Javelins

thumb|upright=1.25|Man with a shield throwing a javelin thumb|upright|Javelin thrower. Bronze, Laconian style, third quarter of the 6th century BC

100px|thumb|right|Pilum The pilum (; : pila) was a javelin commonly used by the Roman army in ancient times. It was generally about long overall, consisting of an iron shank about in diameter and long with a pyramidal head, attached to a wooden shaft by either a socket or a flat tang.

thumb|An askari guard at an Allied air training school at [[AFB Waterkloof, Pretoria, South Africa, January 1943]] An assegai or assagai is a polearm used for throwing, usually a light spear or javelin made up of a wooden handle with an iron tip.

thumb|Reenactor with angon The angon (Medieval Greek , Old High German ango, Old English anga "hook, point, spike") is a type of javelin that was used during the Early Middle Ages by the Anglo-Saxons, Franks, Goths, and other Germanic peoples. It was similar to, and probably derived from, the pilum used by the Roman army and had a barbed head and long narrow socket or shank made of iron mounted on a wooden haft.

Falarica, also phalarica, was an ancient Iberian ranged polearm that was sometimes used as an incendiary weapon.

thumb|350px|Iberian soliferreum from the Bastida de les Alcusses. Prehistory Museum of Valencia Soliferrum or Soliferreum (Latin: solus, "only" and ferrum, "iron") was the Roman name for an ancient Iberian ranged polearm made entirely of iron. The soliferrum was a heavy hand-thrown javelin, designed to be thrown to a distance of up to 30 meters. In the Iberian language it was known as saunion.

A spiculum is a late Roman spear that replaced the pilum as the infantryman's main throwing javelin around 250 AD. Scholars suppose that it could have resulted from the gradual combination of the pilum and two German spears, the angon and the bebra. As more and more Germans joined the Roman army, their culture and traditions became a driving force for change. The spiculum was better than the old pilum when used as a thrusting spear, but still maintained some of the former weapon's penetrative power when thrown.thumb|Illustration of a spiculum

thumb|A Greek with an amentum in the right hand An amentum (Greek: αγκύλη, ankyle,) was a leather strap attached to a javelin used in ancient Greek athletics, hunting, and warfare, which helped to increase the range and the stability of the javelin in flight. Stability in flight was important because it allowed the javelin to land on its point, which was the only way the throw could be accurately recorded in competition or be useful against a live target. An amentum also increased the effective length of the throwing arm similarly to a spear-thrower or Swiss arrow, which enhances the speed of

The verutum, plural veruta (), was a short javelin used in the Roman army. This javelin was used by the velites for skirmishing purposes, unlike the heavier pilum, which was used by the hastati and principes for weakening the enemy before advancing into close combat. The shafts were about long, substantially shorter than the pilum, and the point measured about long. The verutum had either an iron shank like the pilum or a tapering metal head. It was sometimes thrown with the aid of a throwing strap, or amentum.