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Pugio
Last Updated: 3-15-08
Galea, Lorica: Segmentata, Lorica: Hamata, Tunica, Subarmalis, Balteus, Gladius, Pugio, Caligae, Marching Pack, Tools, Cold Weather Gear
The legionary's side arm, the dagger or pugio. Believed to be of Spanish ancestry, the pugio did not become
widespread until the first century BC.
Two different types of tang and three different types of blade have been discovered so far. The first type of tang
is flat and riveted to the blade, characteristically with two rivets through the pommel, one through the central expansion,
and two or more through the handguard. The second type , the rod tang, the rivets do not actually pass through the blade
or tang;many of these daggers are either fournd without handles or with replacement wooden ones fitted.
The type A blade is broad with a simple midrib, whilst type B has deep grooves on either side of the midrib, a pronounced
waist, and a long tapering point. Type C dagger blades are much narrower than either of the other two variants, and
are also comparatively straight-edged.
Two different types of sheaths. Type A was made of two plates of iron joined at the edges and lined with wood,
the front plate being inlaid with brass, silver, niello, or enamel. The four suspension rings were usually free to move,
attached to the sheath by fine copper-alloy loops. Type B sheaths were made of organic materials (probably leather and
wood) with a near-flat decorated iron plate attached to the front, with tow lugs on either side through the rivets securing
the suspension loops passed.
(Information on tang, blades, and sheaths from Roman military Equipment by Bishop and Coulston.)
There are three different types of pugio out there that are acceptable for the era Legio VI recreates. These are
the Titelburg, plain pugio found on the Rhine at Mainz, and Vindonissa.
Titelburg:
The Titelburg is believed to be of a Republican
era design and has a type B sheath, both organic (leather covered wood frame) and metal. It also has one other
identifing component, it only has three suspension rings instead of four. The pugio shown here is from Soul of the Warrior, and features a type A tang and a type B blade. ***(Please note that this
a recreation of how it was found and not how it would have looked in Roman times. The big differences are that it would
have had four suspension rings and made of iron not brass. )***
Vindonissa:
The sheath of the Vindonissa is a type B with orgainc (leather over a wooden frame) and metal which in this case is
a thin metal sheet attached over the top. The picture below is a Deepeeka pugio carried by and Deepeeka distributor.
This particular pugio is a type A sheath with a type A tang and type B blade.
Plain Pugio:
This type of pugio was found on the Rhine near Mainz, Germany. The pugio pictured below is a Deepeeka pugio sold
by any Deepeeka distributor. It features a type A sheath with two thin sheets of metal over a wooden core and
a type A tang and type B blade.
There is a fourth pugio that is acceptable to Legio VI but is less accurate than the three above. This pugio is
the Deepeeka AH3264E. It is basicly the same as the plain pugio but the AH3264E has four brass plates riveted on the
front. This is inaccurate due to the fact that no archealogical evidence has been found to support this. The ones
that this pugio is based on had the decoration inlaid in the sheath. The picture below shows all for pugios with the
Deepeeka AH3264E on the far right.
Suppliers:
Manning Imperial in Australia makes a good pugio, just be sure to specify steel instead of brass
for the hilt and scabbard.
Mark Morrow makes three types of excellent pugio blades: “Diamond Bladed”
with no mid-rib, a plain mid-ribbed pugio, and a fullered type B blade. Mark will hilt it for you, or he will supply
you with the stamped hilt plates and you can hilt it yourself.
Matt Lukes is your best bet for a custom scabbard if you order a blade
from Mark Morrow. You can contact Matt through the Marketplace section of RAT.
Deepeeka makes the best off the shelf pugios out there. Remember all Deepeeka products can be purchased through
Soul of the Warrior.
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