04-14-2006, 06:44 PM
Just echoing Matthew's statements here.
In art history literature this type of parallel bladed sword, particularly with the wide or elaborate hilt is usually called a parazonium.
Whether that was what the ancients called it I honestly don't know.
A great many of these terms are mined from literary sources and applied to objects in art by art historians since the Renaissance.
For example, there is a reference in Vitruvius that all temples to Fortuna are round. Art Historians since the Renaissance then applied the name of Fortuna to all round temples, an egregrious illogical reversal of Virtruvius' statement even if one accepts it at face value.
Whether we should be using this term to describe the officer's sword is debatable, but it is the term, and although it may be arbitrary this is the accepted term.
It's like terms "Gothic" What exactly does architecture of the 12th-15th C. have to do with 4-6th C. germanic peoples? Nothing, but the term is here to stay.
Rather than debating the terms, let's debate the object.
What is the officer's sword in Roman sculpture? Why is it usually held in the left arm instead of on a baldric? It is clearly associated with late hellenistic examples. What is it's lineage?
In art history literature this type of parallel bladed sword, particularly with the wide or elaborate hilt is usually called a parazonium.
Whether that was what the ancients called it I honestly don't know.
A great many of these terms are mined from literary sources and applied to objects in art by art historians since the Renaissance.
For example, there is a reference in Vitruvius that all temples to Fortuna are round. Art Historians since the Renaissance then applied the name of Fortuna to all round temples, an egregrious illogical reversal of Virtruvius' statement even if one accepts it at face value.
Whether we should be using this term to describe the officer's sword is debatable, but it is the term, and although it may be arbitrary this is the accepted term.
It's like terms "Gothic" What exactly does architecture of the 12th-15th C. have to do with 4-6th C. germanic peoples? Nothing, but the term is here to stay.
Rather than debating the terms, let's debate the object.
What is the officer's sword in Roman sculpture? Why is it usually held in the left arm instead of on a baldric? It is clearly associated with late hellenistic examples. What is it's lineage?
Theodoros of Smyrna (Byzantine name)
aka Travis Lee Clark (21st C. American name)
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aka Travis Lee Clark (21st C. American name)
Moderator, RAT
Rules for RAT:
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Oh! and the Toledo helmet .... oh hell, forget it. :? <img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_confused.gif" alt=":?" title="Confused" />:?
