On Pila and the Legion

[Del Arroyo]

I have not yet played the demo myself, but I have noticed some discussion/debate in these forums as to how pila are implemented in the game. As it is, they are counted as javelins which may or may not be discharged at a range before charging in with swords.

This depiction is consistent with the majority of popular historical recreations, but I do not feel it is entirely accurate with the way pila were actually used. Based on various sources and my own feeling, it seems to me that the pilum, while it could also be lobbed from a distance, was probably more useful once closer to the enemy, and could even have been used to supplement melee.

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Spears are, we are told, defensive weapons. But if you study the Illiad or other depictions of ancient combat, the impression one gets is quite to the contrary. Classically, the spear is the ultimate OFFensive weapon, with a range and penetrating ability simply unmatchable by the sword.

The impression I have formed is that, in man-to-man combat, the most effective way to use a spear was to hold it in the over-hand fashion, guarding yourself with your shield, and try to hit your enemy before he could hit you. You would either cast it a short distance or deliver a series of long-range strikes, and then close to attack with the sword if you either missed or broke your spear-head.

The downside of this method of fighting is that it was incompatible with an ordered formation. The development of heavier shields and the greater availability of bronze armor led to the dominance of the heavily-armoured hoplites with their shield walls and thrusting-spears. The Macedonians gave their hoplites smaller shields and longer spears and invented the classic Phalanx.

The Phalanx represents the ultimate incarnation of spears as a DEFensive weapon, the formation pushing forward only because the front is impenetrable.

Then came the Romans. They started out using Spartan-style hoplites, but then they had an idea-- whatever happened to the OFFensive spear? What if it could be modified in such a way that it could be used in a well-ordered formation? Thus-- the Legion.

The Legion, in contrast to the impenetrable frontof the Phalanx, focuses on agressively striking the enemy formation. Pila, short enough to be used without putting out anyone's eye behind you, and bending on impact to prevent their use by the enemy, are the first implement of smiting, and if they don't work the legionaries close ALL AT ONCE to stab, stab, stab.

Legionaries are not skirmishers. It seems much more likely to me that a soldier would use his pilum at close range, where he will be much more likely to hit and kill. It also seems likely, indeed I've heard accounts, that the ranks behind him might cast more pila even after he had entered in close combat with the enemy line-- thus providing a modified form of the rear-rank support so touted in more conventional spear formations.

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So it seems to me that while the Legionaries should have the option of casting javelin-style in special circumstances, the Pilum makes much more sense factored in somehow to the melee.

DA

[Colovion]

The ROman units with this possibility (at the moment Hastati and Princeps have Pilum to throw. You have your mouse cursor, when hovered over an enemy it will change to a Pilum looking icon and then you right click to attack. The soldiers will run up, pause, throw a Pilum (takes a little long IMO) and then continue to charge into the enemy after they throw their single Pilum. I've had a couple good times when at the end of a battle where there are enemy troops staggering around the battle field you toss one volley of pilum into that unit and they usually rout.

[McGowan]

In my reading, I have always run across evidence that argues that the pila were not meant as killing weapons at all. They were meant to be blocked by shields where the narrow head of the weapon would puncture the shied, but the thin neck would bend at the join of pila and shield, and render the pila incapable of being quickly removed. The enemy soldier would have no time to remove the pila before the Legionarries moved in for hand to hand combat, and would have to fight without his shield. The Legionarries did this because their primary weapon was a short sword (the gladius) used in a chopping motion. If it was caught on the edge of a shield it had a tendency to get stuck, much like an axe will get stuck when splitting wood.

Then Pila then served the dual purpose of relieving a number of enemies of a tool they are used to fighting with, and also lessoning the chance of a Legionaire losing his sword in someone's shield. Granted, I'm sure they wouldn't have complained if the pila did kill the occasional target in the process.

[Colovion]

their primary weapon was a short sword (the gladius) used in a chopping motion.

no, it was used in a stabbing motion primarily

but the rest of the psot was good

[Red Harvest]

As best I can tell, the pila was not designed for hand-to-hand use. It would most likely break/fold after hitting a shield a few times. Remember, the tip was designed to fold on impact. This kept the weapon from being thrown back at you, plus it could stick in a shield and fold over making the shield difficult to use (the pila had a head shaped to make it difficult to extract.)

I saw an image a few days ago of pila being used in an anti-cavalry formation. With the front rank kneeling in tight formation with shields in front, pila pointed up from the dirt at a 45 degree angle. The second rank had their shields resting at a 45 degree angle on top of the 1st rank shields and held their pila overhanded, ready to throw if the cav came in close. Purely defensive and immobile and it only works if you haven't thrown your pila.

I believe the pila was discarded once they entered hand to hand (since it would just be in the way.) Rear ranks could use it though.

The advantage of the gladius over the falcata was that it was a stabbing sword (although it could be used in chopping motion as well.) This made it better suited for close quarters formation fighting with shields, where there was less room to swing a sword.

In the demo the Romans seem to get two pila each, although you can rarely get the formation to throw the second one. Hit percentage is about 10+% vs. other stationary heavy infantry in standard formations.

[Tamur]

Great posts Arroyo & everyone, it does make one think.

The idea of the spear as a hand-to-hand weapon is well fostered by descriptions of battle in the Illiad. In the combat between Menelaus and Paris, and the climactic battle between Achilles and Hector, spears are first choice for a death-blow, followed by a reluctant pulling out of swords. In the chaos of the battles on the plain, it's spears that are doing the damage and getting Homer's graphic descriptions, not swords.

There are some who say that the focus on spears in Greek times came from the fact that swords, though useful in very close combat, were made of bronze. They could only hold a semi-sharp edge, dented easily, and shattered often in fierce combat. Spears, on the other hand, were mostly made of wood --- tough stuff to be sure, and far less to break when you most needed it. Also trees were plentiful, while metal was scarce.

By Roman times, though, swords were being made of iron rather than bronze, so they shattered far less often, could hold a better edge, and were sometimes longer (though they were still quite short, slightly over half a metre at most).