This [enemy] charge putting things in confusion, Philopoemen, considering those light-armed men would be easily repelled, went first to the king’s officers to make them sensible what the occasion required. But they not minding what he said, but slighting him as a hare-brained fellow (as indeed he was not yet of any repute sufficient to give credit to a proposal of such importance), he charged with his own citizens, as the first encounter disordered, and soon after put the troops to flight with great slaughter.
Then, to encourage the king’s army further, to bring them all upon the enemy while he was in confusion, he quitted his horse, and fighting with extreme difficulty in his heavy horseman’s dress, in rough uneven ground, full of water-courses and hollows, had both his thighs struck through with a thonged javelin. It was thrown with great force, so that the head came out on the other side, and made a severe, though not a mortal, wound. There he stood awhile, as if he had been shackled, unable to move. The fastening which joined the thong to the javelin made it difficult to get it drawn out, nor would any about him venture to do it. But the fight being now at the hottest, and likely to be quickly decided, he was transported with the desire of partaking in it, and struggled and strained so violently, setting one leg forward, the other back, that at last he broke the shaft in two; and thus, got the pieces pulled out. >Being in this manner set at liberty, he caught up his sword, and running through the midst of those who were fighting in the first ranks, animated his men, and set them afire with emulation.
tl;dr:
Philopoemen leads his men in a charge to support a flank that he’s certain will soon fail. Once he arrives, he dismounts his horse to join in the fight and inspire his men. Then a javelin thrown by the enemy pierces through BOTH legs at the thigh, literally pinning his legs together. Instead of crying and begging for death, like most people, he FORCES ONE LEG FORWARD AND ONE LEG BACK UNTIL HE SNAPS THE JAVELIN IN HALF. Then he pulls out the pieces and keeps fighting alongside his men.
What. The. @#$%.
Also, it’s worth pointing out that there is a documentary about the guy. I think it’s on Netflix.
Source:
Plutarch, John Dryden, and Arthur Hugh Clough. "Philopoemen." Plutarch's Lives. New York: Modern Library, 2001. 487. Print.
Further Reading:
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Kind of surprised he didn't die from an infection caused by a splinter left in his leg by the breaking of the javelin.