Why not just target the wooden part
How?
Forgive me for answering a question with a question, but I don't fully understand the question.
this post was submitted on 30 Jun 2026
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That's cool. Ok lets take the movie Troy and when attacking the beach Achilles and his soldiers move forward as a group with just their spears out. Why would it be a threat when I could just simply walk up to the spears and cut them in half with my sword. Unless it was all metal then that would be a better defensive position but they are consistently made of wood with a iron or metal tip.
A unit of spearmen works together to stab you from a further reach than you can respond with a sword. I think you also overestimate the ease with which you could chop a spear. Designs differed, but a Greek dory was about 2 inches in diameter. Try taking a whack at the wooden shaft of a shovel some time and see if you get it in one go. Remember that in combat if you were doing this, the person with the spear and the rest of the front rank would also be trying to stab you rather than standing still like polite mannequins.
A formation unit purely of sword-using infantry against spears would be pushed as the spears could kill the sword-users, while at best the sword-users could damage some of the spears but wouldn't get close enough to harm any of the spearmen. The spear unit with multiple ranks of usable spears could keep going even if a few spears were damaged.
Some sort of skirmishing formation of sword-users would be in even worse shape, as they'd be overwhelmed by a formation and as light moving skirmishers would likely not have full sized shields so if archers were involved would be easy pickings.
Swords in the Greek ancient world were used for close in fighting once the initial contact between formations had been made or if the quarters were otherwise impractical for spears.
You get stabbed first
Because they're actively attempting to stab you and you're no Achilles. It's hard wood that's not braced against a surface, you're using a bronze sword, and a lot of people are attempting to stab you.
Go sharpen a kitchen knife and try to cut a longish wooden dowel of spear diameter while you hold it in the air in one hand.
Yea but said kitchen knife sharpened enough would quickly cut through the handle on a wooden spoon.
They frequently broke, but they were very cheap to make compared to "cooler" weapons and didn't require as much maintenance.
And most importantly, spears are one of the easiest weapons to learn to use at a basic level (for war), and as most armies in the past were composed of a majority of regular people, not professional soldiers, spears were very popular.
It is really hard to target the wooden part in battle. You're likely attacking the spear in formation, so there are other spears nearby which can stab you. You also need to get a blade close to the wooden part of the spear at an angle which can damage the spear; at that distance with a sword used at the time, the spear has likely stabbed you.
Ok lets say one on one. And the spear would wobble so it would be easy to side step the pointed end. Kind of like the Jet Li hero movie he is fighting the guy with a metal spear and everytime he goes for a jab it wiggles.
You were originally asking why spears hung on so long as a military weapon. Battles were not one on one duels. To ignore this seems to be fishing for some kind of answer that intentionally ignores the historical context.
Go get a 2-5.5m long x 2cm Ø hardwood pole and see how much it wiggles
Add in the fact that you don't have many skilled professional soldiers and depending on period they're probably on horseback, archers, or some other role beyond the classic hero archetype of Jet Li or Achilles.
And you have to keep in mind, a lone guy with a long spear is going to struggle, much in the same way that a cavalry rider is going to really struggle fighting on a bridge. By the time you're in that position you're losing. Spears are best used in formation, Ideally a line of spearmen with the row or two behind them stabbing over their shoulders. Short spears and javelins can act as a compromise as seen in roman legions.
Ultimately though there's a reason anti spear troops became a major part of medieval warfare. Pikes are cheap, easy, and good at killing knights
Spears were really effective, wooden poles are actually quite strong and sturdy. They are also cheap, which is probably more important. Individual spears could break all the time, but you could put a metal blade on a new stick quickly, or just have sharp sticks.
I'm not sure what you mean by target the wooden part. The common use of spears would be in a formation, you couldn't just chop one without being open to several more spears. Even then chopping one is actually quite difficult, it takes multiple hits against fully braced wood to actually cut through it. It also means you are standing where you can actually get hurt by the spear, but you can't hit the person with the spear, this tends to be a bad strategy.