Hasta pura
The hasta pura ("pure lance"), also called hasta donatica (" honor lance"), was one of the first known awards given by the Roman military to its soldiers. It was a spear, initially probably made of wood without a metal tip, which was originally earned (in the early and middle republic) by killing an enemy outside of the battle. In the Principate's time, the tip of the hasta could also be made of silver or gold, and the award was given on various occasions (not always military ones).
As early as the late Republican period, the hasta pura was generally only awarded to higher officer ranks (from the primus pilus upwards). In the time before she could also get a simple soldier. In the time since the emperor Claudius it became the typical symbol of the knighthood performing military service . After AD 217, the hasta disappears from the sources of inscriptions.
literature
- Péter Kovács : Hasta Pura. In: Acta Archaeologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae. Vol. 55, No. 1-2, 2004, ISSN 0001-5210 , pp. 81-92.