How did Legionaries use ranged weapons? (Pila and Slings)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 22 ส.ค. 2024
- Full video: • What Was Roman Army Ba...
The Roman Legions were famous as heavy infantry who excelled in close quarters combat. Put did you know that they could also fight effectively at range? This would have involved the use of their Pila, a heavy precursor javelin, and Slings, which could hurl lead bullets further than archers.
In our latest "Live History" video collaboration with Imperium Romanum we take a closer look at basic training in the Roman army.
Check out more videos in our live history series:
"How Did Roman Cataphracts Prepare for War?" • How Did Roman Cataphra...
"What was Watchtower Duty like on the Roman Frontier?" • What was Watchtower Du...
"What was it like to journey beyond Rome's Rhine Frontier?" • What was it like to jo...
Watch the full video: th-cam.com/video/cIEbLk9km1M/w-d-xo.html
@Jockbigcox I
@Jockbigcox
It's also interesting that you the power didn't come from assuming in a circle before throwing but that reason they did it was to keep it in the sling.
Pila is plural from pilum so Pila WERE not Pila WAS!
Fun fact: "pila" means "dick" in portuguese. 😂
"suck this octavius"
War... war never changes
Rome: “suck this octavius!”
America: “let’s go brandon!”
Neither does humor, apparently.
@@aagretsky well we did steal from the Latin language, so I guess it makes sense we stole it's humor as well lol
@@akkoismydaughter3573 you can’t steal a language the Romans owned England then when the Romans left the Germans came then after that the French invaded came to power and since French is a Latin language since the Romans controlled them for much longer then England that’s why some words are Latin based
@@jmpmp_505 inb4 you figure out how many words are French and greman
"flank these nuts Hannibal"
Lmao
In fact romans start using slingers after their wars against Carthage when they start paying the famous balear slingers, who Hannibal and the Carthiginians used against romans, and incorporating them into their lines
And Hannibal did indeed flank those nuts.
Lol😂
Made my day
A soldier slings “This is for Candace.”
An enemy soldier slings back “Who the heck is Candace?”
Imagine ehole conversations.
Iz must be funy after both dides aee out of amo, and Beginn packung up the enemys stones
Jeah, because you craved all kind of stones before the battle...
Underrated.
the third soilder slings "why the heck is Candace?"
@@giftzwerg7345mate, the hell was that
I love how human warfare had literally never changed. Even writing on ammunition
Until the nuke. It all looks kinda childish next to thermonuclear weapons.
@@billybones6463 Nope. Even the Fat man had writing on its fin and the much beloved writing of "Second Kiss of Hirohito" on the side, so this includes the Nuclear bombs had writing on them, just like some bullets, or artillery shells, and now, rocks used by slings
@@billybones6463literally proven wrong lil bro
there's something intrinsically human about writing trash talk on what you are gonna use to kill your foes
People forget that even in ancient times the soldiers werent just pawna but real people with feelings and families
It gives me great joy that “suck it” has been something we’ve been telling each other to do for millennia.
rumour has it that male appendages reacted positively to such a treatment for about 200,000 years of Homo Sapiens' existence ;)
Same
Lol
Somethings never change, do they?
Bro why is people so impressed by this? We've always been like this, you think jokes were created what in the 2000's?....
"Suck this Octavius"
We really haven't changed much have we lol
Nope, we haven't lol.
I just learned about ancient rome grafittis, you guys need to look the translations up, it's hilarious
In particular military humor hasn’t changed much.
@@Kain1805some included your mom jokes
badass
"Get rekt nerd lol"
-Sun Tzu......
Probably....
I think it’s spelt Son Zoo lol jk
"Git gud, kid" -Alexander The Great
Cuz I was born in Belfast
Hear the shotgun blast...
"Whos your daddy now."
-Ghenghis Khan
@@eonthinker100yrago8Considering how much rping he did, that's a factual statement 😅
What a humiliating death, to receive a headshot from a Leaden Dong at a high velocity.
Lol
"Ligma balls" -Roman Centurion Gigius Chadicus on his sling shot rock
*Sigma balls.
The goths: 😫 *turns into ashes*
@@MrAlepedroza "Sugma balls."
Historically accurate
- Sussus Amogus
I think it was a Greek sling stone that was found with the phrase "catch" carved into it, which I can't help but read in the Halo announcer's voice in Firefight.
"Reinforcements. Catch: on."
If you play with the "Buck" firefight voice, you can occasionally hear him say "nice catch", when you get a headshot.
Though if you actually got hit by it, you'd probably hear "Tough luck: On."
CATCH: ON. IRON: ON. BONUS ROUND. GOOD LUCK!
SWAT! SNAPSHOT!
It's all fun and games until they throw it back
Roman soldier: “we do a bit of tomfoolery around here”
My favorite sling ammo inscription willl always be “catch this” or “watch out” 😂😂
the first bullet shown in this clip is dirty af: peto landicam Fulviae (I'm going for Fulvius' clit0ris)
My favorite engraved sling insult is still "catch this!"
Alternatively slingsult
*And they catch it*
@@dragonknight9731 Slinger has to walk across the battlefield and awkwardly ask if he could have it back.
@@HeyImLucious The enemy scrathes their own nape in embarrasment, and gives back the lead bullet with a short apology.
A few seconds later, they're back to square one... and tens of meters away from each other, again.
"Parry this, you filthy casual."
" For Pompey's arse "
Too much for a noble Roman warrior .
You really should see ancient roman graffiti, funniest shit I have SEEN!
@@sirxcasotay8834 if you can speak Latin it’s hilarious
@@sirxcasotay8834 Yep. Common people are the same whether it's Ancient Romans or modern Western People. It's the pretentious elite that pretend to be "above it all". Regular people are just people, say what they feel, and most feel the same things.
@@boombl443 please send some
Ah I see that you're an Equites of culture as well.
That sling main writting "Parry This You Filthy Casual"
"So what did he send this time?"
"Don no Sire, writting is quite small, its takes a toll to read sire"
Parry this, you filthy fortuita
My favorite message on those bullets was "Found You".😂
Fun fact, the sling guy is swinging the sling the wrong way, thats why it looks so derpy
He did it very wrong. That’s not how you sling
Thought so. He did it very counterintuitively.
Like how there's no evidence of accuracy or efficacy with any of these guys
@@hayorge27 they don’t know what there doing
It's often very cringe to watch the people playing dress up attempt to demonstrate complicated formations and proper use of weaponry.
The narrator is always like "the ***** army was a brutal war machine that struck fear into the hearts of enemies"
~the video~ a bunch of cleanly shaven skinny dudes with poor posture looking like they are about to pass out from heat stroke
"Remember switching to you side sword is much more faster than reloading your spear"
If you know, you know!
i know but i dont know but i also know deep inside me that i dont know but in reality i know but i know i just lied but then again i know that i lied so i know i know
👏👏👏👏👏
Remember, swapping to your pugio is faster than reloading"
Pilum*
Lol when they throw the speers I thought the instructor was still there lol💀
Seeing the sling reminds me of mount and blade. "The blade may be strong and deadly, but never underestimate a man throwing stones either with hands or a sling". Vergeet War Marshall of Nord
The looter loading on slingstones while a hundred tons of horse and steel comes flying at him at 30 mph:
Sigh. No one knows what slings were actually used for. Rocks dont kill. Even when david struck a fucking goliath it only knocked him out long enough to rush in grab his sword and cut the head off. Small rocks never kill even at its best. Mostly they are a nuisance not dangerous.
@@IRussian007Sling stones certainly kill, what are you talking about? Of course a pebble won't be a nuissance but stones are hard, and swings fast
@@imaginehavingpfp5779 I meant kill more than a few guys in a whole battle. Why did they stop using them as time went on? Could be because they were ineffective as people could afford other weapons? I mean, sure, sling shots can kill, but that's as much a weapon as throwing bricks. I think it was used tactically to disrupt and maim than to kill. Maces never pierced armor to kill but to stop armor's blow deflection leaving the knight only knocked out, then were they killed, visor open, mace to the face. I can see rocks hitting someone in the head can daze and reduce melee ability. But bash someone's head or ribcage? Even knives are hard to pass ribs unlike in movies. What's a rock going to do?
@@IRussian007 The impact force of a well slung slingshot is similar to the power a 9mm bullet has actually, but with a bigger projectile so not going through people.
If i remember correctly what phased out slings were composite bows, which basically did the same thing as slings, but now you could put a pointy tip at the end of your projectile
I love me some slings, my favorite underrepresented weapon.
Ever used one, their way more fun than they sound and more deadly you could ever imagine.
In R:TW II Divide et Impera they recently added hoplites who also carry slings.
So cool.
@@michimatsch5862 carving a Rhode to victory ;)
@@legiohysterius4624 you didn't just, did you?
Oh, you cheeky little scoundrel you.
@@michimatsch5862 yes I had the bal... ierics to pull it of.
"Parry this you filthy casual!"
God damn even roman soldiers had a sense of humor, for some reasom i never imagined them heckling each other and their enemies but it makes perfect sense
The sling is actually very famous and was heavily used even up until the medieval period because a good slinger was good against infantry and cavalry, especially if he had a forest or woodland or fellow infantry units to hid or conceal him/herself in/among. It was far cheaper than a Pila or a bow and arrow, like you said any stone or rock could be used.
You dont even know what tactical function a sling served, who are you preaching to? The uneducated in this comment section?
Yep. They were excellent harassment tools against large numbers.
Bruh the way a couple of those guys threw their pila they aint even gonna penetrate skin lmao
Many of those guys are just actors anyways.
Plus given the context, they are in training 😂
They certainly lack drill and coordination
Accuracy wasn't a main concern with the pilum it was just a rain of spears
Uh it’s still heavy enough to be painful
🤣 "from Cesar with love"
The sling really needs more love. It's a weapon that requires almost no space, and ammo is literally lying on the ground.
Truly, this is the people's weapon.
Pleb's weapon*
The sling was the most feared missile weapon because you could not see it coming. They were so powerful that forceps were used to dig the " bullet" out of the body!
@@IRussian007 you need to read Xenophon !
You need less space to use a bow but I agree it's an underrated weapon
Bro you can literally shove the thing in your pocket while the bow requires tons of space in the back@@johnjacomb2645
It's funny because a lot of people see the sling and think, "Well, that's not scary."
Until you get 40 people with slings shooting at the same things, then it's terrifying.
Everyone thinks its scary till they see the roman shield and shining armor.
@@IRussian007It is probably the reason cavallery had iron masks.
@@karstenschuhmann8334that was because when stabbed in the eye or neck animals run amok
For instance at the battle of Guatamala to counter the elephant instead of planting the pikes they he told them to aim for the eye because charging Elephants don’t stop when confronted by pikes unless they lose vision
@@themindset-yj3hp Roman Cavalry had face masks for the rider. They were to be worn below a Roman helmet.
@@karstenschuhmann8334 not for all that most mostly reserved for the richer men or men of higher authority the Roman cavalry from 200 bc to 1000 ad was auxiliary or barbarians the roman cav sucked and Roman’s only made unstoppable infantry and they fell of after 387 ad and the Foederati became the main army of Rome up until Bucellarii and they where relatively good but weren’t exactly Roman in fact no unit was Roman after the fall of the East
An assault by a mass of aimed lead slugs from slingshots against a foe in combat formation would be very comparable in mass impact to a low velocity volley of 12 gauge or larger shotgun slugs. You wouldn't want to be there.
Extremely low velocity lol. Aka, not much like a shot gun at all.
@@tmclaug90 Much heavier slug though, and not as slow as one might think. So all in all, comparable over all levels of energy. The slug just has significantly poorer penetration capabilities.
@@hanzzel6086 in short, it’s still gonna ruin your day if it hits you.
@@generaldirtbag9684 Yep, especially if you are hit by several simultaneously.
@@tmclaug90 lighter sling loads were fast enough to pop skulls
"Ancient tea bagging" with skirts!
but then you get banned from the tourney for unsportsmanlike conduct even though you were just teabagging your dead friend 🙄
Was not expecting that lead carved Legionnaire shade tbf
"Deez Nutz"
...was found inscripted on an ancient stone.
I'm glad that they were able to salvage a footage from 100 B.C
There's more of it available than you might think.
Mostly in private collections.
The enemy when they see a Testudo:
"I'm a pussy I use riot shield"
I understood that reference.
Ah a man of culture
Bruh I just unlocked a core memory 😂
th-cam.com/video/Cknen_7yf4I/w-d-xo.html first thing I thought of
The ancient texts!
Some pilum were designed of soft iron so when it was thrown in would often bend. This prevents the enemy picking it up and using it against you.
There are exactly zero ancient sources that back up that theory
@@felixloewenich2202 At least the part of softer iron and different types of pila its true, but i dont know if the "designed to bend" part it is
Makes me smile knowing that it doesn’t matter which era you’re in; soldiers will always remain the same.
People are people, and the types of people who become soldiers is relatively static across the ages.
Damn, those boys are green as hell!! Where’s the sarge to whip them into a functioning unit?!!
Would it be centurion ?
@@maarekstele2998 A Decano, or Optio or Tesserarius, I think.
Sir, yes sir
Fucking finally I came across a comment that noticed this too. Every one of them is horribly out of shape. Even the way they throw spears or sling rocks shows clumsiness, lack of training. It's an insult to romans to be even demonstrate it.
Slinging is good fun, thou you have to do it in a controlled environment as these things can and will cause great harm.
When we were learning about them in school we threw around a ball of masking tape.
Props to the cameraman for going back in time to record this
Really appreciate these roman solidiers giving demonstrations for the camera guy.
The phrases on the sling projectiles had me lmfao
Search for ancient rome grafitti translations, it's hilarious how we are still the same since then
I always love how the majority of people demonstrating these highly athletic activities are the most uncoordinated and awkward looking people.
Fr 😂
i swear
It's because most of them are nerds
Most reenactors and Roman Larpers (like me) are just weebs and basement dwellers. We will never have the makings of a varsity legionary
@@DiocletianLariushey, what’s your fascination with rome about, like why rome what makes them significant? i think it’s a cool and unique interest and your pfp also prompted me to ask
The sling is the main reason why David and Goliath is a story about a man pulling a fucking gun on a strong human.
Never really looked into how a sling works but seeing how it’s basically a rope and not a loop really helped me understand why it works. Thanks!
That writing on the stone is funny as hell. Soldiers really haven’t changed much.
Humans in general you mean
Lead shots, not stone.
@@mr.strugglesnuggle6668 0-0
@@Kain1805 No, that's pretty standard military humor. "Fuck the guy commanding us haha!"
@@spades9681 could’ve been literal if it’s Romans we’re talking about
Sling "rarely talked about"?
The balearic entered the chat
THANK YOU!! someone else who understands the value of the Balearic slingers
It was literally used to kill the Goliath
Technically he is correct.
Everyone focus on bows, crossbows, maybe javelins and throwing knives. But in general, the sling is forgotten.
The pila is beyond awesome. Rome Total War showed it's awesomeness.
This channel is super undervalued
With phrases like: "Get gud kid!" And "did your mom" 😂
The older version of writing OwO on a missle
Wait WHAT WHO DID IT
@@dominmaj9682 There are plenty of images coming out of Ukraine of soldiers putting "fun" messages on mortar shells and the like. And Americans have been well documented writing messages on bombs since WWII
@@GoErikTheRed i guess humans don't change at all
You hit me! You hit me right in the arm!
Sling ammo guy seems like a sweet gig. I'm just imagining an ammo cart and maybe a few guys with buckets taking scoops and running to each slinger to refill them.
Writing on slingshot ammo is the ancient equivalent of writing on bombs
More like writing on catapult ammo
Was absolutely not expecting that last bit and almost spit out my Twix haha 😂
"Deez nuts"
-Cleitinicus, (i have no idea when)
The pilar was double hooked on its tip, & if I recall, was especially useful in making enemy soldier's shields nearly useless, as they could not dig the pilar out of their shield before close quarters combat
actually, they bend on impact.
Let’s all appreciate the cameraman for going back in time to get us this footage
Its not back in time, these lads have no physical ability for war. Im not even kidding. Theyre best for cannon fodder.
it's really funny to see that men never changes since 2000+ years ago
It's nice to know soldiers never change.
Glad to see that soldiers never change
0:24 The romans suffered a lot from the use of the sling during the Judean Revolts. In fact, the mini-series "Ancient Rome: Rise and Fall of an Empire" depicts a scene in which a group of roman soldiers are completely massacred by jewish rebels who only use slings against them
King David was leading them.
Was that before he sent Bathsheba's husband, Uriah,
to the hottest part of the battle so that he could be killed, thereafter leaving a clear run for David to get his leg over ?
@@michellebrown4903 Sigma Grindset.
@@michellebrown4903 He already had ‘got his leg over’.
She was pregnant and David wanted him killed so that he could marry her and cover up his crime. He had tried to get Uriah to sleep with her to cover it up, but Uriah had refused. So the only solution was to marry her. And he could only marry her if Uriah died.
It was an unbearable scandal and crime that the king would have committed such adultery.
But there is no hidden sin before God. David was publicly humiliated by one of his sons. The child Bathsheba bore died. His children ran amok. The kingdom was eventually divided and ultimately destroyed.
Not sure what history you've been reading but pretty sure that emperor Hadrian's legionaries were the ones doing all the massacring at Judea and not the other way around.
Unless you mean the start of Bar Kokhba revolt where the Jewish soldiers started systemically slaughtering all the non-Jews in the area 🤔
props to the camera man traveling back in time to get this astonishing footage 👀
😂 The last Fact gave the Sentence: "I've got a Bullet with your Name on it!" a new Meaning 😂👌
That line of soldiers just skewered that guy lol
'Insert' HBO ROME quotes on every stones! 😂
*Thirteen*
Imagine getting hit by "Real Roman bread for real Romans"
HE WAS A CONSUL OF ROME!!!
The Vandal soldier rubbing his head - who was?
Zombie Caesar - Pompey
From General Posca with love
Jupiter's cock!
Slings need more love, all that seems to be talked about in ancient range weaponry are bows and javelins
I almost never have seem much talk about javelins even though they were used from the Stone age all the way up to gunpowder by almost every army.
More love? My great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great Great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great grandfather got brutally killed by this.
Rest in peace octavius
Thats because rocks didnt kill but hurt. The idea was to reduce effectiveness of the enemy when hand to hand began. But against armored romans it was laughable. So yes, no one gives a shit about pebbles.
The end literally had me dying, got my ass off guard
The tireless dedication of these awesome examples of human kind is notable..
Pila also had a pivot where the wooden shaft and metal spear met so if it landed in an enemy’s shield they would be forced to drop their shield.
Yeah, Gaius Marius brought that change
“The pilum had a maximum distance of around 100 feet (30 meters) through the effective range was 50 to 65 feet (15 to 20 meters). The pilum was designed so that the shank bent or broke off from the wooden shaft on impact to prevent the opponent from throwing it back at the Romans or to get stuck into enemy shields.”
You're late bro, that shit was drilled to annoyance by every history video.
These are the types of shorts i would love to see more of!
legends say the rock that went in and out of goliath's head wrote "eat ass bozo"
Glad we have this footage from the classical period
I'm sure it's mentioned elsewhere on this video but it's probably noteworthy to also mention on here that the Pila was designed to get stuck in the enemy's wooden shields. After it gets stuck, it drags the shield down, forcing the enemy to throw away the shield and fight the Romans with only their main-hand weapon.
Also, it bends on impact which forces the enemy to drop their shields or at least, not be thrown back.
my favorite message I've seen on a slingstone is "catch"
Unreal: The Flak projectile has a smiley on the front.
my favorite saying on those lead ones was simply “catch!”
Imagine being Merced by some guy who drew a knob on his slingshot rounds
Men back in the day drawing diks on rocks and throwing them at each other.
Some things never change.
Lmfaoooo… “for Pompey’s arse” is hilarious 🤣
Particularly cheeky Greek slingers would apparently carve the word for "Ouch" into ammo as well.
Jesus watching that dude use his sling was the most painful demonstration of sling throwing ever
No, seeing a fat centurion wiggling that pilum like a lady was.
That would be very cool to of found a few of those lead rocks with writing on them. I found and still have a Roman coin I found in some pocket change a few years ago. It has a Roman emperor's face with just the one side and that roman eye on one side and the other side has a Roman fort like structure, maybe a siege Tower.
Liked the video, needed to discuss the plumbata though.
Kudos to the time traveler who brought the ancient roman soldiers to the future to demonstrate in this video.
I thought the one guy was gonna yeet the spear straight into the soldier in line until I realized the people in front of him were real 😳
I remember seeing one that said “watch out” in Latin 💀
This reminded me of the punchline of a joke I heard once, "David slew Goliath with a stone and sling. He didn't slap him down and stomp the shit out of him."
You're unappreciated because you can't read.
Balearic Islander mercenaries were the best lead slingers of their age. They brought precision outcomes at a distance, to the battlefield while appearing unarmed during their approach.
“Oh golly I hope their not coming for us” - a Nipton NPC probably
My grandpa tells us stories from when he used to be in the Roman army and he used to wear those uniforms, amazing
Something that didn’t get mention was the ability of the pilum to literally go through shields or outright break them in half sometimes. They were literally anti shield devices. The Roman’s were masters on the battlefield during this period of time.
No mention of plumbatae?
We focused on the early Imperial soldier for this video :)
@@Callmecel exactly. But weirdly all of their weaponry and armor shields etc are all late anyways so
Dude, you think a casual youtuber is a good source of history? The actors don't have enough training to even raid a pantry.
Tod did a test with armour with a javelin thrown by an professional thrower
It would be cool to see what effect getting multiple people in armour with shields to see how much they have to spread out to use a sling and how much it's range is affected by the armour like the javalin
Fascinating history! Thank you for your great work.
I made a sling when I was a kid. Dead C-cell batteries were my favorite ammunition. Powerful
"Hey, Carthage! Elephants blow!"
- Rome
"Get jiggy with it"
I like the "pump his @$$" remark🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Soldier 1:what is writen on the rock?
Soldier 2:idk i don't speak pizza
There are many funny comments here but yours takes the pizza.