writings that state the pilum was often used as a weapon in melee combat: For example, in "The Gallic Wars" Caesar writes that at Alesia his troops used the pila as spears or pikes. In the "Life of Pompey" and "Life of Antony", Plutarch describes Caesar's men at Pharsalus jabbing upwards at the faces of Pompey's cavalry with their javelins and Marc Antony's men stabbing at Parthian cavalry with theirs. In Arrian in Array against the Alans, Arrian writes that the first four ranks of the formation should use their pila like spearmen, while the rest should use them like javelins. Projectile weapons Bow The sagittarius was armed with a composite bow (arcus), shooting an arrow (sagitta), made of horn, wood, and sinew held together with hide glue. However, Vegetius recommended training recruits "arcubus ligneis", with wooden bows. The reinforcing laths for the composite bows were found throughout the empire, even in the western provinces where wooden bows were traditional. Crossbow The cheiroballistra, also known as the manuballista, was a crossbow that was occasionally used by the Romans. The ancient world knew a variety of mechanical hand-held weapons similar to the later medieval crossbow. The exact terminology is a subject of continuing scholarly debate. Roman authors like Vegetius (fl. 4th century) note repeatedly the use of arrow shooting weapons such as arcuballista and manuballista respectively cheiroballista. While most scholars agree that one or more of these terms refer to handheld mechanical weapons, there is disagreement whether these were flexion bows or torsion powered like the recent Xanten find. The Roman commander Arrian records in his Tactica Roman cavalry training for shooting some mechanical handheld weapon from horseback. Sculptural reliefs from Roman Gaul depict the use of crossbows in hunting scenes. These are remarkably similar to the later medieval crossbow. Plumbatae Late infantrymen often carried a half-dozen lead-weighted throwing-darts called plumbatae (from plumbum, meaning "lead"), with an effective range of c. 30 m, well beyond that of a javelin. The darts were carried clipped to the back of the shield. Entrenching tools Ancient writers, including Julius Caesar, documented the use of spades and other digging implements as important tools of war. A Roman legion when on the march would dig a ditch and rampart around their camps every night where established camps were not available. They were also useful as improvised weapons. Dolabra The dolabra was an Italian pickaxe used as