"I also really liked your analysis of the way the grip for the pugiones with the long tangs was constructed, as a scaled down swordgrip."
Of course, Usk 1, which unusually for a pugio with a rod tang retains its original handle, features inlaid iron grip plates of the normal shape. The almost identical ivory handles from Hedderheim and the Walbrook in London are the same basic shape and size as one normally expects for a pugio handle but are solid with one side recessed for a normal iron grip plate and both are drilled from top to bottom to accommodate rod tangs. There is a pugio from Vindonissa with a rod tang and a bone sword grip, but this has been combined with the striker plate from the handle of a Mainz type sword, which is acting as a makeshift guard. This hodge-podge handle is clearly a makeshift replacement for the lost original handle, in order to keep the weapon serviceable. The Walbrook also produced another example of a quick and easy repair in the form of a pugio with a rod tang which had again clearly lost its original handle and had been refitted with a lathe-turned wooden tool handle and lacks any sort of guard, and is directly comparable with the Vindonissa example.
To these examples might possibly be added the Velsen pugio, which had entirely lost its tang, although the presence of a top plate showed the handle had been present when the body was deposited. The complete loss of the tang makes it seem more likely to me that it had a rod tang rather than a frame tang (the narrower rod tang would more quickly be eaten through by whatever corrosive substance was in the well than the wider frame type and fragments of a rod tang might have slipped more easily through the sieve than fragments of a frame tang would) and a drilled organic handle which had completely decomposed by the time of excavation (indeed, this may even have been the source of the corrosion), in a way that even the thin embossed style of grip plate would be unlikely to so comprehensively disappear. No silver inlay wire or enamel was found in the sieving, again suggesting a purely organic handle; presumably wood, as the antler top plate survived. Had there been a sword type grip as seen on the Vindonissa example it would have survived, like the top plate and the soldier's bones (and even part of the sole of one of his boots).
In fact, the only example I can think of where a pugio features a sword type handle as what appears to be an original feature is the huge pugio carried by the Herculaneum soldier. When I went to see the said soldier at the British Museum a year or two back, it was obvious that the pugio's handle was slightly smaller than the sword's handle. Two further observations must accompany this however. Firstly, although the pugio's sheath had clearly been made for it and was not a cut down sword scabbard, the blade was noticeably large for a pugio blade. Secondly, although the handle was slightly smaller than that of the sword, it was still very close in size to the handles on some of the swords found at Pompeii. This leads to the strong possibility that the Herculaneum soldier's pugio was yet another example of Roman recycling and that it may originally have been a broken sword which found a new existence as a rather unusual pugio. It is still within its sheath however, and although parts of it are exposed through holes burned through the sheath by the pyroclastic flow, sadly not enough is visible to see the form of the blade.
Thus with all these examples we see either a) that the rod tangs made use of handles of normal shape, b) that when they had lost their handles they had been repaired with something which came easily to hand which would do the job, or c) that a damaged sword might possibly be reused as a makeshift pugio.
Therefore I do NOT think it likely, as I have said here many times before, that most, or indeed many pugios would have been seen with what amounted to sword handles, no matter how much wishful thinking there is in some quarters that it might have been so.
Crispvs
Of course, Usk 1, which unusually for a pugio with a rod tang retains its original handle, features inlaid iron grip plates of the normal shape. The almost identical ivory handles from Hedderheim and the Walbrook in London are the same basic shape and size as one normally expects for a pugio handle but are solid with one side recessed for a normal iron grip plate and both are drilled from top to bottom to accommodate rod tangs. There is a pugio from Vindonissa with a rod tang and a bone sword grip, but this has been combined with the striker plate from the handle of a Mainz type sword, which is acting as a makeshift guard. This hodge-podge handle is clearly a makeshift replacement for the lost original handle, in order to keep the weapon serviceable. The Walbrook also produced another example of a quick and easy repair in the form of a pugio with a rod tang which had again clearly lost its original handle and had been refitted with a lathe-turned wooden tool handle and lacks any sort of guard, and is directly comparable with the Vindonissa example.
To these examples might possibly be added the Velsen pugio, which had entirely lost its tang, although the presence of a top plate showed the handle had been present when the body was deposited. The complete loss of the tang makes it seem more likely to me that it had a rod tang rather than a frame tang (the narrower rod tang would more quickly be eaten through by whatever corrosive substance was in the well than the wider frame type and fragments of a rod tang might have slipped more easily through the sieve than fragments of a frame tang would) and a drilled organic handle which had completely decomposed by the time of excavation (indeed, this may even have been the source of the corrosion), in a way that even the thin embossed style of grip plate would be unlikely to so comprehensively disappear. No silver inlay wire or enamel was found in the sieving, again suggesting a purely organic handle; presumably wood, as the antler top plate survived. Had there been a sword type grip as seen on the Vindonissa example it would have survived, like the top plate and the soldier's bones (and even part of the sole of one of his boots).
In fact, the only example I can think of where a pugio features a sword type handle as what appears to be an original feature is the huge pugio carried by the Herculaneum soldier. When I went to see the said soldier at the British Museum a year or two back, it was obvious that the pugio's handle was slightly smaller than the sword's handle. Two further observations must accompany this however. Firstly, although the pugio's sheath had clearly been made for it and was not a cut down sword scabbard, the blade was noticeably large for a pugio blade. Secondly, although the handle was slightly smaller than that of the sword, it was still very close in size to the handles on some of the swords found at Pompeii. This leads to the strong possibility that the Herculaneum soldier's pugio was yet another example of Roman recycling and that it may originally have been a broken sword which found a new existence as a rather unusual pugio. It is still within its sheath however, and although parts of it are exposed through holes burned through the sheath by the pyroclastic flow, sadly not enough is visible to see the form of the blade.
Thus with all these examples we see either a) that the rod tangs made use of handles of normal shape, b) that when they had lost their handles they had been repaired with something which came easily to hand which would do the job, or c) that a damaged sword might possibly be reused as a makeshift pugio.
Therefore I do NOT think it likely, as I have said here many times before, that most, or indeed many pugios would have been seen with what amounted to sword handles, no matter how much wishful thinking there is in some quarters that it might have been so.
Crispvs
Who is called \'\'Paul\'\' by no-one other than his wife, parents and brothers. :!: <img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_exclaim.gif" alt=":!:" title="Exclamation" />:!:
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