slings, bows and arrows with heads of flint or bone, and afterwards various weapons of bronze. Subsequently a variety of arms of iron and steel was introduced, which comprised the sword, javelin, pike, spear or lance, dagger, axe, mace, chariot scythe, &c.; with a rude artillery consisting of catapults, ballistæ, and battering-rams. From the descriptions of Homer we know that almost all the Grecian armour, defensive and offensive, in his time was of bronze; though iron was sometimes used. The lance, spear, and javelin were the principal weapons of this age among the Greeks. The bow is not often mentioned. Among ancient nations the Egyptians seem to have been most accustomed to the use of the bow, which was the principal weapon of the Egyptian infantry. Peculiar to the Egyptians was a defensive weapon intended to catch and break the sword of the enemy. With the Assyrians the bow was a favourite weapon; but with them lances, spears, and javelins were in more common use than with the Egyptians. Most of the large engines of war—chariots with scythes projecting at each side from the axle, catapults, and ballistæ—seem to have been of Assyrian origin. During the historical age of Greece the characteristic weapon was a heavy spear from 21 to 24 feet in length. The sword used by the Greeks was short, and was worn on the right side. The Roman sword was from 22 to 24 inches in length, straight, two-edged, and obtusely pointed, and as by the Greeks was worn on the right side. It was used principally as a stabbing weapon. It was originally of bronze. The most characteristic weapon of the Roman legionary soldier, however, was the pilum, which was a kind of pike or javelin, some 6 feet or more in length. The pilum was sometimes used at close quarters, but more commonly it was thrown. The favourite weapons of the ancient Germanic races were the battle-axe, the lance or dart, and the sword. The weapons of the Anglo-Saxons were spears, axes, swords, knives, and maces or clubs. The Normans had similar weapons, and were well furnished with archers and cavalry. The cross-bow was a comparatively late invention introduced by the Normans. Gunpowder was not used in Europe to discharge projectiles till the beginning of the fourteenth century. Cannon are first mentioned in England in 1338, and there seems to be no doubt that they were used by the English at the siege of Cambrai in 1339. The projectiles first used for cannon were of stone. Hand fire-arms date from the fifteenth century. At first they required two men to serve them, and it was necessary to rest the muzzle on a stand in aiming and firing. The first improvement was the invention of the match-lock, about 1476; this was followed by the wheel-lock, and about the middle of the seventeenth century by the flint-lock, which was in universal use until it was superseded by the percussion-lock, the invention of a Scottish clergyman early in the nineteenth century. The needle-gun dates from 1838. The only important weapon not a fire-arm that has been invented since the introduction of gunpowder is the bayonet, which is believed to have been invented about 1650. See Cannon, Musket, Rifle, &c.
Some kind of defensive covering was probably of almost as early invention as weapons of offence. The principal pieces of defensive armour used by the ancients were shields, helmets, cuirasses, and greaves. In the earliest ages of Greece the shield is described as of immense size, but in the time of the Peloponnesian War (about 420 B.C.) it was much smaller. The Romans had two sorts of shields: the scutum, a large oblong rectangular
highly-convex shield, carried by the legionaries; and the parma, a small round or oval flat shield, carried by the light-armed troops and the cavalry. In the declining days of Rome the shields became larger and more varied in form. The helmet was a characteristic piece of armour among the Assyrians, Greeks, Etruscans, and Romans. Like all other body armour it was usually made of bronze. The helmet of the historical age of Greece was distinguished by its lofty crest. The Roman helmet in the time of the early emperors fitted close to the head, and had a neck-guard and hinged cheek-pieces fastened under the chin, and a small bar across the face for a visor. Both Greeks and Romans wore cuirasses, at one time of bronze, but afterwards of flexible materials. Greaves for the legs were worn by both, but among the Romans usually on one leg. The ancient Germans had large shields of plaited osier covered with leather; afterwards their shields were small, bound with iron, and studded with bosses. The Anglo-Saxons had round or oval shields of wood, covered with leather, and having a boss in the centre; and they had also corselets, or coats of mail, strengthened with iron rings. The Normans were well protected by mail; their shields were somewhat triangular in shape, their helmets conical. In Europe generally metal armour was used from the tenth to the eighteenth century, and at first consisted of a tunic made of iron rings firmly sewn flat upon strong cloth or leather. The rings were afterwards interlinked one with another so as to form a garment of themselves, called chain-mail. Another variety of this flexible armour was known as banded-mail. This consisted of rings sewn upon a fabric foundation, the whole being covered with leather. In addition to this, 'scale armour', which had been in use from the very earliest periods of history, was still in common fashion in the thirteenth century. By degrees the suit of mail was reinforced by the addition of pieces of plate on the breast, knees, elbows, and arms, and by the end of the fourteenth century the full suit of plate had been evolved, the mail being only worn as a skirt round the waist or as a coif attached to the helmet. The golden age of plate armour is the middle of the fifteenth century, when the design was light and graceful, and at the same time fully protective. In the sixteenth century, when 'shock tactics' of cavalry were the order of the day, the 'war harness' became heavier. This was particularly noticeable in the armour for the joust or tournament, in which sport the aim of the contestants was to score points and not to inflict injury. Many of these jousting armours weigh over 80 lb. The weapons in use through the whole of the plate-armour period were the lance, the sword, the axe or war-hammer, the long-bow, and the cross-bow. The introduction of fire-arms in the fourteenth century was one of the causes which led to the increase of weight in armour, for the armourer was continually improving and strengthening his products to make them proof against musket and pistol, and he generally succeeded, but by doing so increased the weight till it became insupportable. In the seventeenth century leg armour was abandoned, and by the end of the civil war the popular defence was the steel cap and breastplate. In the eighteenth century armour entirely disappeared, except for ceremonial, and was thought to be entirely obsolete till it was revived in the recent war in the form of the steel shrapnel-helmet, which was favoured by all the Allies and also by the enemy. The German troops occasionally used heavy body armour. Daggers and clubs, weapons likewise thought
to be obsolete, were frequently used by all combatants, especially on raids.—Bibliography: A. Hutton, The Sword of the Centuries; H. S. Cowper, The Art of Attack; C. ffoulkes, Armour and Weapons; C. H. Ashdown, British and Foreign Arms and Armour; C. Hall, Modern Weapons of War by Land.
Armstrong, John, Scottish poet and physician, born about 1709, died 1779. After studying medicine in Edinburgh he settled in London. In 1744 he published his chief work, the Art of Preserving Health, a didactic poem. This work raised his reputation to a height which his subsequent efforts scarcely sustained. In 1746 he became physician to a hospital for soldiers, and in 1760 he was appointed physician to the forces which went to Germany. After his return to London he published a collection of his Miscellanies, which contained, however, nothing valuable. He afterwards visited France and Italy, and published an account of his tour under the name of Lancelot Temple. His last production was a volume of Medical Essays.