Plumbata

[Crispvs]

This is probably a bit off topic now, and the late empire is not really my speciality, but back on page 1 there was speculation about how plumbatae (in this case manufactured by Len Morgan) should be held behind a shield. Although there's presumably no more proof for this than any other reconstruction, the shield that we use for our fourth century soldier when doing presentations of 'the Roman army through the ages', also made by Len Morgan, features two square section wooden bars attached horizontally to the right side of the shield back about a foot above one another. The upper face of the lower bar is deeply drilled with evenly spaced sockets five sockets and the front face of the upper bar has five wide grooves in it which correspond with the sockets in the lower bar. To the right of each of the grooves there is a large headed nail which has been partially hammered in, thus creating a 'button'. A leather strap is attached to the left end of the front face of the bar with small slits cut into it corresponding to the positions of the buttons. The five plumbatae are each placed point down in a socket in the lower bar so that their shafts rest in the depressions between the buttons on the upper bar. The leather strap is then fastened over the buttons leaving a 'tag' about four inches long at the right hand end. This arrangement holds all five plumbatae quite securely and the tag on the end of the strap forms a quick release handle which can expose the plumbatae one at a time. The deeply drilled sockets the points rest in mean that the weapon does not immediately fall out and I have found it fairly easy to release a dart, then grasp and then throw it, with only one mishap so far, being the first time I tried to release and throw all five in turn at a run, when I accidentally released three at once by pulling too hard on the strap. I have not dropped one since. I have found that the shield is slightly unwieldy when fully loaded but not to the point where it cannot be controlled. The right to left release also gradually balances the shield as more darts are thrown so that by the time one would expect to come into hand to hand combat the shield is much better balanced.<br>
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Anyway, as I said, there's probably no more proof for this than any other method but at least that was how the maker of the weapons envisaged that they might be carried and may have influenced the length of his plumbata shafts. I'll ask him the next time I see him.<br>
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Crispvs<br>
R.M.R.S. <p></p><i></i>