Photos of how to attach pugio

[A_Volpe]

In a related sense, there was a discussion some years ago about a pommel terminal/end of a Gladius that appeared to look like it had a ring or a few rings attached to it...There was some heated discussion about what purpose it served, and one thought was maybe it was a means to attach a 'travel tie' or something like a sabre-knot / sword-knot to loop around the wrist to prevent the chance of dropping or otherwise losing one's gladius. It was an interesting theory, but a theory.

Not long after that post, I had been thinking, what if this pommel ring is itself the decoration, and provided no other function?

I tend to be reminded of the small rings on the halberds of the Swiss Papal Guard, and rings on khakkhara / 'sounding poles' in Buddhist contexts. Maybe one of those "ward off evil spirits" sort of concepts?

I wonder then if what we're seeing with these un-used rings on scabbards is if the rings themselves ARE the decorations, hold-overs from when all 4 rings were once used, but (the lower set) had since become decoration / jingly-jangly-things, as the pugio appears to be sufficiently supported by only the top rings.

For years I've used the old, too-thick rings from my Deepeeka pugio scabbard slung by a leather thong from the lower rings as extra jingly-jangly-things decoration. Although I [didn't] have solid supportive evidence, it was a theoretical idea and sort of my own flair. Since I'm in the middle of replacing the scabbard with a home-made metal-framed, leather covered wood core replacement, I'll omit this string of loose rings.

It continues to point me to a conclusion that maybe the 1st Century Romans had some really unique decoration / bling things that we only see in the 1st century - rings, dangly belt strips, leather strips / fringe on things like shield covers and commachio style bags. Doesn't seem to make sense to us now, as we keep trying to make "practical" or "functional" sense from these things, so maybe try to look at it from a different angle.