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An Introduction to Ancient Combat - Part III - Weapons
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Posted by Paal_101 on May 13 2006, 01:07 AM
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An Introduction to Ancient Combat
By
Paul Basar aka Paal_101
Offensive weaponry has always determined the way armies fight and how well they fight against certain enemies. Weapons are at the heart of an army's weaknesses and strengths. For instance, the Sarmatian cataphracts developed the kontos to be able to stab Scythian horse archers as they closed to within 10 feet for a shot, taking advantage of the inherent inaccuracy of the bow at range. Likewise the Spartans used incredibly short swords in combat against other hoplites in a seemingly illogical move. But by using such a short weapon in combat they were able to stab other hoplites when another longer sword would have been blocked or too unweildly to use in the crush of phalanx combat. Part III of the series takes a close look at the weapons used by the diverse cultures and peoples of the ancient world.
Part III - Weapons
“Look death in the face with joyful hope, and consider this a lasting truth: the righteous man has nothing to fear, neither in life, nor in death, and the gods will not forsake him.” - Socrates
Weapons
All non-firearm weapons are classified into two main categories: close quarter and ranged. Members of the first category include spears, swords, axes, daggers, and clubs, whilst the second tallies arrows, slings, and javelins among its ranks. The weapons issued to the troops defined their role and position within the army, as well as their deployment on the battlefield. Heavy infantry were armed differently from the light, just as the cavalry used different equipment from the infantry. As a general, although not rigid rule, heavy infantry and cavalry were equipped with close quarter weapons, while their light counterparts were armed with ranged.
Close Quarter Weapons
Spears were the cheapest of weapons to produce, hence their presence in every army on the planet throughout history. Consisting of a wooden shaft, with ash being the most popular material, and a stabbing head, these weapons were simple to make and use. While iron was the overriding material used for weapons from roughly 1000 BC onward, there were certain peoples who still used bronze (such as the Massagetae) or even stone and horn (Ethiopians) for points. Length varied from army to army, dependant upon culture and fighting style. The longest spears in the ancient world were the massive 19 to 21 foot sarissas used by the Macedonians and Hellenistic Kingdoms from the late 4th to early 1st centuries BC. By grouping large numbers of men together into a solid formation 16-deep, with the first five ranks holding their sarissa in front, these huge pikes provided a veritable thicket of spears for any enemy to break through. The Persians on the other hand preferred to fight with a 6-foot spear with a bronze counterweight, renowned for its shortness. Greek hoplites wielded 8 to 10-foot spears with a counterbalancing butt-spike nicknamed a “lizard-killer”. If a Greek lost the head of the spear he could reverse the shaft and fight with the butt.
In the western Mediterranean the spear was also extremely common. Twelve-foot hasta longa were used by the Roman triarri during the early days of the Roman Republic, a much shorter 8-foot weapon known as a lancea equipping the auxiliaries of the 1st and 2nd centuries AD and two centuries later the entire Roman army. Celts were famous for their use of the spear in combat, where most of their troops were armed with 8-foot shafts mounted with large iron spearheads of incredibly varied design. The most exotic were the wave-patterned heads that were supposedly capable of leaving a more devastating wound. Iberian warriors used a long, gracefully shaped spearhead reminiscent of their Celtic cousins. Mounted on a shorter 7-foot pole, it was used by cavalry and infantry alike to deadly effect. Carthaginians used the Macedonian sarissa in combat, although their cavalry would have been armed with the standard Hellenistic two-handed 9-foot cavalry lance. In a similar vein, the cataphracts of all nations, including the Sarmatians, Parthians, Sassanians, Goths, and Romans, used the 12-foot kontos, tipped with a deadly leaf-shaped spearhead.
Germanic tribesmen were equipped many different spears, a popular one being the extremely short framea, which could be used for stabbing or throwing but reaching only shoulder height. As a close-combat weapon it was quite dexterous and perfect for engaging enemy in forested terrain, while another type was 12-feet long and more suitable for open ground. The Germans were also unique in their use of wooden spears without metal heads. Their culture was famous for its lack of iron working and as a result its use was not nearly as widespread. Instead Germanic warriors would sometimes go into combat armed with a sharpened wooden pole that had been fire-hardened. First century Dacian warriors were also armed with spears, as were the Huns, Gepids, Franks, and other barbarians that battled the Romans in the 5th century AD.
After spears, axes were the cheapest weapons to procure but proved to be extremely dangerous. Accordingly, the Persians adopted a wide-bladed spiked battle-axe from the Scythians known as a sagaris. Mounted on a slender wooden haft, the iron head was quite capable in the hands of even the least trained soldier. The elite cavalry units of the Persian army were often equipped with the axe as a secondary weapon once they had discharged their javelins. The Scythians and Sarmatians also used the sagaris in combat, while the Massagetae were armed with bronze versions. During the Late Roman Empire axes became somewhat common secondary weapons for auxiliaries and legionaries alike, particularly among the allied Germanic troops known as federati. Among their barbarian opponents, the Germanic Franks derived their historical name from their use of a heavy throwing axe known as a francisca among the Romans.
Clubs were rarely issued weapons, although cheap to make and easy to use. In combat they often failed to deliver the killing or crippling blows required to stop an armored opponent. This was due the fact that most were made of wood sometimes backed up by metal spikes. The Assyrians recruited into the Persian army were armed with such weapons, along with the Ethiopians who included in their primitive arsenal wooden clubs. Germanic warriors were also users of simple wooden clubs cut from tree branches. Fighting with a simple wooden shield and this crude weapon they were able to defeat Roman legionaries at great cost. Greeks who were unable to afford the equipment of a simple peltast were forced to fight as light auxiliaries known as psiloi, armed with wooden clubs among other simple weapons.
Long held to be the archetype weapon of the pre-gunpowder age, the sword was more often a secondary weapon for many soldiers of the ancient world. Only the Iberians, Celts, and Romans were famous for their heavy use of the sword in combat, even then usually after discharging any javelins or spears they had been carrying. Swords were used in two ways: the first was as a stabbing weapon and the second for powerful slashes. Stabbing was by far the more deadly attack, punching through armor and flesh, rupturing organs and blood vessels in the process. Slashing weapons were not as immediately lethal but were still capable of severing limbs and decapitating opponents. While there were specialized weapons for both forms of combat, most swords could be used in either way.
Stabbing swords, as with many ancient weapons, had a strong tradition in the late Bronze Age where the Mycenaeans, Egyptians, Hittites, and Assyrians all used stabbing swords to great effect. As in the Bronze Age, Iron Age stabbing swords were one-handed weapons, commonly double-edged and could be used for slashing as well. Short stabbing weapons were widespread, the Spartans wielding extremely short iron swords to great effect in phalanx combat. Yet another weapon adopted from the Scythians, the Persian akinakes was a deadly close quarter weapon with a secondary ability to slash. In the Iberian Peninsula a lethal wide-bladed stabbing sword with a long tapered point was manufactured in large numbers. The espasa proved to be a deadly weapon, capable of stabbing through armor and removing limbs. Not only was it made of high-grade iron, naturally available in Iberia, it was a simple weapon to use with fairly basic training required of the soldier.
During the Punic Wars the Romans were pitted against Iberian warriors equipped with this formidable weapon. Its brutal performance against the heavily armored Romans convinced them to change side arms from the traditional Greek xiphos and various Italian swords to the espasa, which was dubbed the gladius hispaniensis, or Spanish sword. It was to be the weapon that would conquer the known world and become the most famous sword after the much later Japanese katana. Eventually it was developed into four distinct subtypes, all of them varying in blade shape and length. In all cases the weapon retained its stunning lethality and easy use. Having an overall length of roughly 27 inches, the gladius featured a bone grip that lowered the chance of loosing the sword incase the grip happened to be slippery with blood. The hilt and pommel were wooden, although in the 2nd century AD gladii were equipped with iron ring pommels instead of the wooden globe-type. It was the perfect weapon for the close quarter, formation-based fighting style that the Romans espoused, an efficient weapon that required less strength to use then many of their opponent’s longer slashing swords.
Another popular weapon was the Greek two-foot cut-and-thrust xiphos. Descended from the earlier Mycenaean Naue II type bronze sword that had itself spread across Europe, the double edged, leaf-bladed xiphos could be used for effective stabbing, although it was more commonly used to slash. Its effectiveness made it among the most popular swords ever used, being found as far away as modern day Afghanistan and Morocco. In addition to the Greeks and Macedonians, early Romans, Persians, Carthaginians, various Italian peoples, and Illyrians also used the xiphos. It was the ancient equivalent of the modern AK-47; cheap, effective, easy to use, and ubiquitous.
Claiming parentage from the ancient Egyptian khopesh, the Greek kopis was the premiere slashing sword of the ancient Mediterranean. Featuring a vicious triangular blade with a protective hand guard, the kopis, along with its cousin the machaira, was renowned for its sheer destructive power. Helmets proved to be no match for it, as well as documented events of them easily removing limbs. While its length could vary, the basic design was in use from Spain to Afghanistan. In fact the kopis is one of the few weapons to live on into the present day: Gurkha troops in the British Army are armed with the signature kukri knife, a direct descendant of the 2500 year old kopis.
A related sword was the fearsome Iberian falcata, essentially a copy of the kopis made with high quality iron that occurred naturally in Iberia. Unlike its Greek counterpart, the falcata was double-edged and could be used to stab opponents as well. Roman troops were forced to reinforce the bronze rims of their shields with iron examples to defend against the ferocious chops delivered by the falcata. It did not help that the Iberian warriors were such fine fencers that their fighting style has been described as “acrobatic”.
Long swords were used mostly as slashing weapon, using the added momentum from the length and weight to chop through armor. Premiere among these weapons were the Celtic spathas. Initially starting off at roughly two-feet in length, the spatha was quickly lengthened during the 2nd and 1st centuries BC, mainly to hack through heavy Roman armor. By the time of the Gallic Wars it was not uncommon to find spathas of up to 3 feet in length. Another change had been the rounding off of the blade’s point. This went hand in hand with the greater length, showing that the original cut-and-thrust purpose of the spatha had been supplanted by the need for devastating slashes. In combat the Celts were renowned for their ability to cut through shield and armor with the spatha, which they swung around their heads before striking. Generally the quality of these swords is impressive, made of high-grade iron. Two thousand-year old blades have been dredged from lakes and are still able to be flexed into a perfect curve before snapping back into their original shape.
While invented by the Celts, many other armies used the spatha. Its modern name is Roman, who adopted it for use as a cavalry weapon in the 1st century BC. Eventually their style of combat changed as did their side arm, the spatha coming to equip the entire Roman army by the 300s AD. In addition to the Romans, Germanic tribesmen also wielded the weapon, although these were quite rare in the ranks of these fierce warriors, roughly 1 in 10 actually possessing a sword during the 1st century AD. More common was a large, single-edged fighting knife known as a saex. Dacian troops also fielded the spatha, along with Celt-Iberian soldiers from northern Spain.
The Sarmatians manufactured the other major long sword of the ancient world on the steppes. When their cataphracts closed for hand-to-hand combat after the charge, they carried heavy, single-edged long swords, the scabbards strapped to the horseman’s belt or back. Either one or two-handed, the weapon was devastating, particularly when used from horseback, where the added height made blows more powerful. Roughly 3-feet long, the Sarmat sword had a wide blade with a small cross-guard and was balanced with a metal pommel, sometimes of the Roman ring-variety. As with the spatha, the broadsword was adopted by several armies. Chief were the Goths, who also adopted the Sarmatian way of fighting. Huns, Franks, and Romans also used this weapon, usually on horseback. A similar, although unrelated, weapon was found in ancient India, where troops marched into combat with a massive 44-inch one-an-a-half handed sword. The grip was long enough to allow for two hands on the weapon but was still deadly with one. Featuring a wide blade, the Indian broadsword, as it is anachronistically known, was a deadly chopping weapon with a rounded tip.
While a commonly associated weapon of the battlefields of Medieval Europe, the two-handed sword did make an appearance during the 3rd century BC to 2nd century AD, albeit in a significantly different form. The two chief examples were both found north of Greece in modern day Bulgaria and Romania. Thracian warriors from the time of the Macedonian Successors onward charged into battle armed with the fearsome scythe-like rhomphaia, a two-handed curved sword that measured roughly 3-feet in length. The iron blade was concavely curved, with the inner edge being used to strike the opponent. Roughly the same length as the blade, the grip allowed the weapon to be used one or two handed, although for maximum effect the weapon would have to be used with two. Perfect for the fast-moving battle tactics of the Thracians, the rhomphaia proved to be a menacing weapon with devastating killing power.
By the 1st century AD the Thracians had been incorporated into the Roman Empire while their cousins the Dacians remained stalwart opponents of the superpower. In combat the Dacians fielded a ferocious weapon of such brutality that the Romans were forced to issue extra armor to their troops to counter it. This was of course the legendary Dacian falx. Bearing an obvious resemblance to the earlier Thracian weapon, the falx was of similar construction: a two-handed sword with a down-sloping curved iron blade. Again, roughly 3-feet long, the falx featured a heavier blade than the rhomphaia, along with a sturdier haft. In combat the Dacians would swing the weapon with such power that it was able to cut through Roman shields and wound the man behind. Decapitations and amputations occurred with such astounding regularity that the Romans made subtle modifications to the standard legionnaire’s equipment. Helmets and shields were reinforced, while soldiers were issued greaves and manica to give them greater protection when facing the falxmen. Thanks in part to the devastating power of the falx the Roman Imperial Italic line of helmets came into production.
Daggers were common secondary weapons used to kill injured opponents, rather then in hand-to-hand combat, or more commonly perform menial day-to-day tasks. Among the most prolific was the Roman pugio, a short, wide-bladed iron dagger carried by legionnaires from the 2nd century BC onward. It was adopted, like the gladius, from the Iberians, who equipped most of their troops with this sturdy weapon. Persian troops used a large 13-inch dagger as their most common sidearm, while Celts used narrow-bladed stabbing knives. Sarmatians often carried an iron dagger on their right hip, while Greeks were sometimes armed with 15-inch daggers known as parazonium.
Ranged Weapons
Bows were the premiere ranged weapons of the ancient world for obvious reasons. Coming in a huge variety of types and appearing in armies across the Mediterranean, Europe, Africa, and Central Asia, the bow had two distinct qualities: extreme lethality and relatively simple manufacture. While some considerable practice was required to make one a competent bowman, the use of a bow was easy to teach to large numbers of men at one time. Projectiles varied in weight and heads, some featuring bronze arrowheads in place of the more common iron. Range depended on the weight of the arrow and the power of the bow itself. The use of the bow was heavily rooted in the Bronze Age where it had been the primary weapon of the chariot-mounted nobility. By the Iron Age it continued to be used quite extensively in the Middle East.
The Persians were the greatest users of the bow during the 6th and 5th centuries BC, fielding massed formations of thousands of archers. The infantry carried a large, four-foot re-curved bow in a leather bow case and quiver on their left hip. It was also a popular method among the cavalry, keeping it out of the way and but still within easy grasp. Another way of carrying the bow and quiver was in a back-mounted harness, more traditionally associated with the West. It was a particularly useful arrangement for the elite Persian Immortals, who closed for hand-to-hand combat after firing their arrows. In either case, Persian archers were renowned for their storm of arrows they could unleash on opposing forces. Against lightly armored enemies it was murderous, with thousands of shafts falling every minute. They featured an unusual, light, three-flanged arrowhead made of bronze mounted on a light cane shaft. While the bow proved to be quite powerful, the projectile itself was less then satisfactory against heavily armored opponents like the Greeks. In some cases it was unable to puncture the heavy bronze cuirasses the Hellenes were famous for. Regardless, the Persian bow made a huge impression upon the Greeks, who had to suffer under their attacks at Thermopylae and Plataea.
But without doubt the greatest weapon of the ancient world was the compound recurved bow used by the Steppe peoples of Central Asia. It is highly possible that more people died from this weapon in the hands of peoples like the Scythians, Huns, and later the Mongols than any other before the introduction of firearms. They were constructed from wood layered with sinew on the outer edge, or back, and horn on the concave surface known as the belly. When unstrung the bow was the exact opposite curve of when in use, with the arms pointing towards the target if held as in combat. By bending the arms back the bow curved back on itself, hence the term recurved. Already under considerable tension, when drawn the sinew on the back of the bow built up energy trying to pull the arms back to its natural shape. Simultaneously the horn on the belly was compressed, causing it to exert pressure in order to push the bow to its un-drawn state. Consequently when the arrow was released it was given an impressive launch from the violent snap of the bow back to its resting configuration. Size varied from the smaller 4-foot Scythian types to the 5-foot Hunnic types. The Hunnic weapon was unique in that it was asymmetrical, one arm being longer than the other. Draw weights were roughly around the 50-pound mark, allowing for quick, easy shooting on horseback.
Range was impressive; in extreme cases with a skilled archer on horseback the recurved composite bow was able to launch arrows over 200 yards. However at this range accuracy was non-existent, even against large numbers of massed infantry. More than likely the most common range in combat was as little as 10 feet to maximize accuracy and the penetrating power of the arrow itself. At this range the high speed tactics and light equipment of the steppe horse archers becomes quite practical. As archers they were unable to engage hand to hand against heavily armed opponents, forcing them to push their mounts to the breaking point in order to stay ahead of quick moving light infantry or enemy cavalry. To compensate for their lack of armor they were quick shots, added by the layout of their tack and method of shooting.
The quiver was hung either from the rider’s belt or the horse’s saddle, almost exclusively on the left side, allowing them to draw the replacement arrow with their right hand while holding the bow with the left. Before a charge, the archer would draw several arrows from the quiver, holding them in the bow hand, which they would during the attack. By using the right hand to pick a replacement shaft from the left hand, reload times were greatly reduced. The arrow was knocked from the right side, meaning that the arrow was rested against the bow rather than the archer’s hand as with most European bows. Another major difference between steppe archery and its western counterparts was the use of a thumbring to draw the bowstring. It was a small metal ring worn on the shooter’s right thumb with a small needle made of metal or bone, which was used to grab the bowstring. The very fact of wearing a thumbring was seen as a sign of manhood within steppe cultures. When compared to the three-finger draws practiced by the Mediterranean civilizations the thumbring was far faster, allowing for more arrows to be launched in a shorter time. In addition horse archers had a massive 270-degree radius of fire available to them while mounted, allowing for such maneuvers as firing directly behind them over the horse’s rump while running away from an enemy. This tactic was practiced by all steppe peoples but was known as the Parthian Shot, no doubt coined after continued bloody encounters with these renowned archers by the Hellenistic Successors and the Romans.
The Scythians, Parthians, Sarmatians, and Huns were all users of the recurved composite bow. Some such as the Scythians and Huns had large armies comprised of almost entirely horse archers, while the Parthians fielded large numbers of archers with supporting cataphracts. The Sarmatians were unique among steppe people in that the bow was not their primary weapon, preferring to come to grips with the enemy as cataphracts. Yet despite this many Sarmatian heavy horsemen carried bows in case the situation was not favorable to hand-to-hand combat and were backed up by light cavalry just like those of the other steppe nations. Common to all was the powerful respect granted to the weapon and an acknowledgement of its deadliness. Enemy armies were constantly bested when the steppe horsemen were allowed to fight a battle on their terms. The list of battles won by steppe warriors equipped with this weapon is a testament to its killing power. Battles such as Carrhae, the Persian invasion of Scythia, and Chalons were all bloody affairs thanks to the recurved bow.
Other bows were far simpler than those of the steppe warriors. The Indians were renowned for the massive 6-foot bamboo longbows they carried. These were simple weapons made from a single branch of bamboo bound with a bowstring. While light, it was still capable of launching 3-foot arrows. The Indian bow was used by infantry and warriors mounted on the backs of war elephants. As the Macedonians found out at Hydaspes, the storms of arrows released by the Indian infantry were not to be discounted, particularly when most of the army was armed with these seemingly crude weapons.
The Greeks were quite leery of archery, although they did deploy bowmen in support of the phalanx. Two types of bows were used: the Scythian and Cretan types. The Scythian recurved example was used on foot by either Scythian mercenaries or Greeks themselves. More common was the Cretan bow. This too was a composite bow, constructed in a similar manner to the steppe types, with horn, wood, and sinew as materials. The Cretan weapon was not recurved, rather featuring sharply curving tips to the arms, appearing almost U-shaped. In addition to the standard socketed-type arrowhead, the Greeks also used massive tanged arrowheads made out of bronze and iron. The Cretans were considered the greatest archers in the Hellenistic world and were used extensively, particularly later by the Macedonians and the Romans. The Romans, like the Greeks, initially feigned from using archers, often obtaining them through allies and vassal states. Eventually auxiliary units were created, using mostly Cretan archers and Syrians armed with the Eastern-style recurved bow.
A logical development of the spear, the javelin differed in being shorter, with an average length of roughly 4 feet, and a smaller shaft diameter. Heads were almost universally iron, often finer and smaller than spearheads. The variety of javelins was quite impressive. Ash was the most popular wood used to manufacture polearm shafts but cornel was a common alternative used extensively by the Greeks and Persians. For added range and accuracy leather straps were wrapped around javelin shafts, the user inserting the fore and middle fingers into the strap. The strap, known as a throwing thong, augmented the spin of the weapon during throwing and as a result lowered in-flight wobbling. They were used by most armies of the ancient world including the Romans, who referred to the thongs on pila and veruta as amentum. Greek and Thracian peltasts referred to them as agkulh and Persian cavalry had the same technology on their javelins. As a whole, javelins provided killing power in a relatively simple package that required minimal training, yet in the hands of a skilled soldier could extol untold carnage. Light infantry armed with javelins had the added advantage of being able to close with the enemy for hand-to-hand combat, unlike archers and slingers.
While the Greeks, Thracians, Illyrians, and Eastern peoples such as the Phyrgians, Paphlagonians, and Persians all used javelins in large numbers, particularly as cavalry and to varying degrees as infantry, these weapons were simple. Generally they consisted of a wooden shaft ranging between 3 and 5 feet in length with an iron head and a throwing thong. In the western Mediterranean javelins we heavily developed into a mind-numbing variety of types. Heavy users of these specialized weapons included the Romans, Iberians, Celts, and to a lesser extent the Germans.
Perhaps the most famous of all javelins, the Roman pilum was renowned for its ability to punch through a shield and continue on to kill the man behind. Believed to originally be of Etruscan design, early pilums were of socketed type, differing from other types only in that it had an elongated iron shank with a leaf-shaped head. By the 4th century BC the pilum had developed into another variant which consisted of a tanged iron head held in place by a large box-like join between the head and the shaft. At this time both forms of the pilum picked up the characteristic triangular barbed head, making extraction from a wound extremely difficult. By the time of the Punic Wars the pilum was on average 7 feet tall. Typically the socketed pilum was referred to as “light” while the tanged types were “heavy”. In combat a legionnaire would carry one of each, throwing the light first at roughly 40 yards and the heavy at 20. From the 3rd century BC onward the heavy pilum was shortened and the light lengthened, until the 1st century AD when a version of the heavy type with a standard length of roughly 6 feet was in universal deployment within the Roman army. One further development was a lead weight placed just under the joining block to increase penetrating power. While dropped as the main Roman polearm some time in the 3rd century AD the pilum continued to be used until the fall of the Roman Empire. It also spawned several knock-off types among many nations.
The most prominent of these weapons are found among Rome’s enemies. The first is the Celtic gaesum, a heavy javelin with a massive barbed head. It too featured the shanked head of the pilum and was probably developed after meeting the pilum in combat. Gaesums continued to be used in Roman service as Celts joined the auxiliaries, bringing with them this impressive weapon. The second was the Frankish angon, which featured a heavier shank due to its use not only as a javelin but a hand-to-hand weapon as well. It prevented the head from being cut off by opponents while providing the same armor piercing capability as its progenitor.
The pilum was hardly the only javelin used by the Romans. The verutum was a short, 4-foot javelin that resembled a miniature light pilum, complete with iron shank. During the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC Roman light infantry known as velites would carry seven veruta into combat, proving to be quite effective weapons, even against war elephants. In the late 2nd century BC the verutum was taken out of service along with the velite but the javelin was taken back into the legionary arsenal during the Late Empire. The spiculum was another pilum-inspired weapon with a long iron shank attached to the head. Its exact design is not completely known, but it appears to have been a replacement for the pilum as a heavy, armor-piercing javelin with the characteristic shanked head. On a completely different size level was the plumbata. These were small, 2-foot throwing darts weighted with lead and fletched like arrows. Late Roman soldiers carried five of these weapons in a frame on the inside of their shields. Typically these were thrown over arm for close range and under arm for long range, where they would fall on the enemy from directly above, increasing the chance for lethal injury.
The Iberians were heavy users of javelins, fielding the socketed light pilum as well as a unique weapon of their own design. It was a thin, 5-foot javelin made completely of iron, which they called the saunion. The Romans referred to it as the soliferrum, but regardless of name it was an incredibly deadly weapon, capable of punching through shields and armor thanks to its added weight. Germanics used javelins quite heavily, many early tribesmen using simple wooden sticks with fire-hardened heads. Later Germanics were armed with regular javelins that were just as deadly as those of their southern opponents, perfectly suited for their fast moving style of combat.
Slings were the third major form of ranged weapon. Consisting of a simple leather thong with a pouch for a projectile, this deceptively simple weapon was quite capable of sending its bullets through armor and splitting skulls. Ammunition consisted of rocks or specially manufactured lead bullets depending on the wealth of the slinger. A common weapon in the Bronze Age, as shown by the Biblical account of David and Goliath, the sling remained in constant use throughout the Iron Age. The Greeks fielded fairly large numbers of slingers, the Rhodians in particular known as masters of the weapon. Due to their wealth they were equipped with the lethal lead shot. Balearic Islands off Spain’s Mediterranean coast produced slingers of awesome skill, who were coveted by both the Carthaginians and Romans as auxiliary troops. Numidian infantry also used the sling, while the Celts stockpiled slingshot at defensive locations within their hill forts. Considering their disdain for ranged weapons, it is a testament to the power of the sling that a people so enamored with hand-to-hand combat would have no qualms about using one. |
User Comments:
| Belisarivs
:: May 20 2006 |
"Greek hoplites wielded 8 to 10-foot spears with a counterbalancing butt-spike nicknamed a “lizard-killer”. If a Greek lost the head of the spear he could reverse the shaft and fight with the butt."
Wasn't main advantage of such spear the fact that when enemy fell on the ground, Greek could finish him with it without having to reverse it? Sarissas were used in such manner, but Greek spear?
But name lizard-killer would fit this purpose well.
Exellent article anyway. |
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| Belisarivs
:: May 20 2006 |
| Perhaps you could add, that Romans fought in Greek style until Camillan reform. |
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| Wijitmaker
:: May 20 2006 |
Framea I believe is the name for the Germanic spear/javelin.
Another fine article Paul! How about an encore featuring seige weapons :brow: |
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| Paal_101
:: May 20 2006 |
Thanks guys!
Regarding your points: Indeed the lizard killer, or sauroter, could easily be used to finish off downed opponents, but to not have to revserse the grip would mean use of the spear in an under-arm fashion. If used over arm it would simply be easier to point the actual spearhead down, instead of having to lower the spear (changing your grip in the process) and stabbing the wounded enemy. The Macedonians, using a sarissa would not have this problem. All that would be required was to raise the pike and stab downward, since they carried it under arm for obvious reasons.
Jason - indeed the framea is quite the interesting weapon, similar in many ways to the African assegai and the Zulu ilkwa. Strong construction for close combat, coupled with a design light enough to be thrown. The perfect weapon for a society whose general lack of iron made swords and axes unobtainable to the vast majority, fulfilling two niches at once.
As for encores, those are in the works, including battle tactics, siege warfare, and naval combat.
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| persian
:: July 24 2010 |
| It would be great if you could include average and effective ranges for ranged weapons---also some comparison of traing methods would be helpfull |
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