Pugio Database Structure

[Crispvs]

I would be the first to admit that I do not know anything about databases, but could the pugio database not be arranged in much the same way as the tombstone imagebase, so that there could be different search criteria. On the imagebase one search criterion is selected and all stelae to which it applies come up.

Thus criteria could be on the basis of (for example:

BLADE TYPE
- type A
- type B
- type C

TANG
- frame tang
- rod tang

GRIP
- thin organic inner plates with triangular section metal grip plates
- thicker organic inner plates covered by thin iron 'skin' either in two pieces or one piece folded over
- fully oganic grip

Etc, etc...

Thus, only one catagory could be selected so if, for instance, you searched on blade type you could not search on any other catagory at the same time. Within blade type you would specify a type, for instance type 'B'. Any dagger which was listed as having a type 'B' blade would come up, regardless of what type of tang, or grip plates it had.
This would be in the same way that on the imagebase if you select 'Legio XIIII GMV' from the 'Unit' catagory all Legio XIIII stelae would come up but if you selected 'full figure' from the relevant catagory all full figure depictions would come up, regardless of unit.

Could the pugio database not be realised like this?

If so, we can apply full descriptions and classifications to each piece, and any defined feature could act as a search criterion. I do not think that search criteria based purely on one thing, for instance sheaths as Martin suggested, would be nearly as satisfactory as the ability to effectively search both up and down and accross.

As has already been pointed out pugiones can get complicated quite quickly. To use the notation Cesar gave us above, my pugio would be 1A2B1, 2A1B3?, 3A3B2C2. Interesting (and quite useful) as a system of notation but much too complicated to use as a search tool. We need a large number of easily understood search criteria which can all be used independently of the others.

On another front, one thing I think we need to agree early on is the nomenclature for the various elements of pugiones, in order to organise our descriptions and search criteria. I find that writers use terms such as 'suspension ring' in too many different ways, and I believe strongly that we need to accurately define what we will be describing. Thus, for instance, in the terms I would normally use, a suspension ring is the part of the sheath which connects directly to the leather pieces on the dagger frogs, whether it is round or of type 'B' shape. Its function dictates its name. A suspension loop, on the other hand, I would define as the piece of metal which passes through the suspension ring (in type A suspension) and is attached at both ends to the body of the the sheath itself.
I have a drawing of the three sheath types on which I have noted the name of each element, which I could try to get scanned so I could post it up to see what you think. I will try to do this in the next couple of days.

Crispvs