CIRCA 100-300 A.D.

Details

A ROMAN IRON SPATHA
CIRCA 100-300 A.D.
32 ½ in. (82.5 cm.) long

Provenance

Axel Guttmann (1944-2001), Berlin (Inv. no. W55).
Antiken der Sammlung Axel Guttmann, Auktion 44, Hermann Historica, Munich, 15 May 2003, lot 101.
Antiken der Sammlung Axel Guttmann, Auktion 56, Hermann Historica, Munich, 8 October 2008, lot 68.
Christian Levett, London, acquired from the above on behalf of the Mougins Museum of Classical Art.

Literature

M. Merrony, ed., Mougins Museum of Classical Art, Mougins, 2011, p. 182, fig. 61; p. 263, fig. 73.

Exhibited

Mougins Museum of Classical Art, 2011-2023 (Inv. no. MMoCA138).

Conditions of sale

Brought to you by

Hannah Fox Solomon Head of Department, Specialist

hsolomon@christies.com +1 212 636 2256

Lot Essay

According to D. Cahn (pp. 96-97 in Waffen und Zaumzeug) by the 3rd century, the spatha replaced the shorter gladius as the sword of choice for Roman legionnaires. For a similar example, see no. W48 in Cahn, op. cit.

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