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Hasta (spear)
 
 
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Hasta is a Latin
Latin

Latin is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Military history of the Roman Empire, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe....
 word meaning spear
Spear

A spear is a pole weapon consisting of a shaft, usually of wood, with a sharpened head. The head may be simply the sharpened end of the shaft itself, as is the case with bamboo spears, or it may be of another material fastened to the shaft, such as obsidian, iron or bronze....
. Hastae were carried by early Roman Legionaries, in particular they were carried by and gave their name to those Roman soldiers known as Hastati
Hastati

Hastati were a class of infantry in the Structural history of the Roman military#Manipular legion who originally fought as spearmen, and later as swordsmen....
. However, during Republican
Roman Republic

The Roman Republic was the phase of the Ancient Rome characterized by a republican form of government; a period which began with the overthrow of the Roman Roman Kingdom, c....
 times, the hastati were re-armed with pila
Pilum

The pilum was a heavy javelin commonly used by the Military history of ancient Rome#Roman army in ancient times. It was generally about two meters long overall, consisting of an iron shank about 7 mm in diameter and 60 cm long with pyramidal head....
 and gladii
Gladius

Gladius is a Latin word for sword. Early Ancient Rome swords were similar to those used by the Greeks. From the 3rd century BC, the Romans adopted swords similar to those used by the Celtiberians and others during the early part of the conquest of Hispania....
 and the hasta was only retained by the triarii
Triarii

Triarii were spearmen in the Structural history of the Roman military#Manipular legion . They were the oldest and among the wealthiest men in the army, and could afford good quality equipment....
.

As opposed to the pilum, verutum
Verutum

The verutum, or plural veruta was a short javelin used in the Roman army. This javelin was used by the velites for skirmishing unlike the heavier pilum used by the hastati and principes for softening the enemy before advancing into close combat....
 or lancea
Lancea

The lancea was the Roman auxiliaries' short javelin. According to the OED, the word originally came from the Iberian Language....
, the hasta was not thrown but used for thrusting.
sta was about six and one-half feet (2 m) in length with a shaft generally made from ash, while the head was of iron.

Hasta pura was a silver spear without the iron head used in combat.






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Encyclopedia


Hasta is a Latin
Latin

Latin is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Military history of the Roman Empire, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe....
 word meaning spear
Spear

A spear is a pole weapon consisting of a shaft, usually of wood, with a sharpened head. The head may be simply the sharpened end of the shaft itself, as is the case with bamboo spears, or it may be of another material fastened to the shaft, such as obsidian, iron or bronze....
. Hastae were carried by early Roman Legionaries, in particular they were carried by and gave their name to those Roman soldiers known as Hastati
Hastati

Hastati were a class of infantry in the Structural history of the Roman military#Manipular legion who originally fought as spearmen, and later as swordsmen....
. However, during Republican
Roman Republic

The Roman Republic was the phase of the Ancient Rome characterized by a republican form of government; a period which began with the overthrow of the Roman Roman Kingdom, c....
 times, the hastati were re-armed with pila
Pilum

The pilum was a heavy javelin commonly used by the Military history of ancient Rome#Roman army in ancient times. It was generally about two meters long overall, consisting of an iron shank about 7 mm in diameter and 60 cm long with pyramidal head....
 and gladii
Gladius

Gladius is a Latin word for sword. Early Ancient Rome swords were similar to those used by the Greeks. From the 3rd century BC, the Romans adopted swords similar to those used by the Celtiberians and others during the early part of the conquest of Hispania....
 and the hasta was only retained by the triarii
Triarii

Triarii were spearmen in the Structural history of the Roman military#Manipular legion . They were the oldest and among the wealthiest men in the army, and could afford good quality equipment....
.

As opposed to the pilum, verutum
Verutum

The verutum, or plural veruta was a short javelin used in the Roman army. This javelin was used by the velites for skirmishing unlike the heavier pilum used by the hastati and principes for softening the enemy before advancing into close combat....
 or lancea
Lancea

The lancea was the Roman auxiliaries' short javelin. According to the OED, the word originally came from the Iberian Language....
, the hasta was not thrown but used for thrusting.

Description

A hasta was about six and one-half feet (2 m) in length with a shaft generally made from ash, while the head was of iron.

Symbolic uses


Hasta pura

The Hasta pura was a silver spear without the iron head used in combat. From Tacitus and other Roman writers, we know that a hasta pura was given as a decoration. Such decorations were bestowed upon soldiers by Roman generals, more especially for saving the life of a fellow-citizen:

In this engagement Rufus Helvius, a common soldier, won the honour of saving a citizen's life, and was rewarded by Apronius
Lucius Apronius

Lucius Apronius was a Ancient Rome military commander and a father-in-law of praetor Plautius Silvanus. Apronius shared in the achievements of Vibius Postumus and earned the ornaments of a Roman triumph for his distinguished valor in Dalmatae#Roman conquest and Germanic Wars, along with Aulus Caecina Severus and Gaius Silius in 15 AD....
 with a torc
Torc

A torc, also spelled torq or torque, is a rigid piece of personal adornment made from twisted metal. It can be worn as an arm ring, a circular neck ring, or a necklace that is open-ended at the front....
 and a spear. To these the emperor added the civic crown
Civic Crown

The Civic Crown was a Chaplet of common oak leaf woven to form a crown . During the Roman Republic, and the subsequent Principate, it was regarded as the second highest military decoration a citizen could aspire to ....
, complaining, but without anger, that Apronius had not used his right as proconsul to bestow this further distinction.


This gift was also given to the Primus Pilus
Primus Pilus

The Primus Pilus was a member of a Roman legion.In the late Roman republic, the cohort of which there were six to ten, became the basic tactical unit of the legions....
 when he had completed his period of service. Also, such a gift is sometimes recorded in funereal inscriptions.

Hastarium

A hasta was also used as a sign that would be conventionally understood in Roman culture as announcing an auction. Hence, an auction
Auction

An auction is a process of trade goods or services by offering them up for bid, taking bids, and then selling the item to the winning bidder....
 was called hasta and an auction-room a hastarium.

Post-Roman era

The Latin word hasta passed in modified form and/or meaning into several Romance languages
Romance languages

The Romance languages are a branch of the Indo-European languages comprising all the languages that descend from Latin language, the language of ancient Rome....
 (Portuguese, Spanish, Italian) and also into Albanian
Albanian language

Albanian is an Indo-European languages spoken by nearly 6 million people, primarily in Albania and Kosovo but also in other areas of the Balkans in which there is an Albanian population, including the west of the Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, and southern Serbia....
 (heshtė, "spear").

See also

  • Roman military personal equipment