In the early republic, Rome had used the usual battle tactic of hoplites formed in a phalanx, but towards the end of the 4th century BCE this was changed to the manipular system, which meant there were now three lines of heavy infantry with a light infantry screen in front. The poorest individuals were in the skirmish line, but after that the youngest men were in the front row, called the hastati. When contact was made with the enemy, the skirmishers would attempt to disrupt the enemy formation before retiring, and it was then the role of the hastati to come to blows with the opposition and defeat them. Should they fail then the second and even third lines could assist, but for much of the time it was the hastati that did the actual fighting in Rome’s long wars with Carthage for dominance of the Mediterranean, known today as the Punic Wars (264 – 146 BCE).

Since they were mostly composed of younger men, the hastati were also generally less wealthy than the more mature ranks behind them, and so would have often been unable to afford the mail corselet which offered the best protection in battle. Many lined up with no more body protection than a pectoral, a small plate of metal strapped to the chest, which is sometimes called a heart protector. It is thought that these were mostly square, but none have survived, so we cannot now be sure that this was so, and one of the figures in this set has a circular one instead, which certainly existed at the time, though whether worn by the Roman hastati is unknown. Two of the figures in this set lack even this simple protection, but of the other six poses, four also have something similar on the back. Again it is not known if this was done, or how frequent it was, but with no evidence to the contrary it would seem possible, although we suspect it was not as popular as suggested here (after all, it specifically implies you would turn your back on the enemy, which is not the most positive attitude for a soldier). The two men with no rear plate have an unnecessarily complicated arrangement of straps to hold the front plate – we can’t prove this is wrong (no-one can), but our preference in such cases is the simplest answer is usually the best, so we have our doubts.

All these figures have the most important piece of protection – a helmet. In all cases here this is the Montefortino type, and again in all cases this has been modelled with three upright feathers (to give perceived extra height to the man) and a cluster of smaller feathers as a crest. The tall feathers are well attested, but some modern historians have reproduced the crest as a long horsehair plume, although the ancient descriptions make it sound more like a crown or wreath, in which case it may well have looked more like what is modelled here. At the other end of the warrior we find all are wearing sandals, and all have greaves on the leading left leg. This is fine, although whether some might invest in a greave before any body armour is a matter for debate. All the greaves here more or less completely surround the calf, and so are held purely by their own elasticity, although we know that many were actually held by straps and so were less encircling.

Everyone here has a belt of course, which supports a sword on the right hip. This looks like the famous gladius style, which is thought to have only become widespread amongst Romans during the Second Punic War, although it could well have been used earlier, or else be a similar type of short, stabbing sword. Five of the poses have drawn their sword, but the other three still have a spear, the pilum, in hand. This would have been thrown as the men approached the enemy, and they would have started out with two, so all these have only their second one left to throw. No one has a visible dagger, which fits with contemporary descriptions that fail to mention such a weapon, although we think it likely that everyone would have had some form of knife about them somewhere.

The only other item of equipment is of course the shield. Here it is the classic shape, a large oval with a central spine reinforcement and metal edging at top and bottom to further strengthen it. The central boss was also metal, which helped to make the shield a weapon too when pushed energetically into the face of the enemy. Unlike the old hoplite shields, these were held by a horizontal bar in the centre, and these figures look to do the same. Debate continues to rage over whether such shields had designs painted on them (which is a polite way of saying no one really knows today), but in this set half are plain and half are decorated with some form of animal motif.

The best feature of the poses in this set is that everyone is actually holding their shield in the logical position, protecting their body from the front while using their weapon. Because of the difficulties with sculpting such a complex pose with shield, this simple feature is often missing from other sets of ancients carrying shields, but as can be seen here, all the shields on these men are well placed. The man apparently on the march and carrying a pilum should probably be carrying two, but the two about to throw their pilum are pretty good poses, though they are fairly flat, and actually hold their spear against their helmet. The swordsmen are more of a mixed bag. The first in the top row holds his sword awkwardly behind him, which does not seem to us like a useful position when in battle, and the man next to him seems ready to slash with his sword, which is certainly possible, though it was primarily a stabbing weapon. The third pose is fairly generic, but our favourite is the first in the bottom row, because he is crouching and really covering his body with his shield while stabbing forward with his sword, and stabbing upwards too. Excellent technique, but a complex pose to sculpt so not one we often see.

Ultima Ratio figures tend to lack a bit of depth, and these are the same. The figures themselves are fairly flat, and even the bases are quite narrow, which does mean some figures have trouble standing or staying upright. Apart from the last two poses, all the rest have separate shields, which go a long way to give these figures more depth, as well as greatly improve the poses as we have said. Each shield fits on the hand/boss of the figure, and this makes for a really decent fit – we did not need to glue any of the shields in place. The other element of assembly is our favourite swordsman in the bottom row, who’s sword arm is a separate piece. Here the fit is not good, and certainly needs gluing, but this vague fit means the customer can position the arm at any angle they like – we went for the upward stab, but other perfectly good poses are also possible. The general level of detail is pretty good, and definition on challenging areas like the weapons and the helmet decoration is well done, as are the folds of the tunics. The hand holding the shield is largely featureless, however, though this is a less apparent aspect when viewed from any distance. There is some flash but not a great deal, although the seams all have a rather rough quality to them, as can be seen above.

Although hastati have been made before (see below), this is the first set dedicated exclusively to these men. Although there are only eight poses (admittedly with one that is variable), we thought the mix of swordsmen and spearmen was about right, and given the difficulty most manufacturers have with moulding men with blades and shields, this collection is not bad. Since there is plenty of room for interpretation with this subject, we had no concerns about historical accuracy of clothing or kit, and while some purists might like to tidy the figures up a bit, most will find them perfectly presentable for their Punic War battles, especially if they are set on a more stable base.