09-04-2007, 08:41 PM
In your discussion of whether the pugio continued in use through the 2nd Century, I have read that as well and have this thought on the subject. At one point, American troops frequently carried large knives int combat but then generally stopped doing so. They began to do so again during the jungle fighting in WWII but not elsewhere as I understand it. There were no particular rules on the subject, it was just a matter of taste and fashion. I suspect that this may play a larger factor in otherwise unexplainable military trends than we tend to want to believe. THe military can be just as fashion-oriented as any other group.
