Dacian Swords (Other than the Falx)

[Paullus Scipio]

Otis wrote:

This misconception is often based on the fact that on Trajan's column, the falx is the most seen Dacian weapon.

Bill wrote:

I think that your idea that the Romans seized on the falx as a convenient visual cue that would identify a person in a work of art as a Dacian, even if that was not their most typical weapon, is a good one.

Aaaarrr....rrr.....gh!! :evil: ....will this myth never die? I am assuming that by "Falx" you are referring to the two-handed, inward curving cutting weapon.
I have been pointing out the following to people for over 30 years now...

1. Both on Trajan's Column and on the Adamklissi monument, three distinct 'ethnic groups' are portrayed, usually identified as Dacians, Sarmations(Rox-Alani) and Bastarnae

2. Neither on the Column, nor on the monument, is a Dacian shown wielding a two-handed Falx, in fact the two-handed Falx is not shown on the Column at all!! ( though the two-handed Falx does appear among the 'trophies' shown life-sized on the Column base, and Decebelus takes his life with a curved knife, and the single-handed 'sica' appears)

3. On the Adamklissi monument, the two handed Falx is used only by the group identified as 'Bastarnae' tribesmen, not by Sarmatians or Dacians.

Conclusion: Dacians almost certainly did not use the two-handed weapon popularly called the 'falx' ( though in another discussion here on RAT about this subject, it was pointed out that one archaeological example was found in a Dacian fort....but there could be many explanations for this.....), based on the iconographic evidence.