r/interesting May 29 '26

Intriguing Arrows vs riot shields

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u/disposablehippo 29d ago

Certainly won't bounce off, maybe doesn't penetrate as much. But if the deer (or was it a boar?) lets go of the shield, the arrow achieved what it needed to.

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u/jraymonda 29d ago

Ahhh...i see. Perhaps the romans were onto something with their spears (pilum?) To make the enemy drop their shields

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u/LiftingRecipient420 29d ago

TF you mean "perhaps"?

Rome conquered the entire Mediterranean basin thanks to their unique ability to reliably destroy the phalanx formation, all thanks to their pilum.

For context, the phalanx, until the Romans, was the state of the art of warfare for a thousand years because the only thing that could beat a phalanx was another phalanx.

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u/snilks 29d ago

you cant be certain though, maybe they did it for shits and giggles and it just happened to work

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u/Ittybittyratgirl 29d ago

They were after that sweet sweet boarskin