“Behold! Afar, around the trunk of a barren oak a fierce serpent (Africa calls it Iaculus) wreathes itself, and then darts forth; and through the head and pierced temples of Paulus it takes its flight; nothing does venom there effect, death siezes him through the wound. It was then understood how slowly fly the stones which the sling hurls, how sluggishly whizzes the air of the Scythian arrow.”
Lucan (Pharsalia, book 9, verse 848)