02-03-2015, 02:34 AM
I've seen this type of sword before in art, but I don't know of any extant (actual) specimens. Here is fresco of Perseus from Villa San Marco in Stabiae. I have heard this type of sword was called a "harpē." I don't have a good source for that name. In fact, I think I read it on RAT!
UPDATE: A sword of this type is explicitly described as being used by Perseus in Achilles Tatius's "The Adventures of Leucippe and Clitophon" (Book III). Check it at http://books.google.com/books?id=szH1UVB...le&f=false. I also added a second fresco.
UPDATE: A sword of this type is explicitly described as being used by Perseus in Achilles Tatius's "The Adventures of Leucippe and Clitophon" (Book III). Check it at http://books.google.com/books?id=szH1UVB...le&f=false. I also added a second fresco.
