this is a particolar kit of blades that i did.One very strange observation that I do is this:
if we look for example the catalogue of the Vindonissa museum there are some repert of traditional pugiones(whit metallic handle) and a lot,realli a lot of pugio blades whit tang.the relation is 1 on 5 maeby more...but why in the reenacment only a few of roman reenactors like use the pugio whit this kind of handle? why everybody use the traditional pugio whit metallic handle?
Yes, I remember seeing a picture of a pugio with a bone guard and hilt in some museum and it was interpreted that it was wrongly assembled, meaning that the handle parts were taken fom a gladius...
On the matter of the pugio elements from Vindonissa, Unz and Dreschler-Erb's catalogue lists twelve full or fragmentary sheaths; fourteen blades, at least eleven of which have or show evidence of having rod tangs and at least one of which shows evidence of having had a flat tang; sixteen grip plates and three unattached type 'B' suspension rings. One of the blades has a wooden gladius grip and a flattish cross guard, which appears to be the copper-alloy striker plate from a Mainz type sword, fitted over its tang but there is no reason to think that this was anything other than a replacement for a damaged or lost handle.
There is another pugio from London (presently in the Museum of London) which has a turned wooden handle. This may have been its original handle but then again it could easily be a replacement for a lost or damaged handle. It has no surviving guard, although a gap between the bottom of the turned grip and the top of the blade suggests there may have been one at the time the wooden grip was fitted. There are some grounds for believing that the type 'II' (rod) tang, despite becoming dominant, was not as good at retaining its handle than the flat type 'I' tang, so replacement handles may not have been an uncommon sight.
The Herculaneum soldier's dagger does show that we should not make too many assumptions about these things, but then again, to my eyes it looks suspiciously like a cut down Mainz type sword and may have been a broken sword which was reshaped and pressed back into service in the role of a pugio.
Crispvs
Who is called \'\'Paul\'\' by no-one other than his wife, parents and brothers. :!: <img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_exclaim.gif" alt=":!:" title="Exclamation" />:!:
It is always possible, but the overall state of the evidence would tend to suggest not. All the iconographic evidence both from sculpture and coins shows the normal handle shape, with guard, central expansion and pommel expansion. Apart from the three examples above, all pugiones which have been found with their handles have had handles of the normal type and unattached iron grip plates are well represented in the archaeological record.
The three examples above are all unusual in their own ways. One appears to be a broken sword which has been reused, one has a handle made up from old parts from a Mainz type sword and the other appears to have had a handle of unusual type specially made for it. A handle like the London one could well have been used on a variety of tools and it is therefore possible that it was a handle which had been made for something else and then pressed into service to return a damaged pugio to a state of usefulness.
Therefore I think that the vast majority of pugiones would have had normally shaped handles but that there would have been a few around at any one time with replacement handles, although I think most of those would have looked pretty 'rough a ready'.
You've made a very nice job of your pieces by the way. What did you make the handles from? If it was bone you MUST tell me where you get those bones from!
Crispvs
Who is called \'\'Paul\'\' by no-one other than his wife, parents and brothers. :!: <img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_exclaim.gif" alt=":!:" title="Exclamation" />:!:
Crispvs like always your intervent are very important and educative for all the serious reenactors!
only the handle is bone,guard and grip are from this very good material that called ivory of reindeer and I take online from a italian shop (that can ship everywhere) the website is
Hi Crispvs,
Your assumption of broken blades and reused is very good.
In every age swords or long knives broken have been reused for knives so I guess there is also the possibility that some gladi were turned into pugio.
The metal was very valuable and often reused. Especially after the war (I speak now to the modern era) many knives were made with swords or bayonets broken so I suppose that some of the pugio was done with blades broken ... of course this is just my guess because I know modern blades but not reused Roman blades ...
I've commissioned a Mainz-handled pugio from Mark Morrow. This is mainly because I want my late-Republican kit to look different (same thing for the scale shoulder doublers I'm making for my hamata). It's modeled on the Herculaneum soldier's pugio.
As a suggestion (and considering the poor state of preservation of the Herculaneum pugio), in line with my comments above, if I were you I would have it made so that it looked specifically like a sword blade which had been refashioned into a shorter blade, rather than any of the normal pugio blade styles. This would both justify the use of a Mainz type handle and provide a potentially very stimulating talking point.
I you do do this, I would suggest putting it in a frame type sheath, constructed like the Exeter sheath but slightly wider to accommodate the larger blade. This would get around the problem the blade being both too short for a Mainz type scabbard and too wide for a type 'A' or 'B' pugio sheath.
Crispvs
Who is called \'\'Paul\'\' by no-one other than his wife, parents and brothers. :!: <img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_exclaim.gif" alt=":!:" title="Exclamation" />:!:
Sorry that I am in no position to check my sources but if i remember correctly, all the pugio blades from 3th century of the so-called "Kunzing hoard" had rat tail tangs!?
I believe that is correct. The flat tang seems to have dropped out of use after the mid-first century AD, being wholly replaced by the rod tang.
Crispvs
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![[Image: fectio.png]](http://s226.photobucket.com/user/sattuviitana/media/fectio.png.html)
