Spike Tanged - Single Rivit Pilum

[Crispvs]

Just a small point to consider. The spike tanged, single rivet type of pilum appears to have been a northern Italian style and and according to the theory advanced by Peter Connolly they may have been the type of pilum which Marius equipped his legions with at the end of the second century BC, as the known archaeological specimens date to that period and slightly earlier. Added to that, this was the very area that Marius used to train and equip his new army.

Connolly pointed out that despite Plutarch's reference to a baked wooden dowel designed to allow the head to fall sideways once used, excavated pile from the period in question generally feature two rivets and side flanges, indicating that they were expressly designed NOT to fall sideways. He reasoned therefore, that Plutarch had heard about Marius' use of a pilum with only a single rivet, and being familiar with pila featuring two rivets, tried to suggest the possible reason for the apparent absence of the second rivet in the account he had presumably read.

Be that as it may, bearing in mind that the type of head under discussion dates to the middle to late Republic, think very seriously before using them in a 1st century AD impression. The longer pila of the later 1st and 2nd centuries AD do feature spiked tangs but as far as I am aware, these do not feature a rivet through the tang.

Crispvs