10-21-2010, 08:58 PM
Matt wrote:
I don't believe this is true, Matt, as I've posted elsewhere. I think that names were given to quite distinct weapons, readily recognisable by their characteristics.
Thus 'javelins' had relatively small heads and thin shafts generally about 3-5 ft long, the 'lancea'(Greek 'longche') was a short dual-purpose throwing/ thrusting spear up to 5-7 ft long, and the 'Hasta' ( Greek 'Doru') or 'great spear' was the 8-9 ft thrusting only spear.......of course these are simplifications, and there was an infinite variety of spear-heads, for example, in an era before mass production, and I haven't referred to the 6-7 ft 'heavy throwing weapon' class whose primary function was as a thrown weapon, secondarily as a thrusting weapon, such as the 'pilum' and 'angon', nor the fact that the name of a weapon and its design could change over time......
Quote:Well, they didn't really have *consistent* distinctive names for weapons, did they? "Spear" could be differentiated from "javelin", but a Latin word like "lancea" could mean either!
I don't believe this is true, Matt, as I've posted elsewhere. I think that names were given to quite distinct weapons, readily recognisable by their characteristics.
Thus 'javelins' had relatively small heads and thin shafts generally about 3-5 ft long, the 'lancea'(Greek 'longche') was a short dual-purpose throwing/ thrusting spear up to 5-7 ft long, and the 'Hasta' ( Greek 'Doru') or 'great spear' was the 8-9 ft thrusting only spear.......of course these are simplifications, and there was an infinite variety of spear-heads, for example, in an era before mass production, and I haven't referred to the 6-7 ft 'heavy throwing weapon' class whose primary function was as a thrown weapon, secondarily as a thrusting weapon, such as the 'pilum' and 'angon', nor the fact that the name of a weapon and its design could change over time......
"dulce et decorum est pro patria mori " - Horace
(It is a sweet and proper thing to die for ones country)
"No son-of-a-bitch ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country" - George C Scott as General George S. Patton
Paul McDonnell-Staff
(It is a sweet and proper thing to die for ones country)
"No son-of-a-bitch ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country" - George C Scott as General George S. Patton
Paul McDonnell-Staff