Weapons

[Anonymous]

wot weapons did the romans use?<br>
how did they use them?<br>
thanx <p></p><i></i>

[Guest]

Salve,<br>
<br>
There is a distinct tendency in modern works on the Roman army to use all kinds of Latin words for weaponry in a precisely defined technical manner that was not used in Roman times. The Romans themselves saw no need to frame their terminology in the rigid manner favoured by modern man. For this reason I will discuss the Roman weaponry using modern terminology rather than adhering to a posh sounding, but misleading classification using Latin terms. Nevertheless some of the terms will be listed without an attempt to explain their precise meaning, which can differ from ancient author to author.<br>
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Spears<br>
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The Roman army used a variety of both stabbing - and throwing spears. Of these weapons the latter category was by far the most important, various types of javelins equipping the majority of both foot and mounted troops. Nvertheless stabbing spears were used by the third line of the republican era legionary heavy infantry and was used by most Roman cavalrymen throughout the ages. Heavy spears or pikes were used in imperial times, at first as two handed heavy thrusting spears used by shock cavalry and from the third century on by Roman heavy infantry, which from that time on was partly rearmed in a resurgence of Hellenistic phalanx tactics.<br>
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Javelins were used by both heavy infantrymen and light infantry skirmishers. The characteristic weapon of the Roman infantry was a heavy javelin with a rather long iron shank behind the spear head known as the <i> pilum</i>. These could both have pyramidical points for better armour - and shield piercing characteristics or vicious barbed heads that could wreak more havoc on naked flesh of men and animals. The long and narrow iron shank allowed such javelins to penetrate shields and still hit the soldier hiding behind it. One or two such javelins were carried by the legionary heavy infantry and generally thrown at comparatively short ranges, though it was sometimes employed as a stabbing weapon. At various times these weapons were modified to render them useless to an enemy once thrown by either weakening the connection between iron spearhead and wooden shaft or by leaving the iron shank unhardened. Other heavy javelins could be fashioned wholly of iron and had similar superior penetrating characteristics, though these were used only in limited numbers. Lighter javelins with conventional leaf shaped heads, sometimes with a throwing thong attached, were much in use by both infantry and cavalry, up to seven or eight being carried. These had greater range at the expense of inferior penetration. In heavy infantry formations that were drawn up deeper than usual such lighter javelins were substituted for the short range <i> pilum</i> to prevent accidental friendly fire casualties in the front lines.<br>
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Latin terms: <i> pilum</i>; <i> hasta</i>; <i> hasta amentata</i>; <i> hasta velitaris</i>; <i> lancea</i>; <i> lancea pugnatoria</i>; <i> contus</i>; <i> iaculum</i>; <i> tragulum</i>; <i> gaesum</i>; <i> mattaris</i>; <i> verutum</i>; <i> spiculum</i>; <i> vericulum</i>; <i> missile</i>.<br>
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Greek terms: <i> dory</i>; <i> doru makron</i>; <i> belon</i>; <i> hyssos</i>; <i> xyston</i>; <i> kontos</i>; <i> lankia</i>; <i> lonchè</i>; <i> grosphos</i>; <i> gaison</i>.<br>
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Swords<br>
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The primary close combat weapon was the sword. Swords of various kinds equipped both infantry and cavalry soldiers. At first the infantrymen carried short swords with longer blades primarily used by cavalrymen, later such long swords were in general infantry use as well. Nearly all types of sword were two edged with a sharp point that made stabbing as well as slahing possible, though some auxiliary troops used native single edged slashing blades. Roman swordplay consisted of cut and thrust tactics, the thrust being preferred because it allowed the soldier to over himself with his shield and to inflict more serious wounds. At first swords were generally worn on the right hip, though this slowly changed to a preference to hang swords on the left.<br>
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Latin terms: <i> gladius</i>; <i> gladius Hispanicus</i>; <i> gladius Hispaniensis</i>; <i> gladius pugnatorius</i>; <i> spatha</i>; <i> semispatha</i>; <i> ensis</i>; <i> falx</i>; <i> falcata</i>.<br>
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Greek terms: <i> machaira</i>; <i> machaira Iberikè</i>; <i> machaira makra</i>; <i> xyphos</i>; <i> spathè</i>; <i> spathè makra</i>.<br>
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Long range missile weapons.<br>
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There were several long range missile weapons. First of all there were the bow and arrow. Though the republican army made rather limited use of archers, the imperial army had large numbers of bowmen, both foot - and horse archers, among its ranks. in addition to the numerous specialist units part of the troops in other formations were also trained and armed as archers. Powerful composite bows were used in combat with simple self bows used for training. Crossbows were used in limited numbers in the later empire. Archery was primarily used for its moral effect, relatively few casualties being inflicted for the number of missiles expended. Another long ranged weapon was the sling, usually a simple sling though the staff sling was also known. These were generally used with lead pellets or stones. Though there are no regular specialist units in the imperial army at least part of the troops in a unit would be trained with this weapon. The sling bullet had superior armour piercing characteristics compared to the bow. Feathered weighted darts were introduced in the late imperial army and provided infantry with long range missile capacity at the cost of reduced penetration. Finally torsion artillery provided the longest range missile capability, their effective range exceeding that of the bow by a wide margin. Both bolt - and stone firing catapults were used, mostly in sieges but on the battlefield as well. Catapults can be regarded as the one type of weaponry in which the Roman army possessed a clear technological advantage over their enemies. As for other categories of offensive weaponry the Roman advantage lay more in the fact that they had an abundance of them compared to an enemy rather than a technological edge in effectiveness per se.<br>
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Archery equipment: <i> arcus</i>; <i> sagitta</i>; <i> pharetra</i>; <i> manuballista</i>.<br>
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Sling: <i> fundus</i>; <i> fustibalis</i>; <i> glans</i>.<br>
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Darts: <i> plumbata</i>; <i> martiobarbulus</i>.<br>
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Artillery: <i> catapulta</i>; <i> tormentum</i>; <i> ballista</i>; <i> scorpio</i>; <i> onager</i>.<br>
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Daggers<br>
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Daggers were used as a secondary side arm. Due to their short reach it was probably used only in emergencies. Senior officers carried a special dagger as a badge of office.<br>
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Latin term: <i> pugio</i>.<br>
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Greek terms: <i> encheiridion</i>; <i> parazonion</i>.<br>
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Axes<br>
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Axes were used only on a limited scale. Imperial Roman cavalrymen used axes as close quarter weapons, though otherwise their use was extremely limited. The pick axe or <i> dolabra</i>, really an entrenching tool, was at times used against especially heavily armoured opponents.<br>
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Greek term: <i> pelekys</i>.<br>
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Clubs<br>
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The most simple of weapons the use of wooden practice swords as riot batons was perhaps the greatest use made of this primitive weapon. Clubs were nevertheless used by some auxiliary troops and had their uses in numbing heavily armoured cavalrymen. The iron headed club or mace was little used, only becoming a significant weapon in Byzantine times.<br>
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Latin terms: <i> fustis</i>; <i> rudis</i>; <i> clavis lignea</i>.<br>
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Regards,<br>
<br>
<br>
Sander van Dorst <p></p><i>Edited by: <A HREF=http://pub45.ezboard.com/bromanarmytalk.showLocalUserPublicProfile?login=sandervandorst>Sander van Dorst</A> at: 5/10/01 8:38:01 am<br></i>

[Matthew Amt]

Ave!<br>
Ah, good, a nice rundown from Sander! If you want to see what we're talking about, hit a few websites, then get a few books (buy or borrow), and you'll learn a LOT very quickly.<br>
<br>
www.larp.com/legioxx/ , particularly the links to the Handbook for Legionaries, Photographs page, and Bibliography page.<br>
<br>
www.romanarmy.com --click on the big billboard link at the top of this page.<br>
<br>
www.legionXXIV.org<br>
<br>
www.ESG.ndirect.co.uk<br>
<br>
www.legiiavg.org.uk<br>
<br>
members.tripod.com/Gemina/index.html<br>
<br>
www.romanarmy.net/<br>
<br>
www.geocities.com/Athens/Oracle/6622<br>
<br>
For books, get anything by Peter Connolly, or the books by Dan Peterson, Graham Sumner, or Michael Simkins. They're all good for starters.<br>
<br>
If all of this doesn't answer your question, we can probably come up with more answers!<br>
<br>
Vale,<br>
Matthew/Quintus, Legio XX <p></p><i></i>