The Flail

Today we will talk about one object very particular known worldwide.

This object is rich of a fascinating power, it is the Flail.

The term flail refers to two different weapons: a long, two-handed infantry weapon with a cylindrical head, and a shorter weapon with a round metal striking head. The defining characteristic of both is that they involve a separate striking head attached to a handle by a flexible rope, strap, or chain.

The first types of flails found were found in Southern Greece dated to about 2000 BC.
The flail was, at the beginning, used in agricultural works, for threshing, the process of separating grains from their husks.
Years later, during a very bad and long period of famine, there was a rebellion of Greek farmers in the region of Peloponnese, that started to use this tool as a weapon.
It wasn’t easy to use this weapon. Its chief liability was a lack of precision and the difficulty of using it in close combat, or closely ranked formations, but the chief tactical virtue of the flail was its capacity to strike around a defender's shield or parry.

Of course nowadays they are not used in battles.