Plumbata (dart)
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Plumbatae or mattiobarbuli were lead-weighted darts carried by ancient Roman infantry. The only written source for these tactical weapons is Vegetius' Epitome Rei Militari (1.17). Vegetius is the only source of military detail the other ancient authors passed over.
Vegetius says:
- The exercise of the loaded javelins, called martiobarbuli, must not be omitted. We formerly had two legions in lllyricum, consisting of six thousand men each, which from their extraordinary dexterity and skill in the use of these weapons were distinguished by the same appellation. They supported for a long time the weight of all the wars and distinguished themselves so remarkably that the Emperors Diocletian and Maximian on their accession honored them with the titles of Jovian and Herculean and preferred them before all the other legions. Every soldier carries five of these javelins in the hollow of his shield. And thus the legionary soldiers seem to supply the place of archers, for they wound both the men and horses of the enemy before they come within reach of the common missile weapons.[1]
Plumbatae etymologically contain plumbum, or lead, and can be translated "lead-weighted (darts)". Martiobarbuli in this translation is mattiobarbuli in the Latin, which is most likely an assimilation of Martio-barbuli, "little barbs of Mars." The barb implied a barbed head, and Mars was the god of war (among other things).
Archaeology gives us a clearer picture of mattiobarbuli: the reference listed has an illustration of a find from Wroxeter identified as the head of a plumbata and a reconstruction of the complete weapon: a fletched dart with an iron head weighted with lead. The reconstruction seems entirely consistent with Vegetius' description.
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[edit] Secondary sources
- Connolly, Peter, Greece and Rome at War, Greenhill Books, 1998, ISBN 1-85367-303-X
- Degen, R. (1992): Plumbatae: Wurfgeschosse der Spätantike, in: Helvetia Archaeologica, vol. 23, pp. 139-147.
- Völling, T. (1991): 'Plumbata - Mattiobarbulus - Martzobarboulon? Bemerkungen zu einem Waffenfund aus Olympia' in: Archäologischer Anzeiger, pp. 287-98.
