Plumbatae ormartiobarbuli werelead-weighteddarts carried byinfantrymen inAntiquity and theMiddle Ages. They were used to inflict damage on enemies at a distance before engaging inclose combat. Roman soldiers in somelegions carried plumbatae inside their shields, which allowed them to have ranged weapons similar to arrows, according toVegetius in his 4th-century military treatiseDe re militari.

The plumbata consisted of a lead-weighted head attached to a wooden shaft withfletching, which allowed soldiers to throw them effectively over long distances. The Roman workDe rebus bellicis and the Byzantine manual of warStrategicon, confirm their use and describe variations, such as the spiked plumbatae (plumbata tribolata). Archaeological finds inWroxeter and elsewhere confirm their description and use.

The first examples seem to have been carried by theAncient Greeks from about 500 BC onwards, but the best-known users were thelate Roman andEastern Roman armies. The earliest and best written source for these weapons refers to a period around 300 AD, though the document was composed around 390–450 AD.^[2]

The exercise of the loadedjavelins, calledmartiobarbuli, must not be omitted. We formerly had twolegions inIllyricum, 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 theemperorsDiocletian andMaximian on their accession honored them with the titles ofJovian and Herculean and preferred them before all the other legions. Every soldier carries five of these javelins in the hollow of hisshield. And thus the legionary soldiers seem to supply the place ofarchers, for they wound both the men and horses of the enemy before they come within reach of the common missile weapons

— Vegetius,De re militari, 1.17

A second source, also from the late 4th century, is ananonymoustreatise titledDe rebus bellicis, which briefly discusses (so far archaeologically unattested) spikedplumbatae (plumbata tribolata), but which is also the only source that shows an image of what aplumbata looked like. The image shows what looks like a shortarrow with a weight attached to the shaft. Although only later copies of the original manuscript exist, this is confirmed by the remains which have so far turned up in the archaeological record.

A third source is the late 6th centuryStrategicon, written by theByzantine emperorMaurice, who wrote about themartzobarboulon, a corruption of its Latin namemartiobarbulum.

Plumbatae etymologically containplumbum, orlead, and can be translated "lead-weighted [darts]".Martiobarbuli in this translation ismattiobarbuli in theLatin, which is most likely an assimilation ofMartio-barbuli, "little barbs of Mars". The barb implied a barbed head, andMars was the god of war (among other things).

Archaeology gives a clearer picture ofmartiobarbuli. The reference listed has an illustration of a find fromWroxeter identified as the head of aplumbata and a reconstruction of the complete weapon: afletched dart with aniron head weighted with lead. The reconstruction seems entirely consistent with Vegetius' description.

War darts were also used in Europe later in theMiddle Ages.

• Lawn darts
• Khuru (sport)
• Roman military personal equipment

• Anonymous,De Rebus Bellicis: On matters of war.
• Maurice,Strategikon: On Strategy.
• Vegetius,Epitome Rei Militari: Epitome of Military science.

• Barker, P.,The plumbatae from Wroxeter, in: Hassall and Ireland 1979, De Rebus Bellicis, BAR Int. Ser., vol. 63 (Oxford), part 1, pp. 97–9.
• Connolly, Peter,Greece and Rome at War, Greenhill Books, 1998,ISBN 1-85367-303-X
• Degen, R., Plumbatae: Wurfgeschosse der Spätantike, in: Helvetia Archaeologica 1992, vol. 23, pp. 139–147.
• Ireland, Robert,De Rebus Bellicis (anon.), in: BAR International Series 63 (Oxford), part 2.
• Dennis, George T.,Maurice's Strategikon. Handbook of Byzantine military strategy, University of Philadelphia Press 1984,ISBN 978-0-8122-1772-8.
• Keszi, Tamás:Plumbata, the Roman-Style Darts. A Late Antique Weapon from Annamatia. Hungarian Archaeology 2018. Spring, 21-32.https://www.academia.edu/36798885/Plumbata_the_Roman-Style_Darts._A_Late_Antique_Weapon_from_Annamatia
• Milner, N.P.,Vegetius: epitome of military science, Liverpool University Press 1993,ISBN 0-85323-228-8.
• Völling, T. (1991):Plumbata - Mattiobarbulus - Martzobarboulon? Bemerkungen zu einem Waffenfund aus Olympia in: Archäologischer Anzeiger, pp. 287–98.

• Image of remains of a plumbata
• Vegetius Book I
• Vegetius in translationArchived 2020-04-21 at theWayback Machine
• Modern reproduction of a plumbata
• photo of modern Bhutanese style 'Plumbata'