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That is true but sadly there are not that many references in the sources on these fights in tunnels the Romans dug themselves. But it is true they could have mopped up the Jerusalem sewers/tunnels, but that still leaves the sword without any clue of ownership or origin of manufacture...
So for the moment I adhere to the sword not being Roman military issue.
M.VIB.M.
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Katte Kabuto no O wo shimeyo!
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It could well have had a second set of rings where it is broken.
And the grip certainly looks Roman!
Visne partem mei capere? Comminus agamus! * Me semper rogo, Quid faceret Iulius Caesar? * Confidence is a good thing! Overconfidence is too much of a good thing.
[b]Legio XIIII GMV. (Q. Magivs)RMRS Remember Atuatuca! Vengence will be ours!
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Byron Angel
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I hope they will be able to restore or xray the front plates since that could shed more light on the provenance of this sword. If the front plates like for instance the front plates on many gladii show Fortuna and Mars for that would be absolute proof of Roman provenance, but still not of a legionary losing it.
M.VIB.M.
Bushido wa watashi no shuukyou de gozaru.
Katte Kabuto no O wo shimeyo!
H.J.Vrielink.
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I understood it to be a leather bound scabbard. Could well have been something lost by the judean Rebels, but originally taken from a Roman arsenal or soldier......
Visne partem mei capere? Comminus agamus! * Me semper rogo, Quid faceret Iulius Caesar? * Confidence is a good thing! Overconfidence is too much of a good thing.
[b]Legio XIIII GMV. (Q. Magivs)RMRS Remember Atuatuca! Vengence will be ours!
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Byron Angel
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Also makes you wonder how many non-Roman smiths created similar looking knock-offs of the gladius to outfit whatever non-Roman army needed them.
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Magnus/Matt
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From the guard of the sword it has a similar shape and size to a Pompeii gladius which, was in use at the time. However, given the length it could be something like a spatha.
Some supposed spatha lockets are the same size as Pompeii gladii lockets. (If I recall correctly from some scaled drawing I use to have).
I have to agree with Henk thought that its origins are uncertain.
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Paolo
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As I said to someone else:
History does not change. But archeology can bring information to light that corrects our view of history.
So if the Wailing Wall is not what we have thought it, how do we deal with that issue in our modern world?
M. Demetrius Abicio
(David Wills)
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Maybe I misunderstood the story. It thought it said that the coins were dated AFTER Herod.
I guess Herod could have begun assembling raw materials or something, as was often the habit (then and now) for a big construction project.
I'll go back and reread it to see if I'm on anything like the right track. (exit M. Dem, stage right)
M. Demetrius Abicio
(David Wills)
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Quote:But archaeologists with the Israel Antiquities Authority now say diggers have found coins underneath the massive foundation stones of the compound's Western Wall that were stamped by a Roman proconsul 20 years after Herod's death.
(from the article)
Further stated is that this expansion was only finished in about 50AD. Maybe Josephus was right after all. Hmm. The mind rustily grinds its gears.
M. Demetrius Abicio
(David Wills)
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I think that even if the wailing wall was built after 17 AD, it still will be seen as the wailing wall because the destruction of the Herodian Temple by the Romans was about 20 years after the wall was finished... And that is one of the main reasons why the people wail at the wall....
M.VIB.M.
Bushido wa watashi no shuukyou de gozaru.
Katte Kabuto no O wo shimeyo!
H.J.Vrielink.
