Gladius suspension methods

[Crispvs]

The Bar Hill pugio handle proves that the daggers probably had a continuous history, but their scarcity during the late first and second centuries makes Scott's discontinuation hypothosis very attractive. The daggers themselves may not have been purely military either. They are shown on the coin issue celebrating the assassination of Caesar in association with a cap of freedom. The assassination was carried out by senators not soldiers and the image of the dagger must have been recognisable to people in the street otherwise it would not have been worth including in the image. It cannot have been specifically military in nature as this would not have suited the conspirators' purpose. I know that the Bar Hill handle comes from two centuries after Caesar but could daggers not have existed continuously in small numbers in civilian society whilst at the same time being banned in the army? We know that soldiers could recieve gifts from their families and perhaps the Bar Hill dagger was one such gift, paid for with a bribe to look the other way. Daggers could easily have been reintroduced from civilian society in the late second or early third century, when a military need for them may again have arisen.<br>
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Crispvs <p></p><i>Edited by: <A HREF=http://pub45.ezboard.com/bromanarmytalk.showUserPublicProfile?gid=crispvs>Crispvs</A> at: 2/26/04 11:56 pm<br></i>