Pugio - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The pugio was a dagger

Dagger

A dagger is a fighting knife with a sharp point designed or capable of being used as a thrusting or stabbing weapon. The design dates to human prehistory, and daggers have been used throughout human experience to the modern day in close combat confrontations...

used by Roman

Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....

soldiers as a sidearm. It seems likely that the pugio was intended as an auxiliary weapon, but its exact purpose to the soldier remains unknown for sure. Attempts to identify it as a utility knife are misguided as the form of the pugio is not suited to this purpose and in any case utility knives of a variety of sizes are common finds on Roman military sites, meaning there would be no need for a pugio to be used in this way.
Officials of the empire took to wearing ornate daggers in the performance of their offices, and some would wear concealed daggers as a defense against contingencies. The dagger was a common weapon of assassination and suicide; for example, the conspirators who stabbed Julius Caesar used pugiones.

Usage

Like the gladius

Gladius

Gladius was the Latin word for sword, and is used to represent the primary sword of Ancient Roman soldiers. Early ancient Roman swords were similar to those used by the Greeks. From the 3rd century BC, the Romans adopted swords similar to those used by the Celtiberians and others during the early...

, the pugio was probably a stabbing weapon, the type said to have been preferred by the Romans. Of them, late Roman writer Vegetius

Vegetius

Publius Flavius Vegetius Renatus, commonly referred to simply as Vegetius, was a writer of the Later Roman Empire. Nothing is known of his life or station beyond what he tells us in his two surviving works: Epitoma rei militaris , and the lesser-known Digesta Artis Mulomedicinae, a guide to...

, says:

A stroke with the edges, though made with ever so much force, seldom kills, .... On the contrary, a stab, though it penetrates but two inches, is generally fatal. ... the body is covered while a thrust is given, and the adversary receives the point before he sees the sword. This was the method of fighting principally used by the Romans .....

Vegetius may be overstating this point however, as there are a number of surviving Roman depictions of soldiers slashing with their weapons, as well as stabbing with them. This is shown best on the Adamklissi metopes.

Etymology

Although it is impossible to be really sure, the word pūgiō possibly descends from the Proto-Indo-European

Proto-Indo-European language

The Proto-Indo-European language is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European languages, spoken by the Proto-Indo-Europeans...

root *peuĝ-, "stab, stick." The root is the same as in English pugilist, "boxer." It is still possible to use punch and stab synonymously in many Indo-European languages; hence, Latin pugnus and Greek πυγμή pygmḗ mean "fist." The Smith article cited below proposes that the pugio was the weapon grasped by the fist; however, the Latin word for swordplay was pugna, an exchange of thrusts without the intermediary of fists, although it could also be a fistfight.

Early 1st Century AD

Ultimately the pugio was descended from Spanish originals of a variety of types, but by the early 1st century AD the Roman dagger typically had a large blade, which could be 'leaf-shaped' (type 'A') or which might alternatively have narrowed from the shoulders to run parallel to about half the blade's length, before narrowing to a sharp point (type 'B'). In size they ranged from 18 cm to 28 cm (7 in to 11 in) long and 5 cm (2 in) or more in width. A midrib ran close to the length of each side, either standing out from the face (mainly on type 'A' blades) or sunken and defined by grooves on either side (mainly on type 'B' blades). The tang was wide and flat initially, and the grip was riveted through it, as well as through the shoulders of the blade. The pommel expansion was originally round but by the early 1st century AD this was being replaced by a pommel expansion typically of a bulbous, roughly trapezial shape, often topped by three decorative rivets.

The pugio was accommodated in its own sheath. By the second quarter of the 1st century AD three types of sheath were in use. All of these had four suspension rings and a bulbous terminal expansion which is pierced by a large rivet Both depictional evidence and the evidence of wear patterns on surviving examples show that the two lower rings were unused. The first type (type 'A') was made with a curving metal (normally iron) plate at both front and back, surrounding a wooden 'lining'. The front plate was usually heavily decorated with inlaid brass, silver, niello and red, yellow or green enamel. These sheaths featured round free-running suspension rings, attached by bifurgated mountings which were riveted on. Modern reconstructions of these sheaths which feature applied brass plates attached by rivets are incorrect and nothing of this type has ever been found. This common mistake is derived from a misinterpretation of a line drawing in an archaeological report of an iron type 'A' sheath decorated with silver inlay and decorative rivets. The second type (type 'B') was a wooden sheath, probably covered with leather to the front of which a metal (almost always iron) plate had been attached. This plate was fairly flat and was heavily decorated with inlaid silver (or occasionally tin) and enamel. The suspension rings resembled small Roman military buckles and were hinged to the sides of the sheath. The third type ('frame type') was made of iron and consisted of a pair of curved channels which ran together at the lower end of the sheath, where they were worked into a flattened round terminal expansion. The channels were joined by two horizontal bands at the top and middle of the sheath and these bands also retained the suspension rings, which were round like those of type 'A' sheaths. These sheaths would have been built around a wooden core, which does not survive in the archaeological record.

The two sheaths pictured in the photographs accompanying this article are both incorrect and should not be used as references. There is also no evidence for sheaths being suspended from straps, as shown in the two pictures. Contemporary depictions show sheaths attached directly to military belts, with the upper suspension rings in line with the belt and attached very closely to the buttons of the 'frog plates' worn on the belt, often closely enough to be touching.

According to the Latin dictionaries, such as Lewis & Short, the term first appears in the late republican author, Marcus Tullius Cicero, with reference to the dagger used by Marcus Brutus to stab Julius Caesar

Julius Caesar

Gaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman and a distinguished writer of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the gradual transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....

. Suetonius

Suetonius

Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus, commonly known as Suetonius , was a Roman historian belonging to the equestrian order in the early Imperial era....

confirms that all the conspirators used the pugio on that occasion and some later killed themselves with it. In the pages of Cicero the pugio appears to have been the favored weapon of high-ranking assassination and suicide because it was so easily concealed in the folds of flowing Roman garments.

Later first century and after

Like other items of legionary equipment, the dagger underwent some changes during the 1st century AD. At some time in the first half of the 1st century AD a rod tang was introduced, and the hilt was no longer riveted through the shoulders of the blade. This in itself caused no great change to the pugio's appearance, although the archaeological evidence strongly suggests that the rod tang was less secure and that handles attached in this way could become detached, a possibility that may be proved by the existence of two surviving pugios from different sites which both retain replacement handles, one of which is a recycled sword grip. Some of the blades associated with rod tangs were narrower (under 4.5 cm (1.75 in) wide), with little or no waisting, or reduced or virtually non-existent midribs (type 'C' blades).

Throughout the period the outline of the hilt remained essentially the same. Like the earlier period it was made with two layers of horn, wood or bone sandwiching the tang, each overlaid with a thin iron plate, which could either be solid, becoming thinner at both the guard and the pommel expansion, which was roughly trapezial in shape, or made of thin metal embossed to this shape. The hilt was often decorated with silver inlay. Note that the hilt is 10 cm to 13 cm (4 in - 5 in) long overall and that the grip is quite narrow; it will seem to be too small to many, but the presence of an expansion in the centre of the grip actually provides for a very secure grip.

References to the pugio are more common in the literature of the empire, especially in Tacitus

Tacitus

Publius Cornelius Tacitus was a senator and a historian of the Roman Empire. The surviving portions of his two major works—the Annals and the Histories—examine the reigns of the Roman Emperors Tiberius, Claudius, Nero and those who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors...

and Suetonius

Suetonius

Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus, commonly known as Suetonius , was a Roman historian belonging to the equestrian order in the early Imperial era....

. Tacitus reports that Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo

Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo

Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo was a Roman general and a brother-in-law of the emperor Caligula.-Descent:Corbulo was born in Italy into a senatorial family...

had a soldier executed for not wearing a sword while digging a trench and another for wearing only a pugio in the same activity. This does not mean however, that the pugio was carried universally and a study of 1st century AD figural tombstones reveals that there were certainly soldiers who did not carry the pugio. We do not know whether it was simply an optional weapon or if was issued only to soldiers with certain duties and not to soldiers who were not seen to need it. The evidence of a preserved 1st century AD writing tablet also reveals that some cavalrymen also carried the pugio.

The pugio seems to have been carried much less during the 2nd century AD and when it did reappear in large numbers early in the 3rd century AD, the blades had become much larger and the pommel expansion on the handle had become crescent shaped. These later daggers seem always to have been carried in 'frame type' sheaths.

The pugio became an ornate sidearm of officers and dignitaries as well, a custom reminiscent of the knives after which the Saxons

Saxons

The Saxons were a confederation of Germanic tribes originating on the North German plain. The Saxons earliest known area of settlement is Northern Albingia, an area approximately that of modern Holstein...

were named. These Germanic mercenaries served in the Roman army. The emperors came to wear a dagger to symbolize the power of life and death. The emperor, Vitellius

Vitellius

Vitellius , was Roman Emperor for eight months, from 16 April to 22 December 69. Vitellius was acclaimed Emperor following the quick succession of the previous emperors Galba and Otho, in a year of civil war known as the Year of the Four Emperors...

, attempts to resign his position and offers his dagger to the consul, but it is refused and Vitellius is forced to stay by popular acclaim and the Praetorian guard. Tacitus also relates that a centurion, Sempronius Densus

Sempronius Densus

Sempronius Densus was a centurion in the Praetorian Guard in the 1st century. He was bodyguard to the deputy emperor, and is remembered by history for his courage and loyalty in singlehandedly defending his charge from scores of armed assassins, while all his comrades deserted or switched sides.On...

, of the Praetorian guard drew a dagger to save Lucius Calpurnius Piso Licinianus

Lucius Calpurnius Piso Licinianus

Lucius Calpurnius Piso Frugi Licinianus was a Roman nobleman who lived in the 1st century. Licinianus was one among the sons of consul of 27 Marcus Licinius Crassus Frugi and Scribonia....

momentarily.

Secondary Sources

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PUGIO, article in Smith, Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, online at ancientlibrary.com.
MC Bishop and JCN Coulston - 'Roman Military Equipment (2nd Edition)', Armatura Press, 2006
I. Scott - 'Roman Military Daggers' in 'A Catalogue of Roman Iron Tools, Weapons and Fittings in the British Museum, 1985
J. Obmann - 'Studien zu Roemischen Dolchscheiden des 1. Jahrhunderts n. Chr.', Koelner Studien Zur Archaeologie Der Roemischen Provinzen, 2000

External links