Hi, I was looking at something interesting today. These appear to be roman rapier style swords with decorative handles resembling ancient coins. Has anyone seen something like this before? I thought roman weaponry was more robust, but I'd like to hear opinions from those potentially more in-the-know. Opinions welcome.
Do you have a shot of the bottoms? My guess is a fireplace tool set. I'd guess well under 100 years old.
All I got is a group shot. They'd look nice on my office wall, but I don't want them if they were homemade. They appear to have age, but the style of the blade has me perplexed.
The handles are impractical for use as a weapon, imo... Did the Romans have ceremonial/dress uniforms and swords?
I see nothing remotely Roman in style in the photo and doubt that these are swords. I have never seen a Roman ceremonial or decorative sword. The ones they had seemed to be for killing. They had very fancy dress uniforms but weapons were practical. On coins, spears are shown more often than swords.
Those are not swords, not sure what they are but am certain that they are of later manufacture with decorative Roman elements. Fireplace tools seems to make sense.
Definitely for poking the fire. You can't seriously believe that anyone could fight holding those "handles".
I thought they could have been ceremonial/dress or even ornamental, but they are more like skewers for roasting fire food after seeing them up close. The handles are cast. Neat subject matter though. Thanks for the replies guys.
The main Roman sword was called a Gladius, but they also used a longer sword for Cavalry. It seems like I've seen Roman Gladius' in museums with ornamental hilts, but these were still functional swords, Just a side note: the Gladius was not used like most swords. They were used to "punch" into the enemy rather than swing and slash.
