11-26-2015, 09:08 PM
Hello Everyone,
I am attempting to make a reconstruction of a weapon known by the term "Cateia." I have seen this interpreted as an "axe", a "javelin" and even as a "boomerang." Recently, in an article on the origin of the plumbata, the author quotes Servius' commentary on the Aeneid (Book 7, passage 741) and describes the Cateia as a "heavy wood club, a cubit in length and studded with nails."
Below is the relevant passage:
[741] cateias tela Gallica: unde et Teutonicum ritum dixit. cateiam quidam asserunt teli genus esse tale quale aclydes sunt, ex materia quam maxime lenta, cubitus longitudine, tota fere clavis ferreis illigata, quas in hostem iaculantes lineis, quibus eas adnexuerant, reciprocas faciebant. cateias id est hastas. cateiae lingua Theotisca hastae dicuntur.
I can see the reference to it being a cubit in length, but am curious as to exactly what the best English rendering of the description would be.
Thanks in advance!
Steven
I am attempting to make a reconstruction of a weapon known by the term "Cateia." I have seen this interpreted as an "axe", a "javelin" and even as a "boomerang." Recently, in an article on the origin of the plumbata, the author quotes Servius' commentary on the Aeneid (Book 7, passage 741) and describes the Cateia as a "heavy wood club, a cubit in length and studded with nails."
Below is the relevant passage:
[741] cateias tela Gallica: unde et Teutonicum ritum dixit. cateiam quidam asserunt teli genus esse tale quale aclydes sunt, ex materia quam maxime lenta, cubitus longitudine, tota fere clavis ferreis illigata, quas in hostem iaculantes lineis, quibus eas adnexuerant, reciprocas faciebant. cateias id est hastas. cateiae lingua Theotisca hastae dicuntur.
I can see the reference to it being a cubit in length, but am curious as to exactly what the best English rendering of the description would be.
Thanks in advance!
Steven
