CHAPTER XIII. THE SWORD AMONGST THE BARBARIANS (EARLY ROMAN EMPIRE). MOST works on Arms and Armour, when treating of Rome, describe the weapons of her European neighbours' upon whom she sharpened the sword of her valour as on a whetstone.' The extent of the subject will here confine me to a general glance, beginning with the Dacians on the east and ending with the British Islands. I must reserve details concerning the Kelts, the Scandinavians, the Slavs, and other northern peoples for Part II., to which they chronologically belong. The Dacians, especially of Dacia Trajana, Hungary, and Transylvania, Moldavia, and Wallachia, are known to us chiefly by the bas-reliefs on the Trajan Column. It was built by that emperor, who, like Hadrian, followed in the footsteps of Divus Cæsar, to commemorate the conquests of A.D. 103-104; and it dates three years before his death in A.D. 114. The Dacian Sword was somewhat sickle-shaped, with an inner edge, like the oldest Greek and its model, the Egyptian Khopsh. A Dacian Sword on the trophy belonging to Dr. Gregorutti, of Papiriano, is a curved sabre without a cross-bar. I have elsewhere noticed the Thracian Sword. Dr. Evans 2 mentions the fragment of a remarkable bronze blade from Grecian Thera; it has a series of small broad-edged axes of gold, in shape like conventional battle-axes, inlaid along the middle between two slightly projecting ribs. The same author, speaking of the beautiful bronze Sword in the Berlin Museum, reported to have been found at Pella in Macedonia, mentions the suspicion that it may belong to the Rhine Valley. 3 Ancient Illyria has transmitted the Roman Gladius to comparatively modern ages. Bosnian tombs of Slavs, Moslem, and Christian, show the short straight thrusting Sword, with simple cross-bar and round pommel. It looks as if it had been copied from some classical coin. The ancient cemetery at Hallstadt in the Salzkammergut, occupied by the Danubian-Keltic Alanni or Norican Taurisci, is especially interesting for two reasons. It shows the Bronze Sword synchronous with the Iron, and it proves that the change of metal involved little of alteration in the form and character of the weapon. This, however, was to be expected, as both were adapted for the same purpose the thrust, not the cut. Of the twenty-eight long Swords, six were 1 Florus, ii. 3. 2 Bronze, &c. p. 297. From Aarbög. f. Nord. Oldk. 1879, pl. i. 3 Bronze, &c., p. 298. From Bastian and A. Voss, Die Bronze-Schwerter des K. Mus. zu Berlin, 1878, p. 56. of bronze, nineteen of iron, and three with bronze hefts and iron blades; there were also forty-five short Swords, iron blades with bronze or ivory handles. The blade, about one mètre long, is leaf-shaped, two-edged, and bevel-pointed. The small and guardless grip of 2.5 centimètres, when made of bronze, meets the blade in a hollow crescent, like the British Sword in the Tower, and is fastened with metal rivets. The pommel is either a cone of metal or a crutch with a whorl ending either arm. Dr. Evans mentions that in one instance the hilt and pommel of an iron Sword are in bronze, in another the pommel alone; the hilt-plate of iron being flat and rivetted like the bronzes. In others the pommel is wanting. He has a broken iron Sword from this cemetery, the blade showing a central rounded rib, with a small bead on either side. Also a 'beautiful bronze Sword from the same locality, on the blade of which are two small raised beads on either side of the central rib, and in the spaces between them a three-fold wavy line punched in or engraved. In this instance a tang has passed through the hilt, and was formed of alternate blocks of bronze and of some FIG. 283.1 GERMAN OR FIG. 284. Scramasax FROM HALLSTADT. (Jähns.) F.G. 285. SCRAMASAX. DANISH (Ninth Century, Copenhagen.) substance that has perished, possibly ivory. A magnificent iron Sword from Hallstadt, now in the Vienna Museum, has the hilt and pommel of ivory inlaid with amber.' Other grips were of bronze, wood, or bone. The sheaths were mostly of wood, which seemed to have been covered with leather. Most of the blades were buried without scabbards, and the bronze had been purposely broken. The forty-five short Swords represent the Ensis Noricus (uáxaipa KÉλTIKA), and were in use till the Roman days. The iron-blades are either leaf-shaped or formed like the peculiarly English anelace or anlas, more or less conical and sharp-pointed; and the grip of bronze or ivory ended in a simple crutch. Amongst them is a distinct Scramasax which may be compared with the late Danish weapon. Namsauer in 1846-64 were 6,000 articles from 993 graves. Bronze, &c., p. 299, from Von Sacken and Lindeschmit's Alterthümer. The first finds by Herr Bronze blades are comparatively rare in Italy, although the use was long retained and the weapon is often mentioned by Latin writers in verse and prose.1 This seems to decide the question against the Roman origin of the North-European Sword of course it is possible that, like the Runic alphabet, they might have been copied from coins; but there are other points which militate against this view. Dr. John Evans' notes a peculiarity which he has often pointed out by word of mouth, but which has not as yet been noticed in print. It is, that there is generally, though not universally, a proportion between the length of the blade and the length of the hilt-plate; long sword blades having, as a rule, long hilt-plates, and short sword blades short hilt-plates. So closely is this rule of proportion preserved, that the outline of a large sword on the scale of one-sixth would in some cases absolutely correspond with that of one which was two-thirds of its length if drawn on the scale of one-fourth.' This suggests derivation, as if an original modulus of the weapon had appeared in a certain racial centre and thence had radiated in all directions. Nor have we any difficulty in determining that this centre was the Nile Valley. The bronze Swords of Italy present varieties not found in Britain.3 The blade-sides are more nearly parallel, and many have a slender tang at the hilt, sometimes with one central rivet-hole, sometimes with two rivet-holes forming loops at either side of the 'spine.' In others the blade slightly narrows for the tang, and each side has two semicircular rivet-notches. In many Italian and French Swords the blade is drawn out to a long tapering point, so that its edges present a sub-ogival curve. On an Italian quincussis or oblong bronze coin, six inches and five-eighths by three inches and a half, and weighing about three pounds and a half, is the representation of a leaf-shaped Sword with a raised rib along the centre of the blade. Upon the reverse appears the figure of a scabbard with parallel sides and a nearly circular chape. Another coin of the same type, engraved by Carelli,5 has an almost similar scabbard on the reverse, but the Sword on the obverse is either sheathed or is not leaf-shaped, the sides being parallel: the hilt is also curved, and there is a cross-guard. In fact upon the one coin the weapon has the appearance of a Roman Sword of iron, and on the other that of a leafshaped Sword of bronze. These pieces, says Dr. Evans, were no doubt cast in I have already noticed the copper Ensis and coppered shield attributed by Virgil (Æn. viii. 74) to the people of Abella, an Italian district under Turnus. 2 Bronze, &c., p. 277. The author also notices the small handles of bronze Swords, a fact which seems to prove that the men who used these swords were but of moderate stature' (Prehistoric Times, p. 22). He denies their being very small, and he justly believes that the expanding part of the hilt was intended to be within the grasp of the hand. I have already explained that the hand was purposely confined in order to give more momentum to the cut. 3 Bronze, &c., p. 297; taken from Gastaldi, Pellegrini and Gozzadini. The author remarks (p. 287) that some of the bronze daggers from Italy seem also to have had their hilts cast upon the blades in which the rivets were already fixed. This is not unfrequent with the Sword, and the object seems mere imitation; like the Hauranic stone-doors, panelled as if to pass for wood. Bronze, &c., p. 283, we find that the British Museum contains a specimen. Catalog. Italy, p. 28 Bronze, &c., ibid., quoting from Numm. Vet. Ital. Descript., pl. xii. THE CELTIBERIAN AND OLD SPANISH SWORD. 265 Umbria, probably in the third century B.C., but their attribution to Ariminum is at best doubtful. From the two varieties of Sword appearing on coins of the same type, the inference may be drawn, either that bronze blades were then being superseded in Umbria by iron, or that the original type was some sacred weapon, subsequently conventionalised to represent the article in ordinary use. The iron Swords of the Italian tribes are rarely mentioned, and then cursorily. Diodorus Siculus, for instance, tells us (v. 33) that the Ligures had blades of ordinary size. They probably adopted the Roman shape, which had proved itself so serviceable in the field. Proceeding further westward we find Diodorus Siculus (v. cap. 33) dwelling upon the Celtiberian weapons.' 'They had two-edged Swords of well-tempered steel; besides their daggers, a span long, to be used at close quarters. They make weapons and iron in an admirable manner, for they bury their plates so long underground as is necessary to eat away the weaker part; and, therefore, they use only that which is firm and strong. Swords and other weapons are made of this prepared steel; and these are so powerful in cutting, that neither shield nor helm nor bone can withstand them.' Plutarch 2 repeats this description, which embodies the still prevalent idea concerning the Damascus (Persian) scymitar and the Toledo rapier. Swedenborg 3 introduces burial among the different methods of making steel; and Beckmann, following Thunberg, declares that the process is still used in Japan. FIG. 286. BLADE AND OF BRONZE WITH PART OF EAGLE (Kessel). General A. Pitt-Rivers' collection has two Swords from Spain. The first is a bronze, sub-leaf-shaped, with a thin protracted point. The length is twenty-one inches; the breadth at the swell two inches, thinning near the handle to one inch and a quarter; the tang is broken, and there are two rivet-holes at the shoulder, which is two inches wide. The other, which the owner calls a 'Kopis,' also twenty-one inches long, and two inches and a half in width, has a broad back and a wedge-section. The cutting part is inside, and the whole contour remarkably resembles the Kukkri or Korah of Nepaul, and, in a less degree, the Albanian Yataghan and the Kabyle 'Flissa.' The Kopis, however, has a hookhandle as if for suspension; and there is a swelling in the inside of the grip. 'As the Celtiberians,' continues Diodorus, 'are furnished with two Swords, (probably espada y daga), ' the horsemen, when they have routed their opponents, dismount, and, joining the foot, fight as its auxiliaries.' The Lusitanians, most valiant of the race, inhabited a mountain-land peculiarly rich in minerals. Justin speaks of the gold, copper, lead, and vermilion, which last named the 'Minho' See chap. vi. 3 De Ferro, i. 195. 2 De Garrul. Lib. xliv. 3. Martial also alludes (i. 49; iii. 12, &c.) to the metallic wealth of his native province. river. Of the iron he says: 'It is of an extraordinary quality, but their water is more powerful than the iron itself; for the metal being tempered in it becomes keener; nor is any weapon held in esteem among them that has not been dipt in the Bilbilis or the Chalybs.'1 Strabo represents Iberia as abounding in metal, and arms the Lusitanians with poniard and dagger, probably meaning dirk and knife. The Northern neighbours of the Celtiberians-the warlike old Keltic Gauls -were essentially swordsmen : they relied mainly upon the Claidab. When they entered Europe they had already left behind them the Age of Stone; and they made their blades of copper, bronze, and iron. The latter, as we learn from history, entered into use during the fourth or fifth century B.C., the later Celtic Period, as it is called by Mr. Franks. The material appears to have been, according to all authorities, very poor and mean. The blade was mostly twoedged, about one mètre long, thin, straight, and without point (sine mucrone); it had a tang for the attachment of the grip, but no guard or defence for the hand. Yet their gallantry enabled the Gauls to do good work with these bad tools. F. Camillus, the dictator," seeing that his enemy cut mostly at head and shoulders, made his Romans wear light helmets, whereby the Machairæ-blades were bent, blunted, or broken. Also, the Roman shield being of wood, he 'directed it for the same reason to be bordered with a thin plate of brass' (copper, bronze?). He also taught his men to handle long pikes, which they could thrust under the enemy's weapons. Dionysius Halicarnassus introduces him saying, while he compares Roman and Gaulish arms, that these Kelts assail the foe only with long lances and large knives (μάχαιρας κοπίδες) 6 FIG. 287. GALLIC • The words Κέλται, Γαλάται, Γάλλο (meaning Armati, pugnaces, Kämpfer, fighters), evidently derive not from Coille, a word, but from the old word Gal (battle), Gala (arms). The name suited their natures; they were never at peace, and their bravery was proverbial: the Greeks called it Keλtikdv Opáσos = Keltic daring. 4 Cladibas or Cladias gladius. I have noticed the shape when speaking of the Hallstadt finds. Polyænus, Strategemata; Dion. Halicar. xiv. chap. 13. 5 • Plutarch (De Cam. cap. xxvii.) also arms the Gauls, when attacking the Capitol, with the Kopis. The first to oppose them was Manlius. Meeting two enemies together, he parried the cut of |