
Originally Posted by
cmacq
The only practical use for the javelin is when its tossed at the enemy, and as classical mechanic dictate, the potential of mass is converted by speed into kinetic which translates into a bodkin-esque penetration of the enemy.
let's not forget the primary reason why this is so powerful- gravity!
9.8 m/s^2 acceleration makes the small mass thing much more threatening (aerodynamics help)

Originally Posted by
cmacq
Lets change gears here and do big picture-small to recap? First we have heavily armed-shield-wall w/spear Hellen-istas going old school all around on the world known to the west. The shield wall w/spears thingy made light and even heavy horse, which had been all the rage untill this point, all but useless. Next, to counter the shield wall w/spears thingy, someone invented the ‘float like a butterfly, sting like bee’ (Italics) or the ‘smash and grab’ tactics (Africa and the East). Of course the ‘smash and grab’ used the elephant. So lets say, what would the poor man’s version of a smash and grab operation look like? OK there would be no elephants; but there was tons of the disposable young and dumb, and all the Perps-in-Charge (PIC) had to do was ‘point and click.’
speaking of 'half-baked' personal theories... I gots y'all something to mention - consider this:
just around the Dark Age of around 1200BC we find Naue Swords [the first of the full-tang swords who redefined the blade- no more handle breaking at connection-point], these found primarily in Italy and Greece, but moreso in Thrace. Skirmisher tactics begin to be developed as a counter to the previously 'shocking', 'aweful' new technology of chariots, completely changing warfare, using javelins and lightly (in comparison) armored troops who have mobility and can be used against chariots in a loose configuration.
[insert gaps of pre-history... myserious 'Sea Peoples' who challenge the Mediterranean]
And later in Classical times, Thracian 'peltasts' who are known to have influenced a good deal of Europe, just happen to come from the same area, using similar tactics... The Samnites and Italic tribes who are some of the best warriors in Europe for their time, use tactics (along with technology) that make them so, using the skirmisher model... Rome becomes great because of their ability to borrow tactics and military technology from their neighbors, the jump-start being the Samnites/Italics then later Iberians then later Celts (and so on)- it is also entirely possible that having to fight such ferocious warriors also made the Romans so adept in their art at the time... Thracians and Italics are both Indo-European, yet there is something very closely linked between them... it could be simple environment (geographical, or maybe non-Indo-Europeans even) which produced similar results, but I find it very interesting (and surprisingly underestimated). The Naue sword technology and findings/deposits just happen to coincide with the skirmisher tactics developing and also with the appearance of the 'Sea Peoples'. We know from Herodotus that the Thracians were the 2nd most populous people on Earth next to the people of India! I think much is overlooked in the Thracians and the whereabouts of ancient Thrace- which included Romania besides the Balkans. The point of entry for Greek and Italic Indo-European-culture-bearers has much in common also.
[added half-baked-goodness]
ever notice how close La Tene / Halstatt foci are to Romania / Balkans - ancient Thrace? methinks it is no coincidence... if we tie together the Celtic, Thracian, Italic, Iberian skirmisher-oriented culture - indeed interesting.
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