228 
PLINY' S KATUllAL HISTOUT. 
[Book Vll. 
thong^^ attaclied, by ^tolus,^ the son of Mars ; the spear of 
the light infantry^ by Tyrrhenus ; the dart^ by Penthesilea, 
the Amazon ; the axe by Pisaeus ; the hunting- spear, and the 
scorpion to hurl missiles, by the Cretans ;^ the catapulta, the 
balista,^ and the sling, by the Syrophoenicians.^ Pisaeus, the 
Tyrrhenian, was the first to invent the brazen trumpet,*^ and 
Artemon, of ClazomenaD, the use of the testudo.^ The batter- 
99 The " amentum" was a leather thong tied to the middle of the jave- 
lin, 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 con- 
sequent steadiness. 
^ ^tolus 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, ^tolia. — B. 
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 " Yelites" did not form part of the 
Eoman legion, but fought in scattered parties wherever they were required. 
3 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. 
* Julius Firmicus ascribes the invention of the apparatus used in hunt- 
ing to the Cretans ; and Gratius, Cyneg. 1. 108, that of the hunting spear, 
with its iron spike, to Dercyius, of Amyclae. — B. 
^ Vitruvius informs us, that the catapulta and the balista were instru- 
ments formed upon the same principle, the former being adapted for the 
discharge of arro^vs, and the latter, masses of stone. Csesar, however, in 
his account of the siege of Massilia, Bell. Civ. B. ii. c. 8, speaks of stones 
being thrown by the catapulta. ^lian, Hist. Yar. B. vi. c. 12, says, that 
it was invented by Dionysius, the first king of Syracuse. — B. 
6 Strabo ascribes the invention of the sling to the ^tolians; he in- 
forms 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. 
According to Hyginus, Tyrrhenus, the son of Hercules, invented the 
trumpet ; Clemens, of Alexandria, and Athenaeus, ascribe the invention to 
the Tyrrhenians. — B. Virgil speaks, B. viii. 1. 526, of the " clangor of 
the Tyrrhenian trumpet." 
s 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 toge- 
ther, to secure themselves against the darts of the enemy. The latter 
kind of ^' testudo" was sometimes formed, by way of an exercise, in the 
gan^es of the Circus. 
