02-29-2004, 05:16 PM
There are several hispaniensis scabbards with only 2 rings at the back edge: Delos, first of all, shown in Bishop and Coulston among other places. Volume 8 of JRMES shows others, such as La Osera and probably Alfaro (those are pretty fragmentary). The clincher is that the Spanish predecessors all have 2 rings, and the loops that hold them don't go all the way around the scabbard. The earliest ones are actually Gallic imports complete with the metal loop on the back of the scabbard for the sword belt, but the Spanish have ignored that to add their rings.<br>
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At some point the Romans switched to the 4-ring method. My guess is that this started somewhere around Caesar's time, since Augustan examples have 4 rings. We just don't have much evidence from the late 2nd century BC, but the Altar of Domitius Ahenobarbus clearly shows the sword hanging at an angle--exactly what you get with the 2-ring method. With 4 rings, it hangs vertically.<br>
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Mind you, there aren't many surviving scabbards at all! But those that are intact enough to interpret seem to be pretty consistent.<br>
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Vale,<br>
<br>
Matthew/Quintus <p></p><i></i>
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At some point the Romans switched to the 4-ring method. My guess is that this started somewhere around Caesar's time, since Augustan examples have 4 rings. We just don't have much evidence from the late 2nd century BC, but the Altar of Domitius Ahenobarbus clearly shows the sword hanging at an angle--exactly what you get with the 2-ring method. With 4 rings, it hangs vertically.<br>
<br>
Mind you, there aren't many surviving scabbards at all! But those that are intact enough to interpret seem to be pretty consistent.<br>
<br>
Vale,<br>
<br>
Matthew/Quintus <p></p><i></i>
