4th century dagger/knife

[Poftim]

What kind of dagger or knife would Roman soldier stationed in dacia be using during the fourth century? Was the pugio still around? Or was it a decoration/officer's thing?

[lup_alb]

A pugio offcourse The roman gladius and pugio influenced the weaponry in this area until modern times. Take a look at the "kindjal" (Turkish and Georgian) known as "hanger" in Romania. It was used until XIX century.
Those are Georgian kindjals:

[Flavius Promotus]

hock:

They look indeed strangely familiar!

[TITVS SABATINVS AQVILIVS]

hock:

That's when one means long lasting design!

Valete,

[FAVENTIANVS]

That's mine:



But it's typical 4th-5th century from Iberian Peninsula.

Aitor, put yours!

[Magnus]

What was the blade notch for?

[Primvs Pavlvs]

What was the blade notch for?

Bottle Opener!

:wink: Maybe for the forefinger.

[aitor iriarte]

The handles of Simancas type knives are usually too short for the whole hand and the notch is intended for placing your index finger inside, adding more thust to the cutting action. They weren't real weapons, just hunting knives used by the military in Hispania, like similar knives (no ornamented sheath, no notch) in Gaul and the Rhine limes.



Aitor

[FAVENTIANVS]

What was the blade notch for?

Bottle Opener!

:wink: Maybe for the forefinger.

I feel a dejà vu here... :?

[Magnus]

Ahhhhh....cool. So it gives more grip, and doubles as a beer bottle opener. Good thinking! What more does a man need in a knife? (Except a tv remote of course, maybe they can make the handle out of that.)

[Peroni]

I too would like to have a go at reconstructing my own Simancas knife.

My questions are;

1. What are the typical dimensions? they look small :?

2. Were there examples with iron grips or are all known examples brass?

3. Could they have had organic grips (bone/horn/antler?)

I tried to download the .pdf file mentioned elsewhere on RAT written by Aitor, but have had no success. The page is not working now.

[Hugh Fuller]

What was the blade notch for?

Haven't you heard of the "Spanish Notch" on Bowies and other 18th & 19th Century SW American knives? :lol: :lol: :lol:

To see what a "Spanish Notch" looks like on a Bowie Knife, take a look at the "Riverboat Gambler" knives by George Tichbourne at this site:
http://www.tichbourneknives.com/bowies_ ... mshaws.htm

[Ioannes Vandalicus]

please, does anybody have picture or photography of late roman pugio? Did they look really same as older pugios?

or any other sugestion of knife or dagger which could use late roman soldier on Pannonian limes? (or just more east... iberian peninsula and Rhine are too far away from our territory)

[Peroni]

A Saex type knife could easily be used for a more 'Western' soldier I'm sure(?)

The 'pugio' seems to have disappeared from military use in the third century. The last dated finds coming from Coptall Court in London and Kunzing in Germany.