86 CRANIA BRITANNICA. [CHAP. V. CHAP. V.] HISTORICAL ETHNOLOGY OE BRITAIN. 87
"parva scuta"), in tho use of wliieh they displayed mucli skiU and adroitness, " simnl constantia,
simul arte Britanni, brevibus cetris, missilia nostrorum vitare vel escntere*." In the same part
of Britain, one hnndred and tbii-ty years later, in the expedition of Severus (A.D. 209), the
weapons are described as very similar; Dion stating that they consisted of a shield and short
spear having a brazen knob at the extremity of the shaft, wliich those who used them shook to
produce a noise: they also carried daggers. The accoimt of Herodian, likewise a contemporaa-y
writer, of the British weapons in the same war, makes the piotm-e somewhat more complete.
The Britons, says he, carry only a small shield and a spear, and a sword girded to their naked
bodies : of a breast-plate or helmet they know not the usef. It is not likely that the arms of the
Caledonians in the time of Domitian or in that of Severus differed very materially from those of
the southern and more civilized Britons in the time of Julius. But after putting aU these
notices together, it must be confessed that our idea of the latter is neither precise nor complete.
Mela, writing probably about the time of the conquest of Britain under Claudius, tells us
expressly, though in general terms, that the arms of the Britons resembled those of the Gauls,—
populi " GalUcemtnatiX so that, in order to obtain a complete view of the former, it is necessary
to examine the accounts of the latter by Diodorus, Strabo, Livy and others.
The usual missile of the Britons seems clearly identical with the heavy Gaulish javelin,
called matara by Cffisar, matark by livy, and madaris by Strabo §, to which the writer on
rhetoric, often supposed to have been Cicero, refers as the Transalpine mataris, the distinctive
weapon of the Gauls ||. That the javelin Icaown as the mataris was the same as the gaisimn,
the name of which is also Celtic, is at least probable. Prom Virgil, we learn that two of these
javelins were carried in the hand of each Gaulish warrior—" duo quisque Alpina coruscant gcBsa
manu"—and the weapon, under this name, is referred to by other contemporary wi-iterslf.
This favourite Celtic missile, gcesim or mataris, has been identified by numismatists with that
shown on several Roman medals of the time of Julius referring to Gaul; from which we may
infer that the total length was from three to three and a half feet, of wMch the metaUic head
measured about five inches**. Diodorus gives the name of saunian to the missile weapons of the
Gauls, which they themselves, he says, called lancia\\. That by this, Diodorus intended the
mataris of other writers is probable; though his description, which is intended to be minute and
precise, is not without diElculty. He says that the blade was of iron, and a cubit (eighteen inches)
* Tacitus, Vit. Agric. c. 36.
-f- Dion a/3îiiiXiph. lib. IXXTI. C. 12. Herodian, lib. iii. c. 47.
By the dagger, éyx^'P'^""'' Dion, and the sword, of
Herodian, the same weapon is probably meant.
+ Mela, de Sit. Orb. Hb. iii. c. 6.
5 Coesar, B. G. lib. i. c. 2(i. Strabo, lib. iv. c. iv. § 3.
Livy, lib. Tii. c. 24.
[I " Nec tarn facile ex Italia mataris Transaljiina depulsa
est."—Ad Herenn. lib. iv. e. 32. The earliest use of the
word seems to be that by Sisenna, who died about 67 B.C.
Gallia raateribus, Suevi lanceis eonfigunt," quoted by Montfaucon
(1719, torn. iv.p. 36), who says that the word matras,
in the sense of a dart, was in his days commonly used in nearly
half of France.
^ Virgil, ¿En. lib. viii. v. 661. Coesar, B. G. hb. iii. c. 4.
Polyb. Hist. hb. c. 37. Livy, lib. sxvi. c. 6. Claudian,
Pan. Stilichon, 2, " binatiuegoesa tenens" Plutarch {Marius,
c. 2.^) also says that in the army of the Cimbri, each man
carried two javelins. The use of the gissum, as shown by
Livy (lib. viii. c. 8; lib. xxviii. e. 45), was adopted by the
Romans from the Gauls. Propertius (v. 10) also attributes
it to the Transalpine Gauls, who from the use of this weapon,
doubtless acquired their name of Gasati, notwithstanding
thatPolybius (lib. ii. c. 22) says that this name signified mercenaries.
Servius (m loc. jBn. hb. vii. v. 6C4) says of the gaesuni,
"pilum proprie est hasta Romana, ut geesa Gallorum."
** Lagoy, Kech. Numismat. 1849,planche 2, figs. 10, II.
The medals are of the ijens Julia, referring to the victories of
Ceesar over the Gauls. In the representation of the spoils
which form the trophies on these medals, the characteristic
form and size of the weapons seem clearly to he preserved.
f t Accordmg to this, the word lance is of Gallic origin.
The lancea is defined by Isidorns, as " hasta amentum hahens
in medio."—Isidor. Hisp. lib. xviii. c. 7. See also Silius
Italicus, lib. i. V. 318. This agrees with one apparent characteristic
of the saunian.
in length, and that the shaft (for so must the word ¿7ri0i,/m be understood) was stOl longer; so
that the length of the saunian must have exceeded three feet, appearing the same as that of the
missiles represented in the trophies on the coins. Diodorus adds, however, that in width it was
little short of two palms (sis inches)—a proportion so great, that it is diflicult to reconcile it with
any usual conception of such a weapon. He further states, that there were two forms of the
saunian, one straight, the other barbed, or as he expresses it, curved and having a jagged edge,
which produced a laceration of the wound " in the recovery of the weapon*." This last phrase
seems to imply that one kind of saimian was thrown with a thong and belonged to the class oijacula
amentata. That this was so, seems probable from another passage, in which Diodorus aUudes to
certain missile weapons under the same name. The arrows used by the Carduchi, in their attack
on the Ten Thousand, he describes as of great strength and more than two cubits in length,
which the Greeks, collecting and attaching thongs, made use of after the fashion of saunians f .
The most obvious etymology of the word is from the Greek ^amirai—the Saunites or Sanmites—
ia which case it can only signify a Samnite javelin. As the epithet SabeUiam was applied
equally by the Romans to the Sabines and Samnites, the line of VirgU, " Et tereti pugnant
mucrone veruque Sabello," must in this case refer to the saunian, which can have been nothing
but a javelin similar to that of the Gauls J. Another form of GaUic missile, the cateia,
referred to by "Virgil and others, must have been very similar to one form of the saunian, though
apparently of less size. Virgil describes certain tribes of Central Italy as accustomed, after
the Teutonic fashion, to throw the cateia§. That "Teutonic" in this passage means Celtic, is
clear from the commentary of Servius, who defines the cateia as a GaUic missile, " telum
GaUicum," and adds, " unde et Teutonicum ritum dixit." Servius says that the cateia had a
slender shaft, a cubit in length, studded with iron naUs, and that it was thrown by means of a
long cord, to which it was attached, and by which it could be recovered. He adds, that cateia
in the Celtic language ("Hngua Teuthisea") was the name for a javelin; and to this day the
word exists in the Welsh, in which, as a verb, it signifies to throw a swing club : there are also
numerous derivatives, catau, to fight, &c.
The Gallic spear, intended for thrusting rather than hui-ling, is named by Strabo, who
distinguishes it from the mataris or javelin. He imphes that it was of great length, being in
proportion to the size of the bodies of the Gauls and to that of theii- other weapons. We do not
find any more particular description of the spear, as used by the Gauls or Britons, in any other
writer. It was doubtless the weapon of theu- cavaby and heavy-armed infantry, and on some
* Diod. hb. V. c. 30. This last variety of the Gauhsh
saunian, was probably similar to the saunian of the Lusitaui,
which Diodorus (hb. v. c. 34) says was of a hooked shape, and
made throughout of iron. It was probably the " soliferreum "
of Livy (lib. xxxiv. c. 14).
t Diodorus, lib. xiv. c. 27. Another place where Diodorus
names the saunian (lib. v. c. 29), appears parallel with a passage
in Ceesar (B. G. lib. iv. c. 33), and refers probably to
Britain,—"saunia" standing simply for the "tela" of Cffisar.
Little aid to the comprehension of the form is derived from the
references to it by Strabo, who twice names this weapon (hb.
XV. p. 717, 734 Casaub.), and by Arrian (Indie, e. xvi. p. 331).
In the last passage from Strabo, the word samiian is generally
rendered by the Latin tragula; and it is to he observed, that
CiESar (B. G. lib. i. c. 26 ; hb. v. c. 35) applies this very
term to one form of the Gallic misáles, which he seems expressly
to distinguish from the mataris,—" mataras ac tragulas
snhjiciehant."
J Virgil, iEn. Hb. vii. v. 665. See also Geòrgie, lib. ü.
v. 168. Livy, lib. xxi. c. 55. Festus (s. v. Samnites), less
probably, derives the name of the people from that of their
weapon : " Samuitihus nomen factum ab hastia, propter genus
hastEe quod aavyln appellant Grseci."
§ j35n. lib. vii. V. 741. "Teutonico ritu soliti torquere
cateias." Silius Italicus (lib. iii. v. 277) also apphes to the cateia
the epithet curved—"panda cateia." Isidoras gives a similar
description, and defines the cateia as "genus Gallici teli."—
Isidor. Hisp. lib. xviii. c. 7.
K 2