[1418] This account of the invention of the bow and arrow seems to have been derived from the high character which the Scythians and Persians had acquired for their dexterity in the use of those weapons.—B.
[1419] The “amentum” was a leather thong tied to the middle of the javelin, to assist in throwing it, though it is unknown how it added to the effect. It has been suggested that it was by imparting rotation, and consequent steadiness.
[1420] Ætolus was said to have been the son of Endymion, of Elis, who, having accidentally killed one of his countrymen, left his native place, and settled in the part of Greece named after him, Ætolia.—B.
[1421] See B. xxviii. c. 6. This was the Roman “veru,” or “verutum,” so called from its resemblance to a spit. Its shaft was three feet and a half long, and its point five inches. The “Velites” did not form part of the Roman legion, but fought in scattered parties wherever they were required.
[1422] The “pilum” was short and thick; its shaft, often made of cornel, was partly square, and five feet and a half long. The head was nine inches long. It was used either to throw or thrust with, and, in spite of what Pliny says, was peculiar to the Romans.
[1423] Julius Firmicus ascribes the invention of the apparatus used in hunting to the Cretans; and Gratius, Cyneg. l. 108, that of the hunting spear, with its iron spike, to Dercylus, of Amyclæ.—B.
[1424] Vitruvius informs us, that the catapulta and the balista were instruments formed upon the same principle, the former being adapted for the discharge of arrows, and the latter, masses of stone. Cæsar, however, in his account of the siege of Massilia, Bell. Civ. B. ii. c. 8, speaks of stones being thrown by the catapulta. Ælian, Hist. Var. B. vi. c. 12, says, that it was invented by Dionysius, the first king of Syracuse.—B.
[1425] Strabo ascribes the invention of the sling to the Ætolians; he informs us, that the inhabitants of the Balearic Isles, so famous for their dexterity in the use of this instrument, originally obtained it from the Phrygians.—B.
[1426] According to Hyginus, Tyrrhenus, the son of Hercules, invented the trumpet; Clemens, of Alexandria, and Athenæus, ascribe the invention to the Tyrrhenians.—B. Virgil speaks, B. viii. l. 526, of the “clangor of the Tyrrhenian trumpet.”
[1427] The “tortoise.” He probably means a military machine, moved on wheels and roofed over, used in besieging cities, and under which the soldiers worked in undermining the walls. It was usually covered with raw hides or other materials, which could not easily be set on fire. The same name was also applied to the covering formed by a compact body of soldiers, who placed their shields over their heads, and linked them together, to secure themselves against the darts of the enemy. The latter kind of “testudo” was sometimes formed, by way of an exercise, in the games of the Circus.