Spears: The Original Killstick
The spear is what happens when a human sees a stick and thinks, “What if pointy… and fast?” It’s the perfect mix of simplicity, deadliness, and “I don’t need to get close to you to ruin your whole day.” Before bows, before swords, before trebuchets yeeting rocks the size of bathtubs, we had spears—and honestly, they never went out of style.
Origins
Throwing a rock is good. Throwing a pointy stick? That’s better. Early humans figured this out fast. You take a sharpened stick, add fire-hardened tips or stone heads, and suddenly you’re not just surviving—you’re hunting mammoths and fighting off anything foolish enough to step into your arms range.
Over time, spears evolved. In ancient Greece, we got the dory, carried by hoplites in tight phalanx formations, forming what was essentially a giant murder wall. Alexander the Great made it better with the sarissa, a pike so long it probably had its own postal code. In medieval Europe, knights hated running into spear walls because you can have all the armor in the world, but if twenty peasants with sticks are aiming at your horse, you’re basically a metal pancake.
Types of Spears
- Thrown Spears (Javelins): Great for the “stab from a distance” crowd. Romans had the pilum, which bent on impact so the enemy couldn’t throw it back. That’s petty. And brilliant.
- Pikes: Absurdly long spears used to keep cavalry at bay.
- Lances: Because charging on horseback with a glorified tree branch at 40 km/h is how medieval warfrare worked.
Great Spear Moments in History
Successes:
- Battle of Marathon (490 BCE): Greek hoplites with spears made short work of Persian invaders. Moral of the story.
- Battle of Gaugamela (331 BCE): Alexander’s phalanx used their freakishly long spears to shred Darius III’s much larger Persian army.
- Zulu Wars (19th century): The Zulu iklwa (short stabbing spear) turned close combat into a terrifyingly efficient display of murder
Failures:
- Spears don’t always win. Against ranged weapons like longbows, crossbows, and eventually guns, they can be useless
- Overconfidence was a killer—standing in a spear wall only works if everyone holds formation. One guy sneezes and the whole front collapses.
- Narrow spaces make using a spear impossible.
In Summary
The spear has remained a classic solution in battle. It’s simple, deadly, versatile, and made every culture that used it just a little more dangerous. Whether you’re hunting dinner or holding the line in a desperate last stand, the spear is a great tool.
