a missile weapon used by the Roman soldiers, and in a charge hurled against the enemy. Its point, we are told by Polybius, was so long and small, that after the first discharge it was generally so bent as to be rendered useless. The legionary soldiers made use of the pilum, and each man carried two. The pilum underwent many alterations and improvements, insomuch that it is impossible to describe it with any precision. Julius Scaliger laboured much to give an accurate account of it, and would have esteemed success on this head amongst the greatest blessings of his life. Marius made a material improvement on the pilum; for during the Cimbrian war, he so contrived it, that when it stuck in the enemy's shield it bent down at an angle in the part where the wood was connected with the iron, and thus became useless to the person who received it.