Hastati - A Close-up

The Camillian Reforms to the Roman army brought the three-line manipular infantry system that we looked at a few weeks ago.  But the Polybian army, named for the Greek historian Polybius since he described the system in his works, brought even more change to the manipular phalanxes, making them into a much more efficient and reliable fighting force. Over the next few weeks, we'll spend Military Monday exploring the different soldiers that made up the reformed Roman army of 300-88 BCE, starting with the men on the front lines, the Hastati.

The old system of choosing Hastati based on wealth had ended, and the new system selected the youngest and newest members of the Legion to be in its front ranks. This veteran system benefited the Roman army by favoring experience over status, which meant more seasoned soldiers to train the greener recruits and prepare them for the punishment of initial assault.

The Hastati of this period were armed with Gladii, the famous swords of the Roman Empire. Most were about 3 feet long and were simple double-edged weapons that were useful for thrusting and slashing. In addition to these swords, they carried a compliment of one light and one heavy javelin, both designed to bend on impact right where the shaft met the head, thus making it impossible to throw back at the Roman line. The enemy would have to advance under a hail of javelins, which would stick in their shields so that they would have to discard them, making it difficult to fight the well-protected Hastati. The armor of the Hastati was usually simple hardened leather, which made for flexibility and decent protection. They also carried the rectangular scutum shield which they could lock together if they were called to fall back from the battle line.

Their tactics were pretty simple; similar to a traditional phalanx, they would march with shields close together and then thrust their swords at their enemies in stabbing motions. They were trained for several months out of the year with practice dummies and wooden swords, so they knew how to hit an enemy's vital organs or major blood vessels.

The Hastati of the mid-Republic provided their own arms and armor, which meant that some were better outfitted than others. They all had to fight with the same weapons, though, in their small rectangle maniple of 120 men each. Since there were ten maniples of Hastati per Legion, there were 1200 total Hastati. They were trained to be brave, being the first of the Roman ranks, and if they proved themselves in battle, they were promoted later to Principe, the unit we will look at more closely next week.

Pax vobiscum