Plumbatae or martiobarbuli were

lead Lead () is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol Pb (from Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a Heavy metal (elements), heavy metal that is density, denser than most common materials. Lead is Mohs scale, soft and Ductility, malleabl ...

-weighted throwing darts carried by

infantry Infantry, or infantryman are a type of soldier who specialize in ground combat, typically fighting dismounted. Historically the term was used to describe foot soldiers, i.e. those who march and fight on foot. In modern usage, the term broadl ...

men in Antiquity and the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

. They were used to inflict damage on enemies at a distance before engaging in

close combat Close-quarters battle (CQB), also called close-quarters combat (CQC), is a close combat situation between multiple combatants involving ranged (typically firearm-based) or melee combat. It can occur between military units, law enforcement and cr ...

. Roman soldiers in some legions carried plumbatae inside their shields, which allowed them to have ranged weapons similar to arrows, according to

Vegetius Publius (or Flavius) Vegetius Renatus, known as Vegetius (), was a writer of the Later Roman Empire (late 4th century). Nothing is known of his life or station beyond what is contained in his two surviving works: ''Epitoma rei militaris'' (also r ...

in his 4th-century military treatise '' De re militari.'' The plumbata consisted of a lead-weighted head attached to a wooden shaft with

fletching Fletching is the fin-shaped aerodynamic stabilization device attached on arrows, crossbow bolts, Dart (missile), darts, and javelins, typically made from light semi-flexible materials such as feathers or Bark (botany), bark. Each piece of such a ...

, which allowed soldiers to throw them effectively over long distances. The Roman work ''

De rebus bellicis ("On the Things of Wars") is an anonymous work of the 4th or 5th century which suggests remedies for the military and financial problems in the Roman Empire, including a number of fanciful war machines. It was written after the death of Con ...

'' and the Byzantine manual of war '' Strategicon'', confirm their use and describe variations, such as the spiked plumbatae (''plumbata tribolata''). Archaeological finds in

Wroxeter Wroxeter ( ) is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Wroxeter and Uppington, in the Shropshire district, in the ceremonial county of Shropshire, England. It is beside the River Severn, south-east of Shrewsbury. In 1961 the ...

and elsewhere confirm their description and use.

History

The first examples seem to have been carried by the

Ancient Greeks Ancient Greece () was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity (), that comprised a loose collection of culturally and linguistically re ...

from about 500 BC onwards, but the best-known users were the late Roman and Eastern Roman armies. The earliest and best written source for these weapons refers to a period around 300 AD, though the document was composed around 390–450 AD. A second source, also from the late 4th century, is an

anonymous Anonymous may refer to: * Anonymity, the state of an individual's identity, or personally identifiable information, being publicly unknown ** Anonymous work, a work of art or literature that has an unnamed or unknown creator or author * Anonym ...

treatise A treatise is a Formality, formal and systematic written discourse on some subject concerned with investigating or exposing the main principles of the subject and its conclusions."mwod:treatise, Treatise." Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. Acc ...

titled ''

'', which briefly discusses (so far archaeologically unattested) spiked ''plumbatae'' (''plumbata tribolata''), but which is also the only source that shows an image of what a ''plumbata'' looked like. The image shows what looks like a short

arrow An arrow is a fin-stabilized projectile launched by a bow. A typical arrow usually consists of a long, stiff, straight shaft with a weighty (and usually sharp and pointed) arrowhead attached to the front end, multiple fin-like stabilizers c ...

with a weight attached to the shaft. Although only later copies of the original manuscript exist, this is confirmed by the remains which have so far turned up in the archaeological record. A third source is the late 6th century '' Strategicon'', written by the

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

emperor Maurice, who wrote about the ''martzobarboulon'', a corruption of its Latin name ''martiobarbulum''. ''Plumbatae'' etymologically contain ''plumbum'', or

, and can be translated "lead-weighted

arts The arts or creative arts are a vast range of human practices involving creativity, creative expression, storytelling, and cultural participation. The arts encompass diverse and plural modes of thought, deeds, and existence in an extensive ...

. ''Martiobarbuli'' in this translation is ''mattiobarbuli'' in the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

, which is most likely an assimilation of ''Martio-barbuli'', "little barbs of Mars". The barb implied a barbed head, and

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is also known as the "Red Planet", because of its orange-red appearance. Mars is a desert-like rocky planet with a tenuous carbon dioxide () atmosphere. At the average surface level the atmosph ...

was the god of war (among other things). Archaeology gives a clearer picture of ''martiobarbuli''. The reference listed has an illustration of a find from

identified as the head of a ''plumbata'' and a reconstruction of the complete weapon: a fletched dart with an

iron Iron is a chemical element; it has symbol Fe () and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, forming much of Earth's o ...

head weighted with lead. The reconstruction seems entirely consistent with Vegetius' description. War darts were also used in Europe later in the

Notes

References

Primary sources

* Anonymous, ''De Rebus Bellicis'': On matters of war. * Maurice, ''Strategikon'': On Strategy. * Vegetius, ''Epitome Rei Militari'': Epitome of Military science.

Secondary sources

* Barker, P., ''The plumbatae from Wroxeter'', in: Hassall and Ireland 1979, De Rebus Bellicis, BAR Int. Ser., vol. 63 (Oxford), part 1, pp. 97–9. * Connolly, Peter, ''Greece and Rome at War'', Greenhill Books, 1998, * Degen, R., Plumbatae: Wurfgeschosse der Spätantike, in: Helvetia Archaeologica 1992, vol. 23, pp. 139–147. * Ireland, Robert, ''De Rebus Bellicis'' (anon.), in: BAR International Series 63 (Oxford), part 2. * Dennis, George T., ''Maurice's Strategikon. Handbook of Byzantine military strategy'', University of Philadelphia Press 1984, . *Keszi, Tamás: ''Plumbata, the Roman-Style Darts. A Late Antique Weapon from Annamatia.'' Hungarian Archaeology 2018. Spring, 21-32. https://www.academia.edu/36798885/Plumbata_the_Roman-Style_Darts._A_Late_Antique_Weapon_from_Annamatia * Milner, N.P., ''Vegetius: epitome of military science'', Liverpool University Press 1993, . * Völling, T. (1991): ''Plumbata - Mattiobarbulus - Martzobarboulon? Bemerkungen zu einem Waffenfund aus Olympia'' in: Archäologischer Anzeiger, pp. 287–98.

External links