HASTA
HASTA (
ἔγχος,
παλτόν), a spear. The spear is defined by Homer,
δόρυ χαλκῆπες,
“a pole fitted with bronze” (
Il.
6.3), and
δόρυ χαλκοβάρες,
“a pole heavy with bronze” (
Od.
11.531). The bronze, for which iron was afterwards substituted,
was indispensable to form the point (
αἰχμή,
ἀκωκή, Homer;
λόγχη, Xenophon;
acies, cuspis, spiculum, Ovid.
Met. 8.374) of the spear. Each of these two essential parts
is often put for the whole, so that a spear is
[p. 1.935]called
δόρυ and
δοράτιον, αἰχμή, and
λόγχη. Even the more especial term
μελία, meaning an ash-tree, is used in the same manner, because
the pole of the spear was often the stem of a young ash, stripped of its
bark and polished. (
Il. 19.390,
20.277,
22.328;
Od. 22.259;
Plin. Nat. 16.62; Ovid.
Met.
12.369.) In like manner the spear is designated by the term
κάμαξ (
Aesch. Ag.
66;
Eur. Hec. 1155,
Phoen. 1403; Brunck,
Anal. 1.191, 226; Antip.
Sidon. 34), meaning properly the cane or bamboo, which served also for
vine-props and other uses (Hes.
Scut. 298). Xenophon says
that the
δόρυ καμάκινον, apparently the
usual lance of cavalry in his time, was both weak and heavy, and recommends
in its stead two darts of the tough cornel-wood (
τὰ
κρανέϊνα δύο παλτά,
de Re Eq. 12.12; cf. Theophrast.
H. P.
3.12.2).
The butt-end of the spear was furnished with a spiked metal ferule, called by
the Ionic writers
σαυρωτήρ (
Hom. Il. 10.153;
Hdt.
7.40,
41; also
Plb. 6.23), and
οὐρίαχος
(
Il. 13.443,
16.612,
17.528), and in Attic
or common Greek
στύραξ (
Xen. Hell. 6.2, § 19;
Athen. 12.514 b;
στυράκιον,
Thuc. 2.4; Aen. Tact. 18). By thrusting this into
the ground the spear was fixed erect (
Verg. A.
12.130).
It has been suggested that the Homeric
σαυρωτὴρ or
οὐρίαχος was a
knob or lump of metal to balance the weight of the spear-head and insure
steadiness in throwing (Leaf, in
Journ. Hellen. Soc. 4.301):
it may no doubt have served that purpose as well, but the ancient tradition
is constant in favour of there having been a second spike. Many of the
lancers (
δορυφόροι, αἰχμοφόροι,
λογχοφόροι, woodcut, p. 353
b) who
accompanied the king of Persia had, instead of this spike at the bottom of
their spears, an apple or a pomegranate, either gilt or silvered. (Herod.,
Athen.
ll. cc.) With this, or a similar ornament,
the spear is often terminated both on Persian and Egyptian monuments. Fig. 1
in the annexed woodcut shows the top
|
Hasta, Spear-heads (various).
|
and bottom of a spear, which is held by one of the king's guards
in the sculptures at Persepolis. (Sir. R. K. Porter's
Travels, vol. i. p. 601.) It may be compared with those in
the hand of the Greek warrior at p. 189
b,
which have the spike at the lower end. The spike at the bottom of the spear
was used in fighting by the Greeks and Romans, when the head was broken off.
(
Plb. 6.25.)
A well-finished spear was kept in a case (
δορατοθήκη), which, on account of its form, is called by Homer a
pipe (
σύριγξ,
Il. 19.387).
The spear was used as a weapon of attack in three different ways:--1. It was
thrown from catapults and other engines [
TORMENTUM]. 2. It was thrust forward as a pike. In
this manner Achilles killed Hector by piercing him with his spear through
the neck (
Il. 22.326). The Euboeans were
particularly celebrated as pike-men (
Hom. Il.
2.543). 3. It was commonly thrown by the hand. The Homeric hero
generally went to the field with two spears (
Hom.
Il. 3.18,
10.76,
12.298;
Pind. P.
4.139). On approaching the enemy he first threw either one spear
or both, and then on coming to close quarters drew his sword (
Hom. Il. 3.340, xvii, 530, 20.273-284). The
Homeric spears are of enormous length. Hector carries one 11 cubits long
(
Il. 6.319), and when fighting from the
ship's deck Ajax wields one of double the length, 22 cubits (
Il. 15.678). Rüstow and
Köchly consider these “purely heroic” (cf. the
falarica hurled by Turnus,
Verg. A. 9.705); but Xenophon (
Xen. Anab. 4.7.16) positively tells us that
the Chalybes used spears of the portentous length of 15 cubits, and we can
only suspend our judgment as to the spears of Homer's time (Leaf, p. 300).
The point is commonly supposed to have been attached to the shaft by a
hollow socket or ferule (
αὐλός,
Il. 17.297, with Leaf's note;
αἰγανέας δολιχαύλους, i.e.
venabula,
Od. 9.156); but the lance of Hector has the head fastened on by
a golden
πόρκης, i. e.
κρίκος or ring (
Il.
6.320,
15.495). Leaf very justly
points out that a gold ring outside a bronze tube would not be of much use,
and that the
αὐλὸς and
πόρκης were probably not employed together.
Curiously enough, the spear-heads at Mycenae all have the
αὐλός (Schliemann,
Mycenae, p. 278), while those found at Hissarlik are attached to
the shaft by nails (
Ilios, pp. 475-7;
Troja, p. 95): in the latter case the ring would
come in usefully to prevent the wood from splitting. It is perhaps allowable
to suppose that the
αὐλὸς was the Greek,
the
πόρκης the Trojan mode of attachment.
The question is more fully discussed by Leaf,
l.c.
The spear frequently had a leathern thong tied to the middle of the shaft,
which was called
ἀγκύλη by the Greeks, and
amentum or
ammentum
by the Romans, and which was of assistance in throwing the spear. The
javelin to which the
ἀγκύλη was attached
was called
μεσάγκυλον. (Pollux, 1.136;
Schol.
ad
Eur. Orest. 1477;
Xen. Anab. 4.2, § 28;
Verg. A.
9.665;
Ov. Met. 12.321;
Cic. de Orat. 1.57.242;
Brut. 78.271.) The annexed figure, taken from Sir W.
Hamilton's
Etruscan Vases (iii. pl. 33), represents the
amentum attached to the spear at the centre
of gravity, a little above the middle.
The
amentum added to the effect of throwing the
lance by giving it rotation, and hence a greater degree of steadiness and
directness in its
[p. 1.936]flight, as in the case of a ball
shot from a rifle. This supposition both suits the expressions relative
|
Spear with amentum. (From an Etruscan vase.)
|
to the insertion of the fingers, and accounts for the frequent use
of the verb
torquere,
“to whirl or twist,” in connexion with this subject. Two
fingers were used, the fore and the middle finger:
Ammentum digitis
tende prioribus (Senec.
Phaedr. 820). We also
find mention in the Latin grammarians of
Hastae
ansatae, and Ennius speaks of
Ansatis
concurrunt undique telis (ap.
Macr.
6.1.16). The
ansa was probably the
same as the
amentum, and was so called as being
the part which the soldier laid hold of in hurling the spear. (Cf. Saglio,
in D. and S., s. v.
Amentum.)
Under the general terms
hasta and
ἔγχος were included various kinds of missiles,
of which the principal were as follows:--
Lancea (
λόγχη,
Festus, s. v.
Lancea), the lance, a
comparatively slender spear commonly used by the Greeks. Iphicrates, who
doubled the length of the sword [
GLADIUS], also added greatly to the dimensions of the lance.
(
Diod. 15.44;
Nep.
Iphicr. 1.3.) This weapon was used by the
Grecian horsemen (
Plb. 6.23); and by means of a
cross-bar to it, which is supposed by Stuart (
Ant. of Athens,
vol. iii. p. 47; woodcut, fig. 2) to be exhibited on the shafts of three
spears in an ancient bas-relief, they mounted their horses with greater
facility. This, however, is a mere conjecture: Xenophon describes the way to
mount a horse (
de Re Eq. 7) and the proper kind of spears for
cavalry (ib. 12), and nowhere alludes to this or any other artificial help
in mounting.
Pilum (
ὑσσός),
the javelin, much thicker and stronger than the Grecian lance (
Flor. 2.7, = 1.23, Jeep). Its shaft, often made of
cornel (
Verg. A. 9.698; Ovid,
Ov. Met. 8.408), was 4 1/2 feet (3 cubits)
long, and the barbed iron head was of the same length, but this extended
half-way down the shaft, to which it was attached with extreme care, so that
the whole length of the weapon was about 6 feet 9 inches. Each soldier
carried two (
Plb. 6.23). It was used either to
throw or to thrust with; it was peculiar to the Romans, and gave the name of
pilani to the division of the army by which
it was adopted. It was, however, carried by different classes of troops at
different times, and at last, apparently, by all the legionaries (
EXERCITUS pp. 784
b, 785
a). When Marius
fought against the Cimbri, he ordered that of the two nails or pins
(
περόναι) by which the head was
fastened to the staff, one should be of iron and the other of wood. The
consequence was that, when the
pilum struck the
shields of the enemy, the wooden nail broke; and as the iron head was thus
bent, the spear, owing to the twist in the metal part, still held to the
shield and so dragged along the ground. (
Plut. Mar.
25.)
Whilst the heavy-armed Roman soldiers bore the long lance and the thick and
ponderous javelin, the light-armed used smaller missiles, which, though of
different kinds, were included under the general term
hastae velitares (
Liv. 26.4,
38.20;
Plin. Nat.
7.201, 28.34). From
γρόσφος, the
corresponding Greek term (
Plb. 1.40;
Strabo iv. p.196), the
velites, or light-armed, are called by Polybius
γροσφομάχοι (6.19, 20). According to his
description the
γρόσφος was a dart, with a
shaft about 3 feet long and 1 inch in thickness: the iron head was a span
long, and so thin and acuminated as to be bent by striking against anything,
and thus rendered unfit to be sent back against the enemy. Fig. 3, in the
above woodcut, shows one which was found, with nearly four hundred others,
in a Roman entrenchment at Meon Hill, in Gloucestershire. (Skelton's
Engraved Illustrations, vol. i. pl. 45.)
The light infantry of the Roman army used a similar weapon, called “a
spit” (
veru, verutum,
Liv. 21.55;
σαύνιον,
Diod. 14.27; Festus, s. v.
Samnites). It was adopted by them from the Samnites (
Verg. A. 7.665) and the Volsci
(
Georg. 2.168). Its shaft was 3 1/2 feet long, its point 5
inches (Veget. 2.15). Fig. 4, in the above woodcut, represents the head of a
dart in the Royal Collection at Naples; it may be taken as a specimen of the
verutum, and may be contrasted with fig. 5,
which is the head of a lance in the same collection. The Romans adopted in
like manner the
gaesum, which was properly a
Celtic weapon (
Liv. 28.45); it was given as a
reward to any soldier who wounded an enemy (
Plb.
6.37).
Sparus is evidently the same word
with the English
spar and
spear. It was the rudest missile of the whole class, and only used
when better could not be obtained. (
Verg. A.
11.682; Serv.
in loc.,
“sparus est rusticum telum in modum pedi recurvum”;
Nepos, Epam. 9.1;
Sallust, Sal. Cat. 56;
Gel.
10.25.)
Besides the terms
jaculum, spiculum, and
venabulum (
ἄκων,
ἀκόντιον), which probably denoted lighter darts used in
hunting as well as in battle (
Thuc. 2.4;
Cic. in Verr. 5.3, § 7,
ad Fam. 5.12; § 5;
Verg. A. 10.52; Serv.
in loc.;
Ov. Met. 8.410; Flor.
l.c.), we find in classical authors the names of various other
spears which were characteristic of particular nations. Thus, Servius (on
Aen. 7.164) states that, as the
pilum was proper to the Romans and the
gaesum to the Gauls (cf.
Aen. 8.661; Propert.
5.10, 42), so the
sarisa was the spear peculiar
to the Macedonians. (On the extraordinary length of the
sarisa, see
EXERCITUS p. 778; Grote, Excursus on ch. 92; on
[p. 1.937]the spelling of the word, L. and S. s. v.
σάρισα.) The Thracian
ῥομφαία,
rhomphaea or
rumpia, has been compared to the
sarisa on the strength of a passage in Livy (
31.39), but was really a sword (cf.
GLADIUS); whereas the Illyrian
σιβύνη is justly described as a
venabulum or hunting-spear (
σιβύνιον,
Plb. 6.23.9;
σιγύνη,
Hdt. 5.9; Antip. Sidon. 13;
sibina, Enn.
Annal. 7.115;
sibyna, Festus;
sibones,
Gel. 10.25).
The iron head of the German spear, called
framea, was short and narrow, but very sharp. The Germans used it
with great effect either for hurling or thrusting: they gave to each youth a
framea and a shield on coming of age (Tac.
Germ. 6, 13, 18, 24;
Juv.
13.79).
The
falarica or
phalarica was a missile of the largest dimensions, deriving its
name from the
falae or wooden towers used in
sieges (cf.
HELEPOLIS), from
which it was usually discharged by an engine (Fest., Non. s.v. Veget. 4.18;
Serv. ad Aen. 9.705;
Gel. 10.25). Livy (
21.8) describes one employed by the Saguntines, and impelled by the
aid of twisted ropes; it was large and ponderous, having a head of iron 3
feet in length, which carried flaming pitch and tow. This sort was weighed
near the top by a circular mass of lead (Isid.
Orig. 18.7).
We also find a
falarica hurled from the hand,
mostly, however, in poetry as a feat of gigantic strength (Verg.
Aen. l.c.;
Lucan 6.196;
Sil. Ital. 1.351; Grat. Falisc.
Cyneg. 342), but in real life by a Spanish tribe (
Liv. 34.14). The
matara,
mataris or
materis, a Celtic word,
denotes a broad-tipped spear used by the Gauls (Auct.
ad
Herenn. 4.32.43;
Caes. Gal. 1.26;
Liv. 7.24;
μάδαρις,
παλτοῦ τι εἶδος,
Strab. iv. p.196; Hesych.); the
tragula (in some senses, but perhaps not in this
one, derived from
traho; see the Dictionaries)
was probably barbed, as it required to be cut out of the wound (Sallust. ap.
Non. p. 553, 29;
Caes. Gal. 5.35; Gell.
l.c.).
The careful antiquarian researches of recent years have led to the discovery
of many specimens of Roman weapons, especially in Germany and Switzerland;
the results of these finds, styled “important” by Guhl and
Koner (p. 772), do not tend to the overthrow of previous established
conclusions. A genuine old-German
framea has
not, it appears, yet been dug up out of its native soil (ib. p. 775).
Among the decorations which the Roman generals bestowed on their soldiers,
more especially for saving the life of a fellow-citizen, was a spear without
a head, called
hasta pura (
Verg. A. 6.760; Serv.
in
loc.; Festus, s. v.
Hasta; Sueton.
Claud. 28;
Tac. Ann.
3.21). The gift of it is sometimes recorded in funeral inscriptions.
The
caelibaris hasta (Festus, s. v.) having been
fixed into the body of a gladiator lying dead on the arena, was used at
marriages to part the hair of the bride (
Ov. Fast.
2.559 foll.; Plut.
Quaest. Rom. 87).
A spear was erected at auctions [
AUCTIO], and when tenders were received for public contracts
(
locationes). It served both to announce by
a conventional sign conspicuous at a distance that a sale was going on, and
to show that it was conducted under the authority of the public
functionaries (
Cic. de Off.
2.8, § 29;
Nepos, Att.
6; Festus, s. v.
Hasta). Hence an
auction was called
hasta, and
hastarium (Tertull.
Apol. 13) is
either an auction-room or an auctioneer's catalogue: in modern Italian
asta means only an auction, never a spear.
It was also the practice to set up a spear in the court of the
CENTUMVIRI
The throwing of the spear (
ἀκυντισμός) was
one of the gymnastic exercises of the Greeks (Krause,
Gymnastik und
Agonistik, 1.465 ff.;
PENTATHLON). On Greek spears in general, cf. Droysen,
Kriegsalterth. pp. 17-19 in Hermann-Blümner;
Guhl and Koner, ed. 5, pp. 314-318; W. Leaf in
Journ. Hell.
Soc. 4.299 ff.; on Roman, Marquardt,
Staatsverw.
2.328 ff.; Guhl and Koner, pp. 772-775.
[
J.Y] [
W.W]