08-23-2012, 04:55 PM
I recently came across mentions of the Es-Soumaa gladius, recovered in a Numidian princely tomb, excavated, from what I can tell, by F. Bonnel in 1915. Those who describe the gladius (largely, G. Ulbert and Th. Gerresheim e.a. in a German catalog for an exposition about ancient Numidia, in 1979-1980) accept it as a Roman republican gladius.
However, while the sword makes a token appearances in the footnotes of Feugère and Sanz Quésada, other works, such as those in the Osprey series (e.g. N. Fields, Roman Republican Legionary 298-105 B.C.) or the work of Bishop and Coulston do not mention it at all, referring instead to the Delios and Smihel weapons as the oldest types of republican gladii.
So I was wondering whether there is a reason not to include the Es-Soumaa example. It's find context is Numidian, but as Ulbert argues, the influence of Rome on Numidia was strong at the time the tomb was built, which coincides with the fall of Carthage and Numantia. It is however rather shorter than the Delos or Smihel swords - these are in excess of 62 cm (the Delos one seems to me to be rather a Spatha, though I'm no expert), while the Es-Soumaa sword reached ca. 55 cm.
Also, I was wondering whether anyone has any good pictures of the Es-Soumaa sword. I own the catalog mentioned above (H.G. Horn, Ch. B. Rüger, die Numidier, Bonn 1979), which incidentally mentions that the sword had two blood-grooves, and I wanted to confirm whether the authors mean two on each side, or two in total (one on each side).
Many thanks!
However, while the sword makes a token appearances in the footnotes of Feugère and Sanz Quésada, other works, such as those in the Osprey series (e.g. N. Fields, Roman Republican Legionary 298-105 B.C.) or the work of Bishop and Coulston do not mention it at all, referring instead to the Delios and Smihel weapons as the oldest types of republican gladii.
So I was wondering whether there is a reason not to include the Es-Soumaa example. It's find context is Numidian, but as Ulbert argues, the influence of Rome on Numidia was strong at the time the tomb was built, which coincides with the fall of Carthage and Numantia. It is however rather shorter than the Delos or Smihel swords - these are in excess of 62 cm (the Delos one seems to me to be rather a Spatha, though I'm no expert), while the Es-Soumaa sword reached ca. 55 cm.
Also, I was wondering whether anyone has any good pictures of the Es-Soumaa sword. I own the catalog mentioned above (H.G. Horn, Ch. B. Rüger, die Numidier, Bonn 1979), which incidentally mentions that the sword had two blood-grooves, and I wanted to confirm whether the authors mean two on each side, or two in total (one on each side).
Many thanks!
M. Caecilius M.f. Maxentius - Max C.
Qui vincit non est victor nisi victus fatetur
- Q. Ennius, Annales, Frag. XXXI, 493
Secretary of the Ricciacus Frënn (http://www.ricciacus.lu/)
Qui vincit non est victor nisi victus fatetur
- Q. Ennius, Annales, Frag. XXXI, 493
Secretary of the Ricciacus Frënn (http://www.ricciacus.lu/)