How To.. wear the Pugio and Gladius (belts, fasteners)

[Crispvs]

Jos,

Thanks for posting up your pictures.

Firstly, your sword suspension. I think your method works well and is certainly possible. There are quite a number of sculptural depictions of Roman solders where the sword scabbards' suspension rings are not visible and it is certainly a possibility that they are intended to be understood to have been drawn back in much the same way that your suspension system does. Therefore, I think that it is certainly a possible solution to at least one way that the Romans may have suspended their swords. Well done.

Secondly, your dagger suspension. The above comments do not really apply to pugio suspension. There are no sculptural depictions of pugiones which show or suggest the lower suspension rings being connected to suspension straps and this is borne out by the evidence of excavated examples, as I have pointed out a number of times already in this thread.
There is also no evidence to suggest pugiones being carried on short straps connected to widely spaced frogs which caused them to hang below the line of the belt. This is a modern convention and finds no support in contemporary depictions. A quick look through the imagebase will demonstrate that pugio sheaths are consistently shown with the upper suspension rings in line with and often touching both frog buttons. No suspension straps are shown and there is no space for such straps in any case. Frog plates are also shown much closer together than most modern re-enactors place theirs. In all likelihood, they were attached to the sheaths' suspension rings with tightly tied leather thongs, but certainly not short straps as usually depicted these days, although a strap or lace passing between the frogs and through the upper suspension rings is also possible.
It is also worth noting that where sometimes in sculptural depictions sword scabbards' suspension rings are not visible and may be intended, as suggested above, to be understood to be drawn back by their own suspension straps, the rings of the pugio sheaths have been very carefully depicted, showing that they have not been drawn back and that the lower rings are very definitely hanging free and unused.

In short then, while you are to be rightly congratulated on your suggestion for the sword suggestion, the same method cannot be right for the dagger. Why the Romans would do things differently for each weapon is beyond me - they just did and unfortunately we have to acknowledge that. :wink:

Crispvs