Spatha Scabbard

[Lucius Aurelius Metellus]

Hi Aitor,<br>
Yes, I see it for what it is, now, thanks to your close-up photo. The photo I had was very small, and they appeared to be discs to my eyes, which aren't as good as they used to be! Still, what do you think that could be? Maybe a pattern tooled into the leather covering of the scabbard? I think I will just leave mine plain, but it does have the characteristic "grooves" or "ridges" down its length that you mention many 5th century scabbards had.<br>
I have finished my scabbard, except for the chape which I still have to build, but I found a piece of leather to cover it with that I forgot I had. I went ahead and used the bone slider that I carved, since my measurements were not very much smaller than yours. I dyed the scabbard red last night, and then applied some oil to the leather, which darkened it to a wine-red color. Now all I need is those brass beads for the chape, and a baldric. I found a site which exibits some of the items from the Danish bogs, (It's not Nydam, it's one of the others) that shows some of the 5th century baldrics recovered from the bog, and it shows a couple of reconstruction drawings of them. It seems that they were indeed narrow straps as you mentioned earlier, but these had decorative metal plates on them. Of course, they are Germanic style baldrics, but could the Romans have decorated their narrow baldrics with metal fittings as well, since these are contemporary with the period? <p>Lucius Aurelius Metellus, miles gregarius, Secunda Brittanica</p><i>Edited by: <A HREF=http://p200.ezboard.com/bromanarmytalk.showUserPublicProfile?gid=luciusaureliusmetellus@romanarmytalk>Lucius Aurelius Metellus</A> <IMG HEIGHT=10 WIDTH=10 SRC="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v384/Lucius68/Lucius.jpg" BORDER=0> at: 10/19/04 6:20 pm<br></i>

[Lucius Aurelius Metellus]

Here is the link to the site with the balteus drawings, and the Roman and Germanic swords and weapons recovered from the bog. It is all in Danish (at least I think that is the language), but regardless, the site is still excellent, and the photos, too!<br>
[url=http://www.illerup.dk/deepweb.php?page=150&language=0" target="top]www.illerup.dk/deepweb.php?page=150&language=0[/url] <p>Lucius Aurelius Metellus, miles gregarius, Secunda Brittanica</p><i></i>

[aitor iriarte]

Lucius,<br>
As for the Tetrarchs' scabbards, who knows! I think that perhaps a superimposed grid of metallic bands is portraited, alongside with a central longitudinal band and side 'gutter' edges...<br>
As for the finds in the Illerup valley, yes, the site is in Danish but you can find access to a pair of papers in English and some more in German. All in all, the finds are not 5th century in date but just 3rd century. They mention a very interesting feature: The recovered broad Roman baldrics were not permanently closed, as we've ever thought, but they could be opened and closed by means of a loop and buttons in a way similar to their early Imperial counterparts!!<br>
<br>
Aitor <p></p><i></i>

[FAVENTIANVS]

That's Avitianus spatha:<img src="http://geocities.com/ivarmaelstrom/bodego.JPG" style="border:0;"/><br>
<br>
Now the brass mouth is narrower than appears.<br>
<br>
<img src="http://geocities.com/ivarmaelstrom/spatha1.JPG" style="border:0;"/> <p></p><i>Edited by: <A HREF=http://p200.ezboard.com/bromanarmytalk.showUserPublicProfile?gid=faventianvs>FAVENTIANVS</A> <IMG HEIGHT=10 WIDTH=10 SRC="http://www.myezboard.com/projects/ezboard/ezboard_userimages/romanarmytalk/images/ivariconRAT.jpg" BORDER=0> at: 10/30/04 7:55 pm<br></i>

[Theodosius the Great]

Ave, Aitor.<br>
<br>
Do you know if thin baldrics were used to carry spathas in the 3rd century ?<br>
<br>
Thank you.<br>
-Theo <p></p><i></i>

[aitor iriarte]

Theo,<br>
I really don't know for sure (the third century lies mainly out of my scope) but I understand that all of them were 'broad'...<br>
<br>
Aitor <p></p><i></i>

[Theodosius the Great]

Aitor,<br>
<br>
This is the spatha I'm getting from Deepeeka.<br>
<br>
<br>
<img src="http://www.by-the-sword.com/acatalog/images/ah-2002.JPG" style="border:0;"/><br>
<br>
<br>
Notice the four rings ? Would that suggest that this is a fourth century spatha scabbard ?<br>
<br>
-Theo <p></p><i></i>

[Crispvs]

Theo,<br>
<br>
They have mixed up first and fourth century suspensions, the slider being later and the cross hangers and rings being earlier. If your's turns out to be like this (you never know quite what you are going to get when you order from Dipeeka) then you will need to remove the horizontal cross hangers and rings. Hopefully these are soldered on, rather than rivetted and can be cleaned up by judicious filing. If they are rivetted on, as long as the rivets are at the back you should be able to wear it without too many people noticing. You may find however, that the slider is somewhat loose after the cross hangers have been removed and you may need to bind it on more tightly with linen thread or leather (this is probably how the ancients did it anyway).<br>
<br>
Crispvs <p></p><i></i>

[Lucius Aurelius Metellus]

Here is my sword "<em>Ambrosius</em>" (named after one of my heroes) with its scabbard.The sword is similar to ones from Nydam Bog. I carved the guard and pommel from walnut, and I carved the grip from bone (actually deer antler). The two "bands" of brownish-yellow discoloration at each end of the bone grip are just places where I got a little bit of boiled linseed oil (which is what I finished the walnut with) on the bone. I have since easily removed it with rubbing alcohol, but I forgot to remove it before the photos were taken. The slider is carved from the same piece of antler (it was a BIG deer!), and the chape is similar to Aitor's, but I still need to do some refining work to it before I am happy with it. It does have the three brass orbs attached to the bottom, but in the photos they are "buried" in the deep carpet.<br>
<img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v384/Lucius68/Sword.jpg" style="border:0;"/> <img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v384/Lucius68/Hilt.jpg" style="border:0;"/><br>
<p>Lucius Aurelius Metellus, miles gregarius, Secunda Brittanica</p><i>Edited by: <A HREF=http://p200.ezboard.com/bromanarmytalk.showUserPublicProfile?gid=luciusaureliusmetellus@romanarmytalk>Lucius Aurelius Metellus</A> <IMG HEIGHT=10 WIDTH=10 SRC="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v384/Lucius68/Lucius.jpg" BORDER=0> at: 11/19/04 5:33 pm<br></i>

[Robert Vermaat]

And again -wow.... <p></p><i></i>

[aitor iriarte]

Theo, In fact, it is a third century sword and scabbard with a redundant suspension system, the rings being earlier in date.<br>
Most people in my group use that model, though. They had to remove the rings (I keep some of them hanging at my workshop, like some kind of mementum about human stupidity)<br>
They didn't remove the bands, only the soldered clips with the rings but, as Crispus has pointed out, it would be more accurate to remove them too and tie the slider using string or wire.<br>
Lucius,<br>
A nice sword ! Perhaps the pommel is too big for my taste...<br>
<br>
Aitor <p></p><i></i>

[Theodosius the Great]

Aitor, Crispvs,<br>
<br>
Thank you for your advice.<br>
<br>
I don't know what the scabbard will look like when it comes. As Cripvs said : "You never know what you will get with Deepeeka" .<br>
<br>
Valete.<br>
-Theo<br>
<br>
<p></p><i></i>

[FAVENTIANVS]

Beautiful spatha Lucius, really precious, congratulations.<br>
<br>
do u have an image of it unsheathed? <p></p><i>Edited by: <A HREF=http://p200.ezboard.com/bromanarmytalk.showUserPublicProfile?gid=faventianvs>FAVENTIANVS</A> <IMG HEIGHT=10 WIDTH=10 SRC="http://www.myezboard.com/projects/ezboard/ezboard_userimages/romanarmytalk/images/ivariconRAT.jpg" BORDER=0> at: 11/20/04 11:35 pm<br></i>

[Lucius Aurelius Metellus]

Hello Faventianus,<br>
Thank you so much for your kind words! No, I don't have a photo of the blade unsheathed, but will try to make one soon. I am now about to begin making a baldric for it. When I get the baldric finished, I'll make photos of it along with the bare blade and post here. <p>Lucius Aurelius Metellus, draconarius, Secunda Brittanica</p><i></i>