Hexas

The Mamertinoi were Oscan mercenaries — originally hired by Agathokles of Syracuse — who seized Messana around 288 BC after his death, massacring the male population and taking their wives and property. Their coinage reflects an awkward attempt at civic legitimacy by a garrison that had essentially become a city-state through atrocity. The hexas, as the smallest fractional bronze in their series, would have handled the lowest-level commercial transactions in a community that remained militarily organized even in peacetime.

Their name itself means "sons of Mars," the Oscan war god Mamers.