Fig. 378. Heraldic Hart.
Hart, Her. A stag with attires; the female is a hind.
Fig. 379. Hasta—Roman ceremonial spear.
Hasta (Gr. ἔγχος). A spear used as a pike for thrusting, or as a missile for hurling from the hand, or as a bolt from an engine. Homer defines the spear as “a pole heavy with bronze.” The hasta amentata, for hurling, had a leathern thong for a handle (amentum) in the middle; hasta pura was a spear without a head, and was a much-valued decoration given to a Roman soldier who had saved a citizen’s life; hasta celibarium was a spear which, having been thrust into the body of a gladiator as he lay dead in the arena, was afterwards used at marriages to part the hair of the bride. A spear was set up before a place where sales by auction were going on, and an auction-room was hence called Hastarium. Different kinds of spear were the lancea of the Greeks; the pilum, peculiar to the Romans; the veru, verutum, or “spit,” of the Roman light infantry; the gæsum, a Celtic weapon adopted by the Romans; the sparrus, our English spar or spear, the rudest missile of the whole class; and many others mentioned under their respective headings in this work.
Hasta Pura. In Numismatics, a headless spear or long sceptre, an attribute of all the heathen deities; a symbol of the goodness of the gods and the conduct of providence, equally mild and forcible.
Hastarium, R. A room in which sales were made sub hasta publica, that is, by public auction, under the public authority indicated by the spear. The term also denoted a list or catalogue of sale.
Hastile, R. (hasta). The shaft of a spear, and thence the spear itself, a goad, &c.
Fig. 380. Costume of a nobleman in Venice (16th century), showing the Hat of the period.