03-23-2014, 07:00 PM
Quote:Evan, what are the Lanciarii called in the original Greek text of the Strategikon?
I was referring to that Pseudo-Mauricius mentions that in the Legion of the Strategikon the troops in a unit are divided into Heavy infantry in the front and lighter infantry in the back with the purpose of throwing missiles overhead.
Quote:Of course the lance javelin would also be used by heavy infantry too, so even that would not be sufficient...
Lanciarius comes from Lancaea, a light leaf-bladed javelin about 3-4 foot in length. The term also referred to the Verrutum, a light javelin with a three-sided pyramidal head.
The Heavy Javelin/Spear the Infantry (sometimes) used was the Spiculum, but this wasn't assigned to any particular grade of unit. Some units used it, others didn't. Most probably used spears and darts or spears and light javelins.
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