pilum

Updated: June 2, 2025

Although the first game preserves in England were established by William the Conqueror at this time, the Saxon was permitted to shoot birds and small beasts in his fields and therefore was allowed to use a blunt arrow, headed with a lead tip or pilum, hence our term pile, or target point.

Saxton Pope - Hunting with the Bow and Arrow

That epoch laid the foundations of the commonwealth both within and without; it created a united Italy; it gave birth to the traditional groundwork of the national law and of the national history; it originated the -pilum- and the maniple, the construction of roads and of aqueducts, the farming of estates and the monetary system; it moulded the she-wolf of the Capitol and designed the Ficoroni casket.

Theodor Mommsen - The History of Rome, Book II : From the Abolition of the Monarchy in Rome to the Union of Italy

Yet when it was launched by a firm and skilful hand, there was not any cavalry that durst venture within its reach, nor any shield or corselet that could sustain the impetuosity of its weight. As soon as the Roman had darted his pilum, he drew his sword, and rushed forwards to close with the enemy.

Edward Gibbon - History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire — Volume 1

He met a legion of infantry going north, and envied every soldier, sweating under a set pace of four miles to the hour and a burden of sixty pounds shield, helmet, breast-plate, pilum, swords, intrenching tools, stakes for a palisade, and corn for seventeen days.

Irving Bacheller - Vergilius: A Tale of the Coming of Christ

The Pilarii were in the rear, who threw the heavy pilum over the heads of their comrades, in order to break the enemy's line. In the time of the empire, when the legion was modified, the infantry wore cuirasses and helmets, and two swords; namely, a long one and a dagger. The select infantry carried a long spear and a shield, the rest a pilum.

John Lord - The Old Roman World, : the Grandeur and Failure of Its Civilization.