The Roman Army: A Social and Institutional History - Karatunov.net

shield unwieldy and therefore useless. A battle would start with the discharge of
pila before the legions closed in using their swords An additional feature of the
p i l u m a ppe a rs on some sculptu ral rel i efs , in that a sph erical obj ect is shown ,
sometimes more than one, at the top of the shaft. This has not yet been attested
in the archaeological record, so it is not possible to say what the ball-shaped object
was made of, but it is probable that its purpose was to add extra weight to
the weapon.
The Lancea
These weapons were used by the auxiliaries and are attested on many auxiliary
tombstones, but so many different kinds have been found on military sites that
it is not po s s i ble to classify them into groups or to assign specific types of
lanceae to different kinds of troops. The head was generally leaf shaped, sometimes
with very elongated points, which presumably enhanced penetration. The
a u x i l i a ries among Arri a n’s troops in Ca pp adocia were ordered to throw thei r
lanceae over the head of the ranks in front of them.
Bows and Arrows
Tools of Wa r 211
The Romans em p l oyed several auxiliary units of a rch ers (s a gi t t a ri i) , both infantry
and mounted; they were usually recruited from easterners whose expertise
was high ly va lu ed , and unlike other units wh ere new rec ruits were fo u n d
from the local population, the ranks of the archer units were refilled from the
east. Archery equipment of the Roman period has been extensively studied by
Co u l s ton (1985). Usu a lly, the on ly su rviving evi den ce in the arch aeo l ogi c a l
record for bows consists of the antler tips, since the wooden parts have disappeared.
A distribution map of the find spots of antler tips virtually marks the
Rhine and Danube frontiers in Europe, and several have been found in Britain.
Bows were quite elaborate in construction. They were known as composite
bows because they were made of different types of materials glued together and
held with bindings. When not in use the bow was unstrung, and to restring it
the archer used his leg to bend it until the string could be attached. Bows and
bowstrings were particularly susceptible to damp weather, and archers could be
put out of action in rainstorms (Dixon and Southern, 1992; Frontinus, Stratagems
4.7.30; Dio 56.21.3).
Arrowh e ads were usu a lly made of i ron and were of ten triangular in cross secti
on , t h o u ghsome are squ a red . Bone arrowh e ads have been found near Poro l i ssum
in Dacia and were used by the Germ a n s , S c yt h i a n s , Sa rm a ti a n s , and Hu n s .
Arrowh e ads were ei t h er socketed or tanged , and the shafts were most com m on ly
of reed s , p i n e , or hazel . Shafts and fletch i n gshave been pre s erved on lyin the east-