jacobhinds said:Pila are unsuitable for melee. During the Marian reforms there was a thing similar to the testudo where they'd bunch up and stick the pila out to deter cavalry, but for the most part they had separate divisions of spearmen. I believe it was similar during the migration period, but with far more spearmen.
After Marius though wasn't all the heavy infantry standardised, as in no spearmen? I thought that was the case. The hasta was used in the early centuries, but I've never read a definitive statement on when it stopped being used. I have a feeling the Triarii retained it after the Hastati began using the pilum (a form of pilum was adopted long before Marius, but he adapted it as Sir Prince mentioned as well as paying the legions, supplying their equipment and standardising it), but I can't be certain that my only source for that isn't Rome Total War 1!
I know the pilum wasn't suitable for melee but I have read about it being used as a make do spear at times. As long as you don't need to do a hard thrust with it and just poke at the enemy, it probably served the role well enough.