02-02-2006, 12:00 AM
The pilum is an armour piecing spear. It is designed to go through a shield or armour and kill the man behind. The long shaft is to allow the point to reach the man behind the shield. The head is slightly larger than the shaft so it can slide through the hole it punches in the armour or shield.
all the other stuff about it bending or sticking in the ground is secondary to the purpose of the long shaft. Metal was expensive in roman times and if you wanted the spear to brake you could just use a thin wooden shaft instead of an iron one
My understanding was the Romans didn't know how to harden and temper Iron. Most Iron won't harden because it doesn't have enough Carbon in it. The outside of a piece of iron which has been heated and hammered can have enough carbon hammered into it to enable you to case harden the outside layer of metal. I have seen cross sections of Gladiuses showing a high carbon content in the cutting edges where they have been hammered to an edge. It would be natural to quench any Iron you have been working ( which would harden the outer layer ) as it reduces the chance of burning yourself by picking it up while still hot.
The Romans didn't know about steel as such but they did know that some Iron was better than others and a chisel has been found with an iron shaft and a steel cutting tip fire welded on. Some iron ores can produce iron which is almost steel. Iron and steel are very simular but have very different properties. Iron can't be hardened all the way through like high carbon steels and steel is very difficult to fire weld because the temperature required to fire weld steel is very close to the temperature at which steel catches fire. I have overheated steel in a forge and it is very annoying to see the thing you have spent ages shaping come out of the forge spitting sparks like a firework. Steel only became common quite recently after blast furnaces were invented in about 1860
I recomend you read "The art of Blacksmithing" by Alex W. Bealer
I have made pila and thrown them through metal dustbins and quite thick piece of wood. I agree with Peter Connolly on the use of pila and I have discussed it with him at shows where he has bought his reproductions of pila
all the other stuff about it bending or sticking in the ground is secondary to the purpose of the long shaft. Metal was expensive in roman times and if you wanted the spear to brake you could just use a thin wooden shaft instead of an iron one
My understanding was the Romans didn't know how to harden and temper Iron. Most Iron won't harden because it doesn't have enough Carbon in it. The outside of a piece of iron which has been heated and hammered can have enough carbon hammered into it to enable you to case harden the outside layer of metal. I have seen cross sections of Gladiuses showing a high carbon content in the cutting edges where they have been hammered to an edge. It would be natural to quench any Iron you have been working ( which would harden the outer layer ) as it reduces the chance of burning yourself by picking it up while still hot.
The Romans didn't know about steel as such but they did know that some Iron was better than others and a chisel has been found with an iron shaft and a steel cutting tip fire welded on. Some iron ores can produce iron which is almost steel. Iron and steel are very simular but have very different properties. Iron can't be hardened all the way through like high carbon steels and steel is very difficult to fire weld because the temperature required to fire weld steel is very close to the temperature at which steel catches fire. I have overheated steel in a forge and it is very annoying to see the thing you have spent ages shaping come out of the forge spitting sparks like a firework. Steel only became common quite recently after blast furnaces were invented in about 1860
I recomend you read "The art of Blacksmithing" by Alex W. Bealer
I have made pila and thrown them through metal dustbins and quite thick piece of wood. I agree with Peter Connolly on the use of pila and I have discussed it with him at shows where he has bought his reproductions of pila
Bernard Jacobs
Any opinion stated is genally not the opinion of My group or Centurian
Any opinion stated is genally not the opinion of My group or Centurian
