A cateia is an ancient European throwing weapon. Sources describe it similar to a
boomerang
A boomerang () is a thrown tool typically constructed with airfoil sections and designed to spin about an axis perpendicular to the direction of its flight, designed to return to the thrower. The origin of the word is from Australian Aborigin ...
and possibly related to the
aklys
The aklys (Latin aclys, Greek agkulis) was a Roman javelin measuring approximately 2 m (79 in, 6.6 ft) in length, thrown with the aid of a leather strap or amentum, similar to a Swiss arrow. Every soldier was issued at least two. The term also a ...
.
[Quesada Sanz, Fernando, ''El boomerang'', nº 51 de La aventura de la Historia, Arlanza Ediciones, ]Madrid
Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...
, January 2003, ISSN 1579-427X
Etymology
The name ''cateia'' comes probably from Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance languag ...
and Celtic
Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to:
Language and ethnicity
*pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia
**Celts (modern)
*Celtic languages
**Proto-Celtic language
*Celtic music
*Celtic nations
Sports Foot ...
words related to the adjective "curved", probably in reference to its shape.[ Samuel Ferguson, ''On the antiquity or the Kiliee or Boomerang'', 1838. Transactions, Volume 19, Part 1. Royal Irish Academy] The word resembles ''katari'', another word for the Indian throwing club called '' valari'', as well as '' kotaha'', a Maori sling-powered jaelin-thrower, although the latter case is almost certainly a coincidence mora than a common etymology.[
]
Characteristics
Servios describes the cateia to be similar to the aklys, but twice its length, made of flexible wood with metal spikes and fitted with a rope to throw it, although he identifies it as a kind of spear ('' hasta'').[ Writing from two centuries later, ]Isidore of Seville
Isidore of Seville (; 4 April 636) was a Spania, Hispano-Roman scholar, theologian and Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Seville, archbishop of Seville. He is widely regarded, in the words of the 19th-century historian Charles Forbes René de Montal ...
described it as a heavy throwing club, which flew not very far but with great force of impact, which returned to the user's hands if he was skilled enough. Other chroniclers state it was curved in shape and spinning in its way of flying.[
Some authors consider the cateia a ]javelin
A javelin is a light spear designed primarily to be thrown, historically as a ranged weapon. Today, the javelin is predominantly used for sporting purposes such as the javelin throw. The javelin is nearly always thrown by hand, unlike the sling ...
fitted with a rope to work as an ''amentum
An ''amentum'' (Greek: ''αγκύλη'', ankyle,) was a leather strap attached to a javelin used in ancient Greek athletics, hunting, and warfare, which helped to increase the range and the stability of the javelin in flight. Stability in flight ...
'',[ a ]throwing axe
A throwing axe is a weapon used from Antiquity to the Middle Ages by foot soldiers and occasionally by mounted soldiers. Usually, they are thrown in an overhand motion in a manner that causes the axe to rotate as it travels through the air.
...
,[ It's also possible the word was used for more than one weapon and it does refer to a boomerang-like weapon in some of the references.]
History
Virgil
Publius Vergilius Maro (; 15 October 70 BC21 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Rome, ancient Roman poet of the Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Augustan period. He composed three of the most fa ...
mentions cateias in ''Aeneid
The ''Aeneid'' ( ; or ) is a Latin Epic poetry, epic poem that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Troy, Trojan who fled the Trojan War#Sack of Troy, fall of Troy and travelled to Italy, where he became the ancestor of the Ancient Rome ...
'', telling of its usage by the tribes subservient to King Turnus
Turnus () was the legendary King of the Rutuli in Roman history, and the chief antagonist of the hero Aeneas in Virgil's ''Aeneid''.
According to the ''Aeneid'', Turnus is the son of Daunus and the nymph Venilia and is brother of the nymph ...
of the Rutuli
The Rutuli or Rutulians were an ancient people in Italy. The Rutuli were located in a territory whose capital was the ancient town of Ardea, located about 35 km southeast of Rome.
Thought to have been descended from the Umbri and the P ...
, who supposedly employed the weapon in the Teuton
The Teutons (, ; ) were an ancient northern European tribe mentioned by Roman authors. The Teutons are best known for their participation, together with the Cimbri and other groups, in the Cimbrian War with the Roman Republic in the late seco ...
style. Silius Italicus
Tiberius Catius Asconius Silius Italicus (, c. 26 – c. 101 AD) was a Roman senator, orator and epic poet of the Silver Age of Latin literature. His only surviving work is the 17-book '' Punica'', an epic poem about the Second Punic War and the ...
tells the Libyans
Demographics of Libya is the demography of Libya, specifically covering population density, Ethnic group, ethnicity, and Religion in Libya, religious affiliations, as well as other aspects of the Libyan population. All figures are from the Uni ...
in Hannibal
Hannibal (; ; 247 – between 183 and 181 BC) was a Punic people, Carthaginian general and statesman who commanded the forces of Ancient Carthage, Carthage in their battle against the Roman Republic during the Second Punic War.
Hannibal's fat ...
's army wielded cateias.[Ulster Journal of Archaeology, Volume 5, 126. 1857. Relative antiquity of stone and bronze weapons. James O'Laverty.] and Valerius Flaccus tells the same about the peoples inhabiting east to the Black Sea
The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bound ...
.[William Smith, J. Murray, ''A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, Volume 1'', 1890] Strabo might refer to the cateia when he writes of a wooden weapon, similar to a spear tip, which the Belgae used to hunt birds, throwing it by hand farther than an arrow.[ Isidore tells the weapon was known by the France in the Middle Ages, Gauls and Visigothic Kingdom, Hispanics of his time (6th century), who in turn claimed it had a Teuton origin.][ A later weapon was found in Normandy, possibly build in 120-80 BC, although the design of this one didn't demonstrate the same capacity.][Luc Bordes, Anthony Lefort, François Blondel, ]
A Gaulish Throwing Stick Discovery in Normandy: Study and Throwing Experimentations
'
See also
* Aklys
* Boomerang
* Throwing stick
* Hurlbat
References
External link
Description of the cateia by Servius
(in Latin)
{{authority control
Maces (bludgeons)
Javelins
Throwing weapons
Iberian weapons
Germanic weapons