Pilum

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The Pilum was the standard polearm/spear weapon of the Roman legions. There were two varieties of the pilum: the heavy and the light pilum. The weapons were almost identical except for the thickness of their shafts and the handguard on the heavy pilum which was not present on the light pilum. The heavy pilum was used more like a polearm; while it could be thrown, it was used more for thrusting and only thrown when necessary. The light pilum was essentially a javelin and was designed to bend or break upon impact to prevent it being thrown back.