Plumbata

[Robert Vermaat]

Hi Tomothy.

Like Ste says, plumbatae have a much longer range than the pilum ever had.
But the javelin also changed, from the weighted pilum to the unweighted verutum and spiculum by the time of Vegetius. I looks like the heavy javelin disappeared anyway.

So yes, addditional weapons, but also different, and probably for a different role..
Also, the weight need not have been too tiring to the infantryman - it may have been possible that this decription refers to a means of transportation. To throw plumbatae quickly, they are likely to have beeen removed from the shield before throwing.

At least some legions in the late Empire switched from the pilum and the spiculum to the much smaller and lighter darts called plumbata...
1. Much smaller means they are not going to penetrate enemy shields and force the enemy to drop shields. Also would assume they are less likely to penetrate armor.

2. Their weight inside the shields would tire a roman soldier faster if he ends up in close combat before he can throw all of his darts.

I didn't have the impression that they replaced the various javelin types, but they were an additional arm - Sander van Dorst's extracts from Vegetius on the other thread give a good summary of this.

They are much easier than javelins to carry in formation and can be thrown more subtly from behind the shield. I think they are designed primarily for soft targets rather than shields and would have been used en masse only against unshielded (or relatively unshielded) formations, such as light infantry or cavalry.

But more likely, I think, that they would be cast at a venture against the unprepared, by virtue of longer range and sneakier throw and perhaps mixed in with standard missiles: you can pog plumabata ballistically and quickly chuck javelins directly, which could work well if the enemy's testudo drill was rusty!

At short range, the weight gives them another role: if you have room to throw them overarm, they seem to benefit from mechanical advantage like a throwing axe, but the flights correct the attitude - we have smashed a few wooden targets that way with blunts.

Thanks for the information. The few sources I had read on it suggested that they replaced the larger heaviers javalins which made no sense.

If they were added as additional weapons then that would make alot more sense.