2nd-1st century BC. An iron pugio military dagger of Type I from the Republican period, comprising a short triangular blade with thick midrib and swept edges, narrow point, triangular guard with chamfered upper edges, grip with facetted bulb displaying a bronze stud and disc pommel; frame of the accompanying scabbard with C-section outer edges and three flat transverse bracers, chape with disc finial, four attachment loops for mounting straps, to the obverse of the mouth an applied repoussé silver portrait bust with Julian hairstyle. See Fischer, N.L., Iron Men: Roman Masculinity and the Roman Military Dagger, Cornell University PhD thesis, 2017; also Bishop, M.C. and Coulston, J.C.N., Roman Military Equipment From the Punic Wars to the Fall of Rome, London, 1993, p.134-5.311 grams total, 34cm (13 1/2"). From an important English collection; acquired in the 1990s; accompanied by an academic report by Dr. Raffaele D’Amato. Type I pugio daggers are typically 28-30cm in length, the earliest and shortest of the type. The two discs that form the grip and pommel confirm its origins among a class of combat knives found on the Iberian Peninsula before the first Roman military invasion. The overall design was borrowed from the contemporary Celtiberian double-disc-handled dagger. These may initially have been taken from defeated local warriors as battlefield booty from the Numantine and Sertorian Wars (153-133 BC and 75 BC respectively"). They were then copied by Roman military smiths, and formed part of the standard legionary's kit by the time of the battle of Alesia (52 BC"). The pugio was used for close-quarters fighting and for dispatching fallen enemies. Many examples are very decorative, suggesting that it was considered a valuable back-up armament suited to certain types of combat where it was primarily used as a stabbing weapon.