I.VI.the Five Classes 23.

According to Roman tradition the Romans originally carried quadrangular shields, after which they borrowed from the Etruscans the round hoplite shield (-clupeus-, -- aspis--), and from the Samnites the later square shield (-scutum-, -- thureos--), and the javelin (-veru-) (Diodor.Vat.Fr.p.

54; Sallust, Cat.

51, 38; Virgil, Aen.vii.

665; Festus, Ep.v.Samnites, p.