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View Full Version : In a Jerusalem tunnel, a glimpse of an ancient war



Mister D
08-09-2011, 07:55 AM
Snippet

On Monday, archaeologists from the Israel Antiquities Authority unveiled a sword found in the tunnel late last month, measuring 24 inches (60 centimeters) in length and with its leather sheath intact. The sword likely belonged to a member of the Roman garrison around the time of the revolt, the archaeologists said.

"We found many things that we assume are linked to the rebels who hid out here, like oil lamps, cooking pots, objects that people used and took with them, perhaps, as a souvenir in the hope that they would be going back," said Eli Shukron, the Israel Antiquities Authority archaeologist in charge of the dig.

The archaeologists also found a bronze key from the same era, coins minted by rebels with the slogan "Freedom of Zion," and a crude carved depiction of a menorah, a seven-branched Jewish candelabra that was one of the central features of the Temple.

The flight of the rebels to tunnels like the one currently being excavated was described by the historian Josephus Flavius, a Jewish rebel general who shifted his allegiance to Rome during the revolt and penned the most important history of the uprising.

As the city burned, he wrote about five years afterward, the rebels decided their "last hope" lay in the tunnels. They planned to wait until the legions had departed and then emerge and escape.

"But this proved to be an idle dream, for they were not destined to escape from either God or the Romans," he wrote. The legionnaires tore up the paving stones above the drainage channels and exposed their hiding place.

http://news.yahoo.com/jerusalem-tunnel-glimpse-ancient-war-111649346.html

MMC
08-09-2011, 08:42 AM
Yeah I think the Romans after getting thru all would have discovered no one was around. Then tore stuff up searching for hiding places. Kinda like bringing da house down on them so to speak. More than likely the Sword was a gladius. Most were 24 inches.

Mister D
08-09-2011, 10:30 AM
At that time, most likely. I don't know if they carried anything else until at least over a century later.

MMC
08-09-2011, 10:40 AM
At that time, most likely. I don't know if they carried anything else until at least over a century later.


I thought the Centurians carried long swords after Julius Ceasar opened that can of whoop-ass on the Gauls.....

Mister D
08-09-2011, 10:47 AM
At that time, most likely. I don't know if they carried anything else until at least over a century later.


I thought the Centurians carried long swords after Julius Ceasar opened that can of whoop-ass on the Gauls.....


Perhaps but I doubt it because centurians were often in the thick of the fighting and using a long sword would have been very difficult due to the limited space. That's why the gladius was preferred in the first place. It's m,uch more practical to use a shorter stabbing weapon in a dense or tight formation. Much later the spatha (which is a longer sword) came into increasing use among all ranks.

MMC
08-09-2011, 11:26 AM
At that time, most likely. I don't know if they carried anything else until at least over a century later.


I thought the Centurians carried long swords after Julius Ceasar opened that can of whoop-ass on the Gauls.....


Perhaps but I doubt it because centurians were often in the thick of the fighting and using a long sword would have been very difficult due to the limited space. That's why the gladius was preferred in the first place. It's m,uch more practical to use a shorter stabbing weapon in a dense or tight formation. Much later the spatha (which is a longer sword) came into increasing use among all ranks.


Musta been for Show then when walking round Rome.....

Mister D
08-10-2011, 07:59 AM
At that time, most likely. I don't know if they carried anything else until at least over a century later.


I thought the Centurians carried long swords after Julius Ceasar opened that can of whoop-ass on the Gauls.....


Perhaps but I doubt it because centurians were often in the thick of the fighting and using a long sword would have been very difficult due to the limited space. That's why the gladius was preferred in the first place. It's m,uch more practical to use a shorter stabbing weapon in a dense or tight formation. Much later the spatha (which is a longer sword) came into increasing use among all ranks.


Musta been for Show then when walking round Rome.....


I'm sure the Roamsn had parade ground accoutrements etc. just like modeern militaries do today.

MMC
08-10-2011, 11:11 AM
I have seen some pics of Battle machetes. Bout 30 inches long on the blade. Looked like something more modern made.

Many weapons back then were around the same size as the short sword.

Mister D
08-10-2011, 11:17 AM
I have seen some pics of Battle machetes. Bout 30 inches long on the blade. Looked like something more modern made.

Many weapons back then were around the same size as the short sword.


Might be the spatha. It was definitely longer than the gladius though.

http://www.romancoins.info/spatha-2-3jh.jpg

Here is a repro

http://ep.yimg.com/ca/I/yhst-87491460501412_2171_103346292.jpg

MMC
08-10-2011, 11:36 AM
Yep thats the One..... ;) :)

Mister D
08-10-2011, 11:38 AM
Yep thats the One..... ;) :)


Cool.

I see those guys reenacting the legions. Looks like fun but I don't know if there are any in the states. I'll have to look it up.