So what else do I do with my Pugio

[Crispvs]

Sorry to jump in so late here - normally I would have fastened onto anything about pugiones like a bloodhound on a line of freshly spilt blood. I must admit to being quite busy lately.

I agree that the pugio would make a reasonable back-up weapon in combat. The blades could be nearly a foot long, which was probably close to the maximum size which could comfortably be worn whilst also wearing a sword without being so big as to potentially restrict movement, as wearing two swords might have done. The idea that the dagger could be used to parry, rennaissance style, in the place of a lost shield is interesting but I am inclined to think that the loss of the shield would expose the soldier too much to such weapons as spears and slashing swords, which would be difficult to parry effecctively with a pugio. I do think however, that it would be the ideal weapon to be holding when searching bodies for valuables after a battle as the action of searching the body would bring the soldier sufficiently close to the body to make it difficult to bring a gladius to bear should the 'corpse' turn out still to be alive and in the mood for a fight. A pugio would be a much better size to use if a speedy close range dispatch was required.

I do not consider the pugio to have been a utility knife. As has been pointed out above, its size and shape make it unsuitable for most 'utility' tasks. In any case, smaller knives which would certainly be suitable for use as utility knives are far more common finds on Roman sites than daggers are, meaning that it is unlikely that soldiers would often be forced to try to use their daggers for tasks they were not suited to.

As to shaving with a pugio, I find the thought alarming. Believe it or not, I have actually shaved (many years ago) with a sheath knife with an eight inch blade and would not recommend the experience to anyone! As eight inches would be rather small for a pugio I think it unlikely it would ever have been used in this way. In any case, the blade of a pugio is rather too thick to be able to maintain a suitably sharp edge for shaving for very long. In addition, small folding knives are not uncommon finds and it has been suggested that these may be razors.

As to being made from broken gladii, I am not aware of any examples which can be shown to have been made from re-used parts of other weapons, but this is something which would, in all probability, be difficult if not impossible to spot most of the time. I think that it might be possible to make either a type 'A' or type 'C' blade from a larger broken blade, but as I have said, I think that this origin would be extremely difficult to spot and I cannot think of any examples which can be shown to have been made from other weapons. If anyone knows of one please let me know about it, preferably with a picture and provenance.

Crispvs