By the 4th century, the pilum had effectively disappeared from common use.

The total weight of a pilum was between two and five kilograms, with the versions produced during the Empire being a bit lighter than those dating from the previous Republican era.

The Basque term pilota comes from the Latin " pilum " ( javelin ) via Provençal " pilota " ( ball ).

Scholars suppose that it could have resulted from the gradual combination of the pilum and two German spears, the angon and the bebra.

Having penetrated a shield through a small hole and its shank having bent, such a pilum would now be more difficult to remove, and, of course, impossible to throw back.

The iron shank was the key to the function of the pilum.

Opinion among archaeologists once held that the main function of the shank was to disable both shields and the pilum itself by bending, but it is now thought that the pilum was a form of " personal artillery " designed simply to provide a massive counter-shock against any charging foe, and, as necessary, turn any legionary into a spearman.

Aelian was discussing the use of the counter march in the context of the Roman sword gladius and spear pilum.

Re-enactor outfitted as a Roman legionary carrying a pilum

Notable types of Early medieval spears include the Angon, a throwing spear with a long head similar to the Roman pilum, used by the Franks and Anglo-Saxons and the winged ( or lugged ) spear, which had two prominent wings at the base of the spearhead, either to prevent the spear penetrating too far into an enemy or to aid in spear fencing.

The ancient Romans did not make wide use of maces, probably because of the influence of armour, and due to the nature of the Roman infantry fighting style which involved the pilum ( or spear ) and the gladius ( short sword used in a stabbing fashion ).

The pilum ( plural pila ) was a javelin commonly used by the Roman army in ancient times.

Image: RV Antoniniano Carinus. JPG | A Roman coin showing an antoninianus of Carinus holding pilum and globe.

A regular soldier of the Roman army was outfitted with a throwing spear that bent when it pierced whatever it was thrown at, or pilum, a double edged sword for cutting and thrusting, a helmet with cheek guards to protect their head, segmented plate armor with leather straps underneath to protect their bodies, and a large, rectangular shield made of wood with a metal boss in the middle for hand protection.

The pilum was designed to bend when it hit a shield, making it impossible to pull out ; the enemy would either be encumbered with a heavy iron spear weighing down his shield, or have to discard it and fight unprotected ; A second volley followed, as each Roman legionary carried two pila.

Image: RV Antoniniano Carinus. JPG | A Roman Antoninianus coin showing Carinus holding pilum and globe.

A spiculum is a late Roman spear that replaced the pilum at around AD 250 as the infantryman's main throwing javelin.

In any event, both corps were equipped with the same weapons: gladius ( a close-combat stabbing sword ) and javelins, although the type of javelin known as pilum seems to have been provided to legionaries only.

The heavy infantry was composed of citizen legionaries that could afford the equipment composed of an iron helmet, shield, armour and pilum, a heavy javelin whose range was about 30 meters.

They may be seen as the ancestor of such military weapons as the lance, the pilum, the halberd, the naginata, the glaive, the bill, and the pike.

From the late 2nd century BC, all legionaries were equipped with the pilum.

The pilum continued to be the standard legionary spear until the end of the 2nd century AD.

During the 3rd century AD, although the pilum continued to be used, legionaries usually were equipped with other forms of throwing and thrusting spear, similar to auxilia of the previous century.

The hastati and principes formed the main attacking strength of the legion with sword and pilum, whilst the triarii formed the defensive backbone of the legion fighting as a phalanx with long spears and large shields.

After the Marian reforms the Legion was notionally a unit of heavy infantrymen armed with just sword and pilum, and fielded with a small attached auxiliary skirmishers and missile troops, and incorporated a small cavalry unit.

* First use of the heavy throwing spear, the pilum, ( according to Livy ) in battle against the Gauls.

Vejovis is portrayed as a young man, holding a bunch of arrows, pilum, ( or lightning bolts ) in his hand, and is accompanied by a goat.

More importantly, If the pilum struck the shield of an enemy it would embed itself into the shield's fabric, and this along with the bending of the shank would cause the shield to become unwieldy, forcing the enemy to discard it or waste time trying to pull it out.

The former action tended to happen more often than the latter as affected soldiers couldn't risk removing the pilum without disrupting their formation during an advance or losing their lives during a melee.

Vegetius is writing about a one foot iron shaft because at Vegetius ' time the pilum had disappeared and been replaced by similar shorter weapons such as the plumbatae or the above mentioned spiculum.

Image: Pilum lg. jpg | Reconstruction of a post-Marian pilum.

* Ansbach was home of the astronomer Simon Marius, who observed Jupiter's moons from the castle's tower.

Apart from Sapir the division had two other staff members, Marius Barbeau and Harlan I. Smith.

The later biographies and the biographies of subordinate emperors and usurpers are a tissue of lies and fiction, but the earlier biographies, derived primarily from now-lost earlier sources ( Marius Maximus or Ignotus ), are much better.

Hence the many predictions involving ancient figures such as Sulla, Gaius Marius, Nero, and others, as well as his descriptions of " battles in the clouds " and " frogs falling from the sky.

At the end of the 2nd century BC, Gaius Marius reformed the previously ephemeral legions as a professional force drawing from the poorest classes, enabling Rome to field larger armies and providing employment for jobless citizens of the city of Rome.

To keep these baggage trains from becoming too large and slow, Marius had each infantryman carry as much of his own equipment as he could, including his own armour, weapons and 15 days ' rations, for about 25 – 30 kg ( 50 – 60 pounds ) of load total.

* July & August is the annual Summer School of The Hague, an international summer course for young dancers, initiated by Mirella Simoncini with guestteachers from Het Nationale Ballet, Nederlands Dans Theater, Cullberg Ballet, Royal Conservatory of The Hague, Codarts and choreograohy workshops with repertoire from Itzik Galili, Mats Ek, Marius Petipa a. o.

The end of the century witnessed the reforming of the Roman Army from a citizen army to a voluntary professional force, under the guidance of the great general and statesman Gaius Marius —( Marian Reforms ).

Sulla's own proscriptions ensured that his survivors would recoup their lost fortunes from the fortunes of wealthy adherents to Gaius Marius or Lucius Cornelius Cinna.

Marius and his supporters, as well as many prominent supporters of Publius Sulpicius Rufus, had been exiled from Rome under Sulla's rule, but were still very popular amongst the people.

Cinna and Marius ’ army moved through the countryside, cutting off supply routes and cities used for food storage from the city.

* Ostia is razed by Gaius Marius as he comes back from Africa with an army to take Rome by force.

The film stars Moira Shearer, Anton Walbrook and Marius Goring and features Robert Helpmann, Léonide Massine and Ludmilla Tchérina, renowned dancers from the ballet world, as well as Esmond Knight and Albert Basserman.

* In the movie, Éponine delivers the message from Marius to Cosette, which Valjean intercepts, causing Valjean to come to the barricade to rescue Marius.

* The movie ends with Javert's suicide, while at the end of the book Valjean dies of grief after having been separated from Cosette, because Marius severed all ties with him after learning of Valjean's convict past.

Marius stalks the two until Valjean is alerted that someone is stalking them and moves from his house in Rue de l ' Ouest ( today Rue d ' Assas ).

As " the generous man from the St-Étienne-church ", Thénardier, Marius ' neighbour, asks for charity.

It is only there that he learns of Cosette's love for Marius when a young boy ( Gavroche ) delivers a letter from Marius to Cosette, which mentions that Marius is at the barricade and will die as he promised her, since she left without a forwarding address.

After recovering from his severe injuries, Marius receives permission from his grandfather to marry Cosette and they wed on 16 February 1833.

The day after the wedding, Valjean reveals to Marius that he is, in fact, Jean Valjean and an ex-convict from Toulon.