There was a time in my life when fending off hordes of armed barbarians seemed like a distinctly remote possibility. But we live in America in 2021 so I guess it's best to be prepared for anything. Here's a great demo of how the Ancient Roman army used a hyper-specific weapon called the pilum (a kind of javelin about 6 and a half feet long) to thwart charges by massed enemies wielding shields on one arm and weapons on the other. It's ingeniously designed to be thrown and to pierce the enemy shield. If the point itself kills or stops the opponent, great, but even if it doesn't it will at least make them drop their shield and become much more vulnerable. The more you know!