Weapons & Warriors: The Plumbata of the Romans

Art by TL Jeffcoat

Although originally used by the Greeks, this throwing dart is best known from its use by the Roman legions over 1,600 years ago. These weapons are so effective that a legion could halt a charging cavalry before it reaches the line. Half of every battle is killing your enemy, the other half is disorienting or confusing them so they are easier to kill.

The Plumbata is a simple design. It’s a wooden dart that is slightly shorter than an arrow. The iron tipped head is weighted with lead to keep the sharp end pointed towards its target while airborne, no matter how it is thrown. This not only simplifies training, it allows the darts to be thrown under pressure at short ranges without focusing so much on technique. The fletched rear of the Plumbata helps the dart stay balanced, and increases range. The weight of the lead also increases the power of the weapon's impact, allowing it to penetrate light armor, or even horse skin as cavalry tries to flank or charge the legion.

Weapons & Warriors: The Kestros of the Macedonians

This has to be one of the deadliest slings ever made. Unlike the standard stone tossing slings of the Stone Age, the Kestros was sharp, and capable of penetrating light armor when thrown hard enough. The sharpened and weighted tip can do serious damage to an enemy on the battle field if not deflected by metallic armor. In motion the Kestros looks more like a double sling with straps around an iron tipped dart. The dart was usually around a foot in length or maybe a little more and built similar to an arrow. The entire tip is metal and purposely weighs more than the rest of the dart. This forces the tip to face front while airborne, and allows the shaft and feathers, or something similar, to guide it in a straight path.

The Kestros Art by TL Jeffcoat

Macedonian troops (a nation of ancient Greece) under the rule of King Perseus around 150 BC were known to train and use the Kestros in a few battles. It wasn’t used for a very long time, as technology quickly turned to more reliable ranged weapons. The Kestros was a light weight and easy weapon to carry with a quiver of darts that can be slung over a shoulder. The only downside of this deadly sling weapon is the winding up throw. Just like the sling, it was eventually replaced with weapons that didn’t require spinning it before attacking or used lighter ammo.