Suppliers like Kult of Athena offer numerous spear heads, buttspikes and shafts. Can anyone say which of these best replicates a Roman hasta of the mid-late Republic? I'm putting together a triarius impression of the manipular era, have the hamata and hispaniensis, apulo-corinthian, shield and belts on the way, but am unsure about that most common of weapons, the spear. Obviously, the clearly Viking and Keltic designs are out, as are the extra-large spear heads, but there are a number of other designs available that may or may not be correct. Also, do we know what length was most common? The pilum has been written on extensively, but not the hasta. Any help is greatly appreciated.
B&C on page 54 figure 24 show a wide range of Republican headtypes, even one which has been forged from a cut triangle of plate. That one is about 17 cm long, it is the simplest way of making a spearhead. But there is also a solid necked leafshape (nr 5) and two which have a square cross section of the pointy end, both about 25 cm. These look like drawn out ballista bolts. Then there are two which show clear Celtic design, with a central midrib. Here is a design I would prefer, leafshaped nr 5 on that B&C figure. That one goes on in time for quite a long while, so would be a good buy :-)
[attachment=5775]Hasta.JPG[/attachment]
All have buttspikes.
