And here we go.
Hi it's Tod from Tod's workshop and Tod Cutler here and today we've got a film about pilum,
these Roman throwing spears, javelins. Now the thing is this is my third attempt at making this
film. I have messed up and the reason is I have an idea I get excited about the idea I go into
it possibly sometimes faster than I should but I do it without a script because I like to explore
I like to find out what's going on and react to that and talk about that and find new things to
look at and think about. That's what I do but what that means is that it can mess with my
filming. Sometimes things can go wrong and this is my third attempt it's great when it works
but sometimes it doesn't. It's really annoying because it's a great subject I
had an amazing guest and the location where I first did it was absolutely fantastic
I messed up so I went for it a second time same guest different location and I messed up, but
this is the third one and we're putting everything together now to turn it into a film that really is
worth watching so watch out for the weird editing. I get it but it's worth it stick with it. So let's
start again it's a simple question how far can an experienced Roman legionary throw a pilum?
Well it's actually a surprisingly difficult question to answer because as far as I know they
don't actually list that in any of the original accounts so you have to try and work it out you
have to try and extrapolate well the problem is I am no good at throwing so I can't find out if
I throw it I can't find out how and how far an experienced legionary would throw it and if I
can't see how far he's going to throw it I can't find out how powerful a throw is how much energy
it carries and therefore what it does to flesh what it does to armour what it does to shields.
So I need first step to get somebody who can throw one of these things properly and to throw
at a distance that actually means something so I was lucky enough to be able to recruit Michael
Allison he throws for the GB under 20s team. He's a fantastic experienced thrower and exactly what
I needed. These are heavier than a modern Javelin this weighs in at about 1.3 kilos modern Javelin
is about 800 grams now when I went around on the web looking for how far these things could be
thrown I came up with numbers like 15 18 meters that seems to be what people are talking about
well that's pretty close but on the other hand these are heavier than modern javelins
so there's really only one way to find out and that's what Tod's Workshop Channel is all about.
Let's go do it! So I went I contacted Michael went to see him at the Iffley Road Athletics
field which is where Roger Bannister did the four minute mile back in the 50s
it's also home to Oxford University Athletics Club who allowed me to film there, so thank you very
much everybody who's concerned and I gave one of these to Michael and this is what happened.
Now he has to be the best legionary in the legion at throwing pilum, so I'm going to
give him a pilum we're going to talk to Michael and we're going to find out his first thoughts.
So the javelin that you've got tell me about it how long how heavy?
These javelins are 800 grams and they're about two and a half meters long with the
grip in the middle balancing point about they're just on the front of the grip. All right that's
interesting key with these javelins is that the center of mass is slightly in front of
the center of lift so there's a moment so it tips out there. Right ah okay I didn't realize
that so there are actually designed to have lift. Yes so what I'd like you to do is hold
this tell me your thoughts so this is a well Roman pilum it is uh I think it's about 1.2/1.3
kilos so 1300 grams so significantly more. Get a feel for that tell me what you think.
Yeah a little bit heavier
Center of mass seems in a pretty similar point so but then I don't know what the lift is going to
be doing so we'll see if it tips out or not. That will be interesting because I've thrown it a bit
and it works in a certain way for me and it'll be interesting to see if
it does the same. So basically can you just take it away Michael I'll
stand her. Very first throw for Michael ever having touched the pilum what does it do?
Right so what distance is that it's about 22 meters so nice throw Michael that is for sure
so how was that to throw then? It feels quite strange being used to the nice modern javelin
I think the main difference was that in a modern Javelin most of the weight
is in sort of this portion of the spear um whereas here because obviously it's a
very skinny point it doesn't have much of the weight here and obviously it's thickest bit so
overall whereas I'm used to sort of feeling the weight at this end of the javelin I don't
get that feeling which just sort of it's a strange feeling do you think perhaps you
mean part of this experiment over a few weeks is try throwing it from different balance points.
And the experiment I'm referring to is to take the numbers, the distances that Michael throws
and to feed them into this machine here so I can use my spear throwing machine to throw javelin's,
pilum the same distance. It's a simple concept that I completely failed to explain in the film,
so now back to Michael for where to hold the pilum and the balance points. We don't have a grip no on
this whereas we would with the normal javelin so I'm not you're not told, I'm not told where
to hold it so I think that's going to be part of getting used to it, where where do I hold it where
do I want my hand relative to the center of mass? Because I mean they had fighting spears as well
but these were very much their throwing spears yes and my understanding of them is that the distance
is relatively short sort of 15 18 meters so but you cleared out about 22 23 with a static throw
there on throw one. When you're just kind of like a bit more distance there was that a bit more no
no I think oh you've got more to come no I would agree with that and I'd love to see it you know
with the running style yeah yeah we can give that a go um yeah just go for one and see what you do.
Oh now that was beautiful! But that one I caught a little bit better so it went straight
but even on that the flight on that was much nicer that was beautiful but that's the same one you
threw before yeah I don't know just a second throw got a bit more used to it and do you feel that you
did something different I mean that that couldn't have been the best throw basically no it was
um I mentioned before how these javelins seem a little bit more sort of unstable in the air
it just means you have to be technically perfect and make sure you're hitting it really nice and
aligned otherwise any slight deviation and it's gonna spin out of control like the last one.
Okay so in a way that says to me you've got to be calm and controlled like if you're
panicked and you're worried exactly it's not the throwing weapon for you perhaps.
So I've just measured those throws and it was 27 and 28 meters in fact that Michael did which is
fantastic with this and those were genuinely throws two and three. Sometimes I just get so
excited by a film a concept, an idea that I rush into it before I'm fully ready now I realized
that I'd messed up the first one so I went and organized a second film with Michael down here
but then the weather was really cold and I didn't realize actually that makes such a difference to
an athlete. I'm not athletic myself and so I didn't realize he couldn't put the energy into
throwing the second filming day because he's worried about being injured. You know this is
just a a trivial little YouTube film compared to his career you know this it's not important
but what it did make it highlighted to me in fact I didn't realize. It was a thing that actually the
range of a pilum, the effective range of a pilum will be different in hot and cold weather. I mean
I get it with bows, but I wasn't expecting it with spears. Anyway we've not quite made it to
30 meters yet so here's your incentive you see right at the 30 meter mark yeah GoPro number
eight commonly known as Graham that replaced GoPro seven uh which was this one, so this was
Graham the second or first I forget which. So we've now got Graham III out there ,fourth I
don't know I've killed too many. Right hit that, extra case of beer for Christmas. Right all yours
All right
oh oh that far that far right okay I think we'll up sticks, we'll go and have a look at that. Well
talk about aiming are you disappointed? Well I saved you a GoPro but you did not by much
you did save me a GoPro but that is well 30 centimeters one foot away which is fantastic.
How aimed was that? I was aiming for the GoPro so
first one about a meter out maybe a meter and a half second one yeah 30 centimeters.
So actually that's probably about as accurate as I can shoot bow to be honest and I'm I'm not a
a bad shot of not amazing but that is really quite accurate and so in terms of barbarians and
all that kind of stuff when we were talking the other day you were saying, that I can't remember
your phraseology but it was you were talking about not really aiming just I don't know,
Zen In The Art of Archery or something, you just feel your way or.... It's more that you don't
think about how high you're gonna throw you just look at a point and try and throw it at that point
so I was looking at the GoPro and trying to throw it at the GoPro that's how you even drafting. To
find out if Michael can throw more than 30 meters we have to go to warmer weather back
in the Autumn the first film I did at Iffley Road. You reckon you got more in it? Yeah so
um yeah go again and then because I really really have to see you doing a running throw as well yeah
Again I'm gonna have to move the GoPro back because I keep on missing missing the shot so
we're up in the early 30s now on throw four yeah I mean how does that feel because it's
a very different weight to your javelin? Yeah it's I mean although the weighting
is different it is still a spear, so like although it will take a little bit of getting
used to it's still what it is I'm still fairly comfortable throwing that it is my implement,
but yeah I think it's going to be about getting used to the difference in the position of the
center of mass and as I mentioned also the fact that the main weight of it isn't in the tip. Yeah
I'd say you're doing pretty well after your fourth throw thank you very much so let's go again
ah God I love working with professionals brilliant.
That one came out a bit wrong so Michael just pulled this one out and this has happened
and he got all worried, bless. But the bottom line is as anybody's into pilum knows this is supposed
to happen isn't it? Well this is an interesting point is it supposed to happen is it supposed
to bend so that people can't throw it back or so that it dangles out of shields well at least as
far as I know we don't really know the answer to that, but as a weapons maker and filmmaker,
my belief with this is that this is armour piercing the idea of this long thin shank is
it goes through a shield for instance or it goes through mail and if that goes through a shield
it's now going to even if it hasn't actually hit you it's going to encumber you on the inside
that's why the shank was long that's my belief you make it long, well it can't be too heavy because
otherwise you can't throw the thing so it's quite thin it's quite thin made of soft iron, it bends
and I think that this has got everybody hot under the collar and all excited because it bends and
therefore it must have a function. I don't think it has got a function, it's just well part of the
function, of it being an armor-piercing device it needs to be long and thin and light-ish weight.
But the question is can you throw it because apparently you can't throw them back? Part of
the problem with the first film was I left the filming too late in the day, it got too dark so
another awkward cut please forgive me back to the second film. Either way they're quite easy to bend
so we've got that one now as well, so matching pair so Michael take those two lovely projectiles
away and uh we'll give it a go this is really quite bent this one that really is quite bent.
Well that still would have gone in somebody absolutely so I mean that
was still a dead straight throw that was the important thing it
didn't cause it to tumble or or buck or or don't it just still went straight.
Again perfect, absolutely perfect so I think for me the conclusion there is does
it stop them going straight? No it doesn't. Would it be unpleasant at the other end? Yes
it would. Because I foolishly chose to do filming on such a
cold day or ignorantly perhaps, I didn't actually realize the implication of it,
we weren't able to do an energetic throw when Michael came down here just before Christmas
so we're back to Iffley Road again, back to the Autumn for a running throw. How far can he go?
Of course we don't really know how they were thrown or how they could be thrown of course in
war anything happens so I'm sure people ran up and threw them can you run up and throw it. Let's see.
Oh that is awesome I know he's supposed to be good because he throws for the UK
but again that was the first time he has done a running throw with one of these and it was a
little point heavy but it was awesomely good, awesomely good, fantastic. How did you feel?
Yeah slightly miss hit it that's why it tipped out but there's more distance there. Oh God,
throw one! Come on give yourself a break I'll give him a break as well throw two.
Oh beautiful oh perfect you use the word ambling earlier on what you come on so what are you doing
tell me about it? I think give me two weeks and a bit more practice do a few harder throws yeah I
think we can get well over 50 meters with this. So we're getting 42. we love it you were getting 42
um which again is just uh that is way beyond what I thought these things would do actually
so we'll see you again and then we'll dial in Michael's numbers we'll put it into our spear
thrower and then we can run some tests because well I want to see these things go through mail
and shields and whatever else we're going to do with it. And here I introduce spear thrower
What distance this thing will throw a pilum, and then I completely don't do it. Michael never work
with amateurs. But we're going to rectify this fault. Spear thrower. Obviously basically we've
got the back half of the crossbow there, a whole load of bungees here but what's important for me
is you can adjust the power of this thing you can adjust the the actual length that it shoots over,
the power stroke, you can a bit like your big thrower, wiry thrower you can change the power
of the bungees as well so you can put thinner ones, thicker ones on it so the whole thing is
completely adjustable. So I'm just setting it up now and it means that you know if you throw
42 meters I can make this thing throw a pilum 42 meters. Unfortunately today the pilum is not
yet set up for it but we have uh these which are I'd love to see you throw another time,
but we have these which are sort of 400 gram fletched javelins so we can do this.
So basically we pull the thing back
so we're in
that's a little bit Heath Robinson. Then really you just shoot it as you would anything else.
That's so good. So you feeling the urge? Oh absolutely all right so that's what that's uh
35 meters something like that at what's that 30 degree elevation. That's so good but it's like
saying it's not a full power by any means oh yeah no but I can just see how yeah you put some big
bungees on this and yeah just launched something. But it means that I can replicate your throw now
without having to actually be good at throwing. Right let's load her up.
One of the weirder and crazier things I've built. Right all yours, trigger is live.
So that is the whole reason that you were down here today but there's nothing as glamorous
as actually throwing at the real thing so we will get you a mannequin, mail and a shield.
Well I'll make that as a promise, Michael thank you very much. Pleasure it's been a lot of fun.
Good another time. So this is the part that should have been there all along
throwing a pilum with our spear thrower. So I've modified the back of this pilum here because it
has a butt spike, so I've put a little wooden bit that will catch the string and now we're
going to load this thing up, not exactly a handy battlefield weapon but does the job
and here we go!
Lovely oh fantastic what a way to end! So what that now gives us is accuracy,
distance, the right speed, the right angle and we can now look at shooting at mail, at flesh,
at plate, shields ah whatever. Anyway I hope you enjoyed it, bit of a weird
mess around with the edits there you are. But anyway thank you very much see you again