Hilt decoration

[Anonymous]

I was wondering about brass hilt decoration for my gladius under construction. Since most reproductions seem to carry non at all, one might think there wasn't any. But there are a few finds which make me belief there was, the pommel cladding (my previous post) for example.<br>
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On the Armamentarium site, you can see a reconstruction of the 'Sword of Tiberius', on that hilt there is a decoration of what seems like a row of nails with domed heads and also a strip of brass around the guard. Is there any evidence for a decoration like this or is it a fantasy from the builder?<br>
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As always, your thoughts will be highly appreciated!<br>
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Greetings,<br>
<br>
Jurgen/Quintilianus <p></p><i></i>

[Lucius Aurelius Metellus]

Hi Quintilianus,<br>
I will try to help you as best as I am able. I am not an early period Roman soldier, I portray a fifth century Roman, so I'm no expert on gladii, but I HAVE seen pommels of some Roman spathae decorated with what appear to be little studs or nails. I cannot be sure which, because the illustration is a black and white archaelogical drawing from Bishop & Coulston, but it shows at least two such swords embellished in this manner. Also, I don't know exactly how accurate the Deepeeka spatha is, but they have a spatha which has a bone hilt, grip, and pommel, and the hilt and pommel seem to be seperated from the bone grip by brass or bronze spacers, which makes for a very attractive grip. Of course as I stated, these are all spathas, but I would imagine such decoration could easily have been applied to gladii as well, since many of the hilt styles for the gladius and spatha were almost identical.<br>
I hope this will help you out! <p>Lucius Aurelius Metellus, miles gregarius, Secunda Brittanica</p><i></i>

[Anonymous]

Thanks, Lucius!<br>
<br>
Jurgen/Quintilianus <p></p><i></i>

[Lucius Aurelius Metellus]

You are most welcome! I hope it helped you some. Oh, I also forgot to mention in my earlier post that the studs or nails on these hilts and pommels shown in Bishop & Coulston are arranged in patterns of some type, like circles and such, they do not appear to be just randomly arranged. Good luck with your project! Post some pics for us to see when you finish! <p>Lucius Aurelius Metellus, miles gregarius, Secunda Brittanica</p><i></i>

[Anonymous]

Sure thing, Lucius! Need to get that B & C book!<br>
<br>
Greets,<br>
<br>
Jurgen/Quintilianus <p></p><i></i>

[Anonymous]

Firstly, on that hilt, yes, essentially it is fantasy. It was made for one of our ex-members by Brian Stobbs, a very talented armourer. Unfortunately Brian often adds extra bits to his work based on is own conjecture, like the added decor on this piece.<br>
However, i do believe that similar practices may well have been taking place. You only have to look at much better preserved hilt assemblies from beyond the frontier areas (esp Denmark) to gain an idea of how those used within imperial frontiers may have appeared when new. Even so, i would still be tempted where possible to only rely on firm evidence from a single find or area, rather than producing a composite of evidence. <p></p><i></i>

[aitor iriarte]

And, in any case, don't forget that all those hilts from Danish bogs are Third century AD in date and could be far-fetched to suppose that similar hilts were made during First an Second century...<br>
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Aitor <p></p><i></i>