LOT 0275

Roman Iron Pugio Dagger

CIRCA 3RD CENTURY A.D.

14 1/2 in. (772 grams total including stand, dagger: 343 grams, 37 cm).

Leaf-shaped wide blade with a narrow waist, a thick crossbar and a lozenge-section handle with a double-lobed pommel; accompanied by a custom-made display stand.

Spanish collection, German auction, 1980s.
Ex John Lawton private collection, Surrey, UK.

Accompanied by a copy of a previous illustrated catalogue page, including provenance.
This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.13495-263284.

See Bishop, M.C. & Coulston, J.C.N., Roman military equipment, from the Punic wars to the fall of Rome, London, 1993; Bishop, M. C. & Coulston, J.C.N., Roman military equipment from the Punic Wars to the fall of Rome, London, 2006; Ibañez, F.C., ‘Post Vestigium Exercitus. Militaria romana en la región septentrional de la Península Ibérica durante la época Altoimperial’ in Morillo, A. (ed.), Actas del II Congreso de Arqueología Militar Romana en Hispania. Universidad de León-Ayuntamiento de León, León, 2006, pp.257-308; Casprini, F., Saliola, M., Pugio gladius brevis est, storia e tecnologia del pugnale da guerra romano, Roma, 2012.

This dagger belongs to the last period of evolution of the Roman type III pugio, and to the blade types of the III period, according to the Saliola-Casprini classification (Saliola-Casprini, 2012, nos.45,54). Compared to the previous types of the 1st century A.D., the slender, lanceolate blade shows a considerable size, up to 45 cm long or longer, with a plain appearance and no decoration, even on the scabbard, when preserved.