Note 968 — Chapter XIII · THE SWORD AMONGST THE BARBARIANS (EARLY ROMAN EMPIRE).
Reading edition
Simply meaning Spearmen. Gaisate = hastatus from Gaisa (gæsum), the Irish gai, any spear. Isidore (Gloss.) translates ‘Gessum’ by ‘hasta vel jaculum Gallicè, βολίς.’ The word survives in the French guisarme, gisarme, &c. The Gæsum probably had a kind of handle and a defence for the hand.