Plumbata

[John Conyard]

Early Romans seem wedded to their pila, while later Romans always seem to concentrate on the throwing dart.

Later infantry were literally carrying a range of javelins to the battlefield. Using Vegetius for terminology and size, the spiculum is now the "heavy" javelin, weighing around 665g. The verutum is a lighter cheaper javelin of around 350g. They both have a range of around 20m, but the spicula hits with the greatest penetrative power. A glass from Germany shows infantry carrying two spicula, but for the same weight a quiver of veruta could be carried, perhaps better for use against "light" infantry. The spiculum will probably bend on impact. But untempered bent spicula and damaged veruta can be easily re-shaped and sharpened.

Before or even during action veruta could be passed to the front ranks to throw. But buckets of plumbata could also be passed forward or issued. At around 200g for an individual dart, they are light and small enough to make transport relatively easy. I disagree that they were strapped to the internal right hand side of the shield. Over 1kg of lead and iron pulls the shield out of alignment. But buckets of darts as mentioned by Maurice, can be tied to the shield handle keeping the weight centralised and the shield in a vertical alignment. The darts can be retrieved and thrown quickly, without the bucket getting in the way. It certainly allows the darts to be carried inside the shield without trying to carry them in your in your hand.

Underarm plumbata out-range other javelins, with 80m being easily achieved. They land near to vertical over the shields of your enemy, making a hazard for horses as well. Thrown overarm plumbata have a greater velocity than a javelin, which compensates for their relatively light weight. The join between the metal and wooden components generally break on impact. The darts can be put back in commission in the field but it takes relatively longer to effect repairs.

When deciding what to carry choices have to be made. I suspect veruta and plumbata could be issued before any general action. So two spicula seem a good general combination for a pede to carry for most occasions. They can also serve as a primary hand to hand weapon, but spears have twice the weight and seem to have been longer. "Light" infantry would perhaps favour carrying veruta, and more of them. A bucket of plumbata could be useful at anytime.