Advantage of the Pilum over Bows and Arrows?

[P. Clodius Secundus]

This topic reminds me of modern jounalists and reporters who continally refer to anything with a tracks, and a cannon as a tank. Slingers and archers are classic missile troops just like self-propelled artillery pieces (M7 Priest, Abbot, M109 Palladin, & such) they have the ability to kill at much greater range by firing over the heads of the front lines. Their projectiles may lack the massive kinetic energy to penetrate the frontal armor of the enemy but they can devastate troops in the open and deny the enemy use of large areas. This is called sometimes refered to as Deep Battle. Carrying only minimal armor and defensive weapons they are not intended to stand their ground against infantry or cavalry unless supported by their own heavy troops or anchored by fixed defenses or terrain. Pila are direct support weapons, more like anti-tank rockets (modern javelin, TOW, Sagger) or tank guns, than today's artillery. They are designed to defeat the heaviest armor at closer, line-of-sight range. This leaves the enemy infantry at a distinct disadvatage since, like tanks and infantry fighting vehicles, the delivery systems (miles) have ample armor and secondary weaponry to slug it out toe-to-toe. To chalk and cheese, apples and oranges, I'd add javelin and bo staff. Both use a long stick, but in vastly different ways.