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WABUKAN Arsenal · Bows and projectiles · Europe

Javelin

A light spear made mainly to be thrown by hand, among the oldest weapons; Roman legionaries threw the pilum just before charging with the sword.

Javelin
Javelin WABUKAN illustration

Also known as

javelin; pilum, verutum, plumbata (Roman); assegai (Zulu); akontion (Greek)

Origin and history

Seven spear-like objects about 400,000 years old found at Schöningen in Germany, between 1.83 and 2.25 m long and heaviest at the front, suggest javelin use already in the Lower Palaeolithic. Javelin throwing was an event of the ancient Olympics. Roman velites skirmished with small javelins (veruta), legionaries of the late Republic and early Empire carried two pila to throw before closing with the gladius, and the late Roman plumbata was a weighted, fletched dart clipped inside the shield. The Zulu used a long assegai javelin for an opening volley.

Martial arts that use it

Seen in traditional practice, historical reenactment and demonstrations; no art page on WABUKAN yet.

Construction

A long thin shaft, sometimes simply pointed but usually with a leaf-shaped, spear-like or four-sided head. Some ancient javelins had a strap or thong (the Roman amentum) to add power and spin. The Roman pilum had a long iron shank; the plumbata was a short, weighted dart with leather vanes.

Basic techniques

Training

Ranged weapons are trained on a range with a safe backstop: stance, grip, release and breathing are repeated until the movement is identical every time. Distance increases only after the form is stable.

Safety

Only shoot or throw on a supervised range with a safe backstop, never towards anything you would not want to hit, and never retrieve while others are shooting or throwing.

Legality (general information)

Bows, throwing blades and similar weapons are often legal to own but may only be used on approved ranges or under club rules; some throwing weapons (such as shuriken or throwing stars) are banned outright in several countries. This is general information, not legal advice: check local law and your federation’s rules.

Did you know?

In ancient Greek games, the winning throw was the longest one, as long as the javelin landed tip first.

More weapons

Spear-thrower (atlatl) Crossbow Fukiya (blowgun) English longbow Yumi Sling

Sources

Original WABUKAN text, written from these cross-checked sources (facts, not sentences).

  1. Wikipedia — Javelin