Roman Weapons

1. Roman Weapons By Kyle

2. The contos • A long, wooden cavalry lance which was 4—5m in length, the contos derived its name from the Greek word kontos, or “oar”, which probably gives some idea as to the length of the lance. It took two hands to wield, so the horsemen had to grip his sattleby the knees. To be able to do this effectively would have taken considerable strength and training. • ABOVE: contos lance head

3. The gladius • A short stabbing weapon with a blade length of around 50—60cm the gladius was the primary fighting sword of the Roman soldier. Before the gladiusRoman soldiers would have used swords of Greek origin. • The hilt, or capulus, of the gladius featured a rounded grip, moulded with four finger ridges to allow a comfortable and firm hold upon the sword. Pommels were bulbous and normally of plain form. The scabbard was made of wood, covered with leather and strengthened by a rigid frame of brass or iron.

4. The spatha • The gladius was replaced by the spatha because It had a much longer blade (60—80 cm) and shorter point. It was a slashing weapon and designed to be used by both the Roman cavalry and infantry. It was easier to take down horsemen with this blade because of the blade lenght

5. The pilum • A pilum is basically a heavy javelin featuring a long thin iron shank (neck) and heavy shaft. The thin iron shaft with its barbed tip, gave the pilum its extraordinary ability; it was armor piercing. The weight of the shaft and a weight in the shape of pyramid or ball would then punch the shaft through enemy shields and armor. The 2 foot long (60 mm) shaft was designed to be long enough to punch through a shield and into the man behind it. Even if the shaft didn't hit the man holding the shield then the pilum had the added benefit of rendering the shield useless due to the large javelin poking through and hanging from the front of it. Many of unarmored Germanic and Celtic barbarians were forced to discard their shields due to the pilum, a near death sentence for them on the battle field. An added benefit of this design was that the force of the impact would often bend the shank, causing it to be unusable and saving the Romans from having them thrown back at them. • Roman soldiers typically carried two pilum and they would throw them as they charged their enemies to cause death, discarded shields and confusion among the ranks of their enemies.

6. Roman shields • The scutum was a curved oval shield made from two sheets of wood glued together and covered with canvas and leather, usually with a spindle shaped boss along the vertical length of the shield. It can be considered a body shield, and was extremely heavy (~10kg). When a legionary charged with the shield, he would hold it with a straight arm and rest it on his left shoulder, then run towards the enemy with full force in an attempt to knock his foe over. He would then kneel behind the shield and fight from behind it.

7. questions • What blade was used to bring down horsemen? • What weapon was used to pierce shields and armor