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THE ROMAN DAGGER: THE PUGIO
The powerful Roman Empire has always fascinated the human race. Screeds
have been written in determining its evolution and trying to analyse the
reasons why it became the greatest global power in history. Without a doubt,
the war was one of the main factors which led to its expansion and it is for
this reason, that military history is one of the main areas historians have
focused their attention on. The gladius or Roman sword, shield, helmet and
dagger or pugio are some of the most popular weapons included in Roman
military equipment. In this case, the weapon which we will focus our
attention on is the pugio.
The Roman pugio is a dagger
that was employed by the Roman legions
The term pugio
derives from the Latin term pugnus meaning fist. The word refers to the
shape of the hand in the closed position necessary to hold this Roman sword.
The origins of the Roman pugio are still the subject of much debate in
historical research; and this is the case mainly due to the lack of
information available.
Trawling for information through ancient texts,
archaeological remains or iconographic documents we find few references to
the Roman pugio and its link to other predecessors. Nonetheless, there are
more and more theories pointing to its Hispanic origins. The immediate
predecessor of the Roman pugio seems to be the so-called double-globular or
Celtiberian bidiscoidal dagger. As early as the end of the 4th century BC
and the beginning of the 3rd century BC there was evidence of the presence
of the Celtiberian dagger on the Iberian Peninsula, however, the Roman pugio
was not documented until the end of the 1st century BC.
Funerary stele
of Quintus Petilius Secundus, first-century military
d. C. The iconography shows a soldier armed with pilum, gladius and pugio (on
your left)
Following this theory, the Romans began to use this dagger as a result of
the Celtiberian Wars which took place on the Iberian Peninsula on the
occasion of the landing of the Romans in the year 218 BC. These battles
extended throughout most of the Hispanic territory and were fought between
the indigenous tribes who inhabited the Peninsula and the Roman army who
were attempting to conquer the territory. During the Sertorian Wars (1st
century BC), with Hispania as one of the main settings, the Romans had begun
to use the dagger. However, it wasn?t until the end of the Republic with the
predominance of Julius Caesar and the beginning of the Empire with Augustus
(coinciding with the turn of the millennium) that the Roman pugio became
more widespread throughout the Empire. The fact that Rome included Roman
auxiliary troops (auxilia) in its army led to cultural contact and the
assimilation of different technologies into the same. The auxiliary troops
were soldiers recruited by Rome from amongst the non-citizen population,
usually from the provinces of the Empire, and even from towns that had not
been subjugated (the barbarian ones).
Recreation battles staged by the Roman army along
the ends of the Mediterranean
The distribution of the Roman pugio was very widespread,
reaching all the confines of the Empire, with a special presence in the area
of the limes, in other words, in the border areas of greatest conflict with
the indigenous populations and which therefore, required greater presence
from Roman military forces. The limes of the Rhine and Danube were
especially significant.
The Roman pugio is a double-bladed dagger with a leaf-shaped blade and a
length exceeding 20cm. Some examples of the pugio have also been found with
a triangular blade especially in the area of the British islands. This was a
weapon that was longer than the Celtiberian dagger, which was around 15cm
long. The blade is covered from one end to the other with a central nerve or
with several which cross the blade in a parallel way offering greater
solidity and consistency to the piece. The morphology of the pugio?s blade
has barely changed over the centuries retaining its "S" shaped profile.
Roman pugio with decorated sheath
As regards the hilt of the pugio,
it has three main morphologies: semi-disc, hoof or hybrid semi-disc. The
hoof handle, also called the Künzing type, as indicated by its name has
a knob in the form of a hoof, a central joint in the shape of a diamond
and hilts that are straight and transversal to the blade. The semi-disc
hilt has a knob in the shape of a semicircle, a central discoidal joint
and a cross. Finally, the hybrid semi-disc hilt displays a proto-discoidal
knob with a circle that doesn?t close. In all cases, its design always
made it easier to grip the dagger or knife preventing it from slipping
during use.
The Roman pugio was kept in scabbards which were
usually richly decorated with metals and precious stones. Originally,
the scabbards were manufactured with a metallic structure covered in
wood and lined with animal skins. However, the scabbards evolved over
time to be manufactured with assorted metal plates such as silver, brass
and tin. The plates which formed the scabbard were often decorated with
engravings and even with incrustations of precious metals. At the
beginning they usually incorporated four rings on both the lower and
upper sections to facilitate fastening to the waist or balteus using
leather straps. However, from the 1st century AD it became harder to
find pugios with four rings, as they tended to only have two on the
upper section.
The seaths that protected the Roman dagger used to be decorated with
inlaid metals such as silver, brass or nickel
Historians have not reached a
consensus as to the function of the Roman pugio. Its strong links to the
world of war are clear, based on the simple fact that it is called pugio
which makes reference to the military field. However, there are some who
believe that the function of the pugio could be merely symbolic, in other
words, it was an element of prestige which indicated the status of the
soldier who carried this sword. This would explain the rich decoration on
its scabbards and handles. However, other researchers believe that the only
function of the pugio was as a weapon for fighting; this dagger was used as
an auxiliary weapon during combat.
The role of the Roman pugio would be mainly
military
Perhaps both opinions have something of truth in them.
The Roman pugio, undoubtedly, would have formed part of the Roman military
equipment, and was therefore assigned a military value. On the other hand,
the fact that these daggers were richly decorated seems to indicate that a
special value was given to the pugio. Furthermore, it was only those who
formed part of the militia who could use this type of weapon, thereby
granting them a distinction compared with the rest of Roman society.
During the 2nd century AD the use of the
Roman pugio amongst the legions started to become less common, however,
throughout the 3rd century AD the pugio made a significant comeback as
demonstrated by different archaeological discoveries such as the Künzing
arms depot (Germany).
Roman pugio with decorated handle and sheath
The arrival of new technology from the so-called ?barbarian? towns led to
the adoption of new types of swords and daggers by Rome such as the so-called
spatha. The Roman spatha is a sword with a long blade (80-100cm) the design
of which responded to the new requirements of the Roman army. Progressively,
in its confrontation with the barbarian towns, war strategies started to
change. Hand-to-hand fighting was replaced by battles on horseback and
combat at a greater distance. Therefore, the blades of swords and daggers
increased in length, making way for the future swords which played a leading
role in medieval fights.
The roman spatha was employed by the Roman legions from the first
century B. C.
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