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Does this
Roman mosaic from the mid-3rd century AD (Archaeological Museum of Sousse, Tunisia) represent a proper sabre or was the artist simply running out of space to show a straight-bladed sword?
Stefan (Literary references to the discussed topics are always appreciated.)
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You mean unless there are other examples of Roman sabres we should discount the mosaic depiction as a visual distortion?
Stefan (Literary references to the discussed topics are always appreciated.)
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They are hunters ("venatores") as can be also seen from the lion the third guy has on its shirt as well as the game partly depicted below (for a full view, see
https://penelope.uchicago.edu/~grout/enc...tores.html). Though, after having a closer look, they are supposed to be hunters in the arena, so kind of gladiators too.
Stefan (Literary references to the discussed topics are always appreciated.)
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Yes, I only meant to imply that curved Roman swords are not totally unknown. I wasn't suggesting that they are actually gladiators.
- Harry
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I also think it's one of the gladiator swords