or pikes. In the "Life of Pompey" and "Life of Antony", Plutarch describes ...
A recreation of Roman legionaries wearing the lorica segmentata, 1st–3rd century.Other equipment in view include the galea (helmet), pilum (spear) and scutum (shield). The Roman legionary (in Latin legionarius; pl.: legionarii) was a citizen soldier of the Roman army.
In the Imperial Legion, ten contubernia formed a centuria. Maniple – The pre-Marian sub-unit of the Roman Legions, consisting of 120 men (60 for the Triarii). Legio – A legion in the pre-Marian armies consisted of 60 manipuli of infantry and 10 turmae of cavalry. By 250 BC, there would be four Legions, two commanded by each Consul: two ...
Archaeologists have found four Roman swords and a shafted weapon known as a pilum dating from 1,900 years ago in a cave near the shore of the Dead Sea in Israel.
Roman legionaries in tight formation, a relief from Glanum on display at the Gallo-Roman Museum of Lyon-Fourvière. Repellere equites ("repel horsemen/knights") was the formation used to resist cavalry. The legionaries would assume a square formation, holding their pila as spears in the space between their shields and strung together shoulder ...
The contubernium (Latin for 'tenting-together') was the smallest organized unit of soldiers in the Roman Army and was composed of ten legionaries, [1] essentially the equivalent of a modern squad, although unlike modern squads contubernia seemed to serve no tactical role in battle.