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+---- Thread: 4th Century Spatha Dimensions (/showthread.php?tid=20478)
4th Century Spatha Dimensions - Gerontius - 03-12-2012
Hello all
I am in the happy situation of being owed a sword blade and a helmet by a good armourer here in England. Initially I would like to own an infantry spatha suitable for the mid 4th century and would really appreciate some help with blade dimensions. Is there anywhere I can go for a handy list of archaelogical drawings of swords, or if not can one of you give me some dimesions please (averages would be fine, as I don't intend to recreate a specific sword)? I hope to convince him to pattern weld it too
!!
Re: 4th Century Spatha Dimensions - Gaius Julius Caesar - 03-12-2012
Well, I suppose calling it a handy list is exaggerating, but do you know of anyone who has the Miks books on Roman swords?
Re: 4th Century Spatha Dimensions - Robert Vermaat - 03-12-2012
Quote:I am in the happy situation of being owed a sword blade and a helmet by a good armourer here in England.Lucky you!!
[..]
I hope to convince him to pattern weld it too
hock: Must be a big favour when you think of pattern welding.. I know of a few people here who have the book, if no-one sees this I can make some inquieries.
Re: 4th Century Spatha Dimensions - Gerontius - 03-12-2012
Thanks chaps, I suspect this book is as rare as rocking horse poo and will probably cost more than the blade is worth? I would be very interested in seeing any illustrations from it though.
I swapped another piece of re-enactment kit for the promise of a hat and a blade.
Re: 4th Century Spatha Dimensions - Virilis - 03-12-2012
Hi Gerontius!
As a thumb rule, the blades of the 4th c. AD had no triangular point and diamond cross section of the blade anymore and were usually quite long, about 70-80 cm...
Re: 4th Century Spatha Dimensions - Gaius Julius Caesar - 03-12-2012
They are maybe not rare, but yes they are fairly expensive.
But possibly not as expensive as a pattern welded blade...just!
I have them somewhere, but they are in a box, and I am away shortly or i would take some photos and post.
Sorry I am not helping much here. :oops:
Re: 4th Century Spatha Dimensions - Conal - 03-12-2012
I have the Miks book and also some of the Illerup books. There are a lot of swords in there.
Do you just want a plain generic type of something a little unusual?
Where abouts are you in Somerset? I'm down in Poole, Dorset and would be happy to meet up so you can flick though and I can copy what you fancy and e-mail it to you.
Re: 4th Century Spatha Dimensions - Medicus matt - 03-12-2012
Which culture Mike?
Lots of nice bog deposits to look at, Illerup, Kraghul, Nydam, Ejsbol etc. If you can drag yourself up to Nailsea you can have a browse through the reports.
Re: 4th Century Spatha Dimensions - Gerontius - 03-13-2012
Gaius Julius Caesar wrote
Quote:They are maybe not rare, but yes they are fairly expensive.
But possibly not as expensive as a pattern welded blade...just!
I have them somewhere, but they are in a box, and I am away shortly or i would take some photos and post.
Sorry I am not helping much here.
Any comments or friendly advice a big help Gaius
Conal wrote
Quote:I have the Miks book and also some of the Illerup books. There are a lot of swords in there.
Do you just want a plain generic type of something a little unusual?
Where abouts are you in Somerset? I'm down in Poole, Dorset and would be happy to meet up so you can flick though and I can copy what you fancy and e-mail it to you.
Thanks Conal, I am in North Somerset so not too close but appreciate the offer. Really I just need plain generic average dimensions. I have been down the road of reconstructing actual finds in a slightly later period, and although very rewarding when it goes right, it's not easy to get items made, so I am going for a more generic approach in this period.
Medicus Matt wrote
Quote:Which culture Mike?
Lots of nice bog deposits to look at, Illerup, Kraghul, Nydam, Ejsbol etc. If you can drag yourself up to Nailsea you can have a browse through the reports.
Nailsea is a bit closer to home Matt, thanks for the offer. Not quite clear on which culture, although I have vague ideas of Dobunni, so still Pagan if the mid to late 4th century temples round here are anything to go by. Breaking new ground here for me, so would be good to meet up again, perhaps on Wansdyke or similar, work and family allowing :? .
.
Re: 4th Century Spatha Dimensions - Kai - 03-19-2012
Quote:Thanks chaps, I suspect this book is as rare as rocking horse poo and will probably cost more than the blade is worth?
The book, which actually comes in two volumes, is extremely low-priced for the great extend and wealth of illustrations it offers. It costs less than 140€, while being hard-covered.
If you are interested in swords, you should get it. There is a good reason why this is one of the publisher's best selling offers. Sometimes they have a lot to do in oder to satisfy the demand (when I ordered, it was one of the last books or so and going to be reprinted), because they probably did not expect it to be that well selling.
Imho it is a far better deal than a 140€-blade anyway...
