Strange gladius

[Teodor]

Hi everyone,
Did you ever see this kind of a blade? https://www.pinterest.com/pin/514465957406271586/
I see this first time and I don't know if it would be original or not. Can you help we with that?

[Youngster]

I've never seen a gladius tapered in that manner. I've also never seen a little rectangular stamp at the bottom of a gladius blade. Also, the proportions look more like a dagger. Finally, I have to say that the pitting on the blade looks very unnatural. It almost looks like resin sculpted as corroded steel. So based on those factors, I'm guessing it's a fake. No source is listed, so I would continue to assume that it's fake until I see a source.

Also note that I have attached the suspect gladius, for ease of future posters.

[john m roberts]

The blade profile looks a bit like some arena swords, especially like that carried by the hoplomachus, which is usually depicted as straight and evenly tapered from hilt to point. But such massive corrosion of the blade whhile leaving the hilt so well preserved seems unlikely. Most likely a fake, but you never know. I'd like to see a metallurgical analysis of the blade and carbon dating of the handle.

[Virilis]

I don`t think it is a fake. It is a semi-spatha from the 3th c. AD.

[M. Val. Naso]

Hilt seems absurdly early for 3rd. c. I would say, IF it is original, could be the reshaped version of a regular gladius, after it bent/broke.

[Decebalus]

I've found the sword in Miks.
I'll do my best translating his catalogue entry for it.

Cat. A482
Findspot: from the Rhine near Mainz-Weisenau
Museum: Mittelrheinisches Landesmuseum, Mainz (Inv. F4070)
Type: Gladius (dagger-form), "triangular"-type, lentil-shaped blade
Measurements:
length overall 556 mm, blade 396 mm long and c. 46 mm broad, tang 160 mm long
pommel: c. 44 x 46 mm
handgrip: c. 26 x 83 mm
handguard: c. 34 x 5 mm
The handle is made of three parts of bone.
According to an older publication there was a copper alloy suspension fitting in band form still with one ring found with the sword but was not mentioned furthermore.
It is not dated.

[AMELIANVS]

Problem is we are not sure what exactly Romans called as "semispatha" and how it really looked.Or did I missed newest research about this?

[Virilis]

We have no idea what the semispatha really was. Vegetius didn`t perhaps mean those short swords from the third c. AD when he was writing in the 4th c. AD. Mark, the grip, guard and pommel is indeed in a style earlier than third c. AD.

[Youngster]

I've found the sword in Miks.
I'll do my best translating his catalogue entry for it.

Cat. A482
Findspot: from the Rhine near Mainz-Weisenau
Museum: Mittelrheinisches Landesmuseum, Mainz (Inv. F4070)
Type: Gladius (dagger-form), "triangular"-type, lentil-shaped blade
Measurements:
length overall 556 mm, blade 396 mm long and c. 46 mm broad, tang 160 mm long
pommel: c. 44 x 46 mm
handgrip: c. 26 x 83 mm
handguard: c. 34 x 5 mm
The handle is made of three parts of bone.
According to an older publication there was a copper alloy suspension fitting in band form still with one ring found with the sword but was not mentioned furthermore.
It is not dated.

Is there a picture with that listing? Can you screen shot it? I reverse image searched it and found that another pin (using the exact same picture) claims that it is an original blade with a reproduction hilt. I'd be more inclined to believe that story. But who knows if it has any basis? I'm still more suspicious of the blade than the hilt. If that blade is original, it must have been cleaned very aggressively to look like it does now.

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/348254983658719216/

[Sextus Saturninus]

It all depends on what conditions the blade was in. For example, a sword excavated in the desert that was buried by the sand for 2000 years would look very different from one found in a bog. This sword could have just been in a circumstance that caused the blade to be that way.

[Youngster]

You raise a valid point, but what concerns me is the very deep pitting without any residual rust. I don't think any natural condition produces that, which is why I think that (if the blade is real) it must be over vigorous cleaning.

Also, if Decebalus is correct, it was found in Germany, wihch has no deserts (not that deserts would produce such a corrision pattern).