Gladius and Scabbard

Object/Artifact

Trimontium Museum

Name/Title

Entry/Object ID

L.2021.3

Description

Gladius of the Pompeian type with scabbard. Singular copy of the 1971/72 find from Mainz (Germany). Punched ownership inscription (highlighted in white) which allows direct attribution of the sword to Centurion Caius Valerius Primi

Use

This sword would have been used for warfare purposes, both offensively and defensively.

Context

This would have been the sword types used by the Roman Legionaries, differing from the auxiliary forces which carried the longer Spatha swords.

Collection

HvG

Acquisition

Source (if not Accessioned)

Holger von Grawert

Notes

Loan

Ethnography

Cultural Region

Continent

Europe

Culture/Tribe

Roman

Inscription/Signature/Marks

Type

Signature

Location

On the blade of the sword, near the hilt

Transcription

Centurion Caius Valerius Primi

Language

Latin

Translation

Name of the sword's owner

Material/Technique

carved

Lexicon

Nomenclature 4.0

Nomenclature Secondary Object Term

Gladius

Nomenclature Primary Object Term

Sword

Nomenclature Sub-Class

Edged Weapons

Nomenclature Class

Armaments

Nomenclature Category

Category 05: Tools & Equipment for Science & Technology

Getty AAT

Concept

swords

Materials

Material

Fibreglass, Iron, Bone

Material Notes

Coloured fibreglass

Color

Black, Brown, Gold, White

Condition

Overall Condition

Good

Provenance

Notes

Copy of the original – executed in the 1980s by A Guttmann’s restorer H. Born in Berlin. Gift to an Austrian friend of A Guttmann – subsequently sold at auction in 2012

Exhibition

Permanent Exhibition