Democratic Sentinel, Volume 17, Number 3, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 February 1893 — Ancient Warfare. [ARTICLE]

Ancient Warfare.

Ckoss-bowmen were always attended by shield-bearers, who protected them in action. The Roman galleys were provided with a sharp iron prow for running down an adversary. The Greek and Roman ships of largest size had two towers filled with archers and catapults. The Mexican flint knives were made so sharp that they could be used for trimming hair. The Swiss and German pikemen were during the fifteenth century esteemed the best In Europe. In 162% during the reign of Charles I. in England, armor ceased to be worn below the knees. The shield of Hector, when slung at his back in walking, covered the body from neck to heel. The mace, once used by the cavalry of all nations, was a spiked club hung at the saddle-bow. The shield of Charles V. was inlaid with gold and contained over 600 figures engraved on its face. The Roman catapults and balistas were transported in the tra'n of an army on cars like artillery. At the siege of Sancerre, 1672, the Huguenots, to economize their powder, used siings and bows. The largest catapults threw beams six feet long, weighing sixty pounds, over a quarter of a miie. • The legion was formed by Romulus B. C. 720. It originally consisted of 3,000 foot and 300 horse. In the Greek phalanx the soldiers stood as close as possible to each other, their shields overlapping. At the battle of Bannockburn, 1314, Robert Bruce clove an Englishman to the waist with a battle-ax. Under Henry V. of England, an act of Parliament ordered all the geese in England to be counted, and the Sheriffs of the counties were required to furnish six arrow feathers from each goose.