Vindonissa Pugio

[Primvs Pavlvs]

I have several photos of Pugio blades from Vindonissa that I have taken on several trips there.

One thing that I have noticed is the small size of the blades, and handles compared to reconstructions or other extant pugios I have seen.

Is this just me or are they really small compared to others?

[John M McDermott]

Can we see the pictures?

[Crispvs]

The pugiones from Vindonissa vary considerably in size. The biggest I am aware of has a blade around 26cm long, which is about 10 1/4 inches. The smallest, by comparison, has a blade only about 17cm (a little under seven inches) long, which is indeed extremely small.

Here is another of the smaller ones:

Actually Primvs, I think it may have been you who sent me this photo.

Regarding handles, most modern reconstructions are somewhat larger than the originals.

Crispvs

[Primvs Pavlvs]

John here are a couple more shots.

I own the Vindonissa catalog, and there is no mention of dimensions which is upsetting.


Yes I did send you that pic, its strange for sure.


The ones I have paid particular attention to there all seem to be made for very small hands. I know that one particular piece I laid my hand on the glass a mear 10 inches away and my hand covered the entire grip.

[Virilis]

Amazing! A pugio with a grip like gladius! Does the grip really belong to the blade here!?

[Crispvs]

Probably not. It is the only pugio I am aware of with a sword grip rather than a more normal dagger handle, apart possibly from one from London which has a turned wooden handle. It is generally supposed that both of these handles were replacments for lost handles. A pugio without a grip is next to useless. The addition of any sort of replacement grip, even if it was not the right sort, strictly speaking, would make the pugio usable again.

Primvs,

The Vindonissa catalogue does contain some dimentions in the descriptions in the first part of the book, but in any case, every page demonstrates its scale with a little note at the bottom to state that the drawings on the page are 1:2, 2:3, 1:3 etc, which allows you to work out what the actual size should be. Thus (for example) if a drawing is two inches long and the scale is listed as 2:3, the actual object would be three inches long.

I hope this helps. Thanks for putting up the other two photographs.

Crispvs