Roman Legionnaire's Arsenal: Forgotten Weapons of War

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

Everyone from school knows that Roman legionaries had very specific darts and short swords. However, this is far from a complete arsenal of ordinary Roman fighters. In fact, each legionnaire had several more "tools" that greatly expanded his capabilities as a tactical unit.

Kill and not be killed

It's time to talk about direct offensive and defensive equipment: sword, dart and shield. It should be emphasized right away that the Roman sword is a separate topic. Blade weapons in Rome were constantly evolving and changing. Moreover, the Romans knew several types of swords. The canonical and most common, of course, was the gladius (in Latin "gladius").

Gladius is a fairly simple example of a short sword with a length of up to 60 centimeters. According to the most popular version, the gladius was adopted by the Romans from the tribes of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain). This weapon was intended mainly for stabbing. It was ideal for the tactics of infantry combat that the legionnaires practiced: hiding behind a shield, a fighter tried to inflict direct thrusting strikes, as well as thrusting strikes from above to the shoulders, head and back of the enemy.

Do not be fooled by the apparent simplicity of this blade. Gladius is a very terrible weapon (for its time), which left painful, poorly healing and profusely bleeding wounds. Most often, those wounded by a gladius in battle inevitably died. This was facilitated primarily by the wide edge of the blade.

The characteristic element of the gladius is a wooden ball-shaped pommel, which served as a counterweight and also helped to provide a secure grip. The handles were made of wood and bone. Most often, four-finger grooves were also made in them. All this was necessary in order to provide the most firm and reliable grip.

The soldier's best friend, however, was not a sword at all, but a scutum - a large shield. The shield was not straight. It had rounded ends and was curved. One of the few things in the legion's equipment that definitely comes from Italy. Obviously, the locals knew scutum back in the Bronze Age. Shields were made of glued plywood: a combination of thick and thin wooden plates. The back of the shield (facing the legionnaire) was covered with oiled leather to increase the durability of the equipment. In the center of the shield was an iron umbilicus that protected the grip. Along the edges, the shield was bound with bronze or iron.

In 9 out of 10 life situations of the Legion, his scutum was dressed in a leather case, which performed two functions - utilitarian and sacred. We will talk about the sacred later. As for the utilitarian function, the leather case was necessary to protect the shield from dampness and temperature changes. Because of the manufacturing technology, Roman shields were not very fond of water. The tree could swell, crack, and just break up. Shields were bare only during a battle or at ceremonial events.

Speaking of the sacred function that Hollywood has also fucked up. In fact, there were no jewelry made of gold or silver on Roman shields. There weren't even iron and bronze. The shields were decorated with a digma - a pattern that was applied to the front of the scutum with paint. Digmas are clearly visible on the pictorial sources of the times of Rome (all the same columns), but they have not survived to our times in the original. It is difficult to judge what exactly the digmas were. It is quite obvious that the digma was sacred, it could only be shown in front of the gods - at the moment of a battle or a great celebration (which is why in all other situations the digma should be hidden behind a cover). Contrary to all the same Hollywood, there is no evidence that Roman shields were painted red. There is not a single confirmation that they were exactly that. Based on this, scientists tend to believe that different legions painted equipment in different colors.

Terrible weapon.

It is impossible not to remember about pilum (from the Latin pilum). This is a very peculiar dart, which was necessarily part of the equipment of every legionnaire. The total length of the pilum was about 2 meters, and the mass was 2-4 kg. A metal tip 60-100 cm with a soft core was inserted into a wooden shaft. A very insidious invention, the essence of which was that after hitting the shield, the pilum pierced it with a tip, which in most situations bent. It was extremely difficult to get rid of the curved dangling dart quickly. At the same time, once in the shield, the pilum made its use as inconvenient as possible.

Pilum also changed several times throughout Roman history. Moreover, he was quite versatile and did not always rush about before an attack. Sometimes the Romans used pilums as short, one-handed spears.

Separately, mention should be made of such an item of equipment as the "Cingulum militare" or the Roman military belt, which was used to attach the scabbard. Interestingly, the Romans wore the sword sheath not on the left side, but on the right. It may not sound very convenient, but it is not. In a tight formation, the sword that is right at hand is easier and safer to draw. Starting from the 1st century AD, the belt was decorated with an "apron" made of leather strips. The soldiers, who had some savings in their hearts, decorated them with metal rivets.

Besides the sword and pilum, every legionnaire had a "last-chance weapon." A wide pugio dagger worn in a scabbard on the left side. It is noteworthy that the dagger had an uncharacteristically small and uncomfortable handle (even for a person with an average hand size). This leads scientists to believe that the pugio was more of a status item than a utilitarian one. This theory is also confirmed by the fact that archaeologists find a variety of pugios, some of which are very richly decorated, including those using gold and silver. However, despite all this, the dagger of the Roman legionaries still remained a formidable thrusting weapon that could save the life of its master in a desperate situation on the battlefield.

Finally, it is worth mentioning the forgotten weapons, bringing up the topic of Roman legionnaires in 9 out of 10 cases. We are talking about such a trivial and unremarkable thing to the eye, like a sling. A very simple yet deadly effective weapon that was widespread in antiquity. The modern attitude to the sling is absolutely undeserved. Moreover, archaeological excavations suggest that the fighters of the legions used the sling less often than the sword and dart.

In practice, the sling is a formidable weapon that can kill (or seriously injure you) with ease. Equally scary for a man and a horse. It is incredibly easy to manufacture, unlike a bow, and also absolutely not demanding on the physical data of the shooter. A real "Kalashnikov assault rifle" from the period of antiquity. The only problem with a sling is skill requirements. An inept thrower can easily injure not only a nearby comrade in arms, but himself.

The Romans fired from slings mostly not with stone, but with lead bullets. Archaeologists find them in huge numbers at the site of Roman military camps. It is curious that some of them are clearly molded with a mold based on a man's thumb. Perhaps these were made in haste during a long attack of the fortified camp.

Earlier we already talked about what the Roman legionaries wore, what their wardrobe actually was and what kind of armor most fighters wore.