[Laurie W]

Hello

Been lurking for some time and decided to register. Surprisingly, you would think something like the Machiera and Rhomphaia would be reproduced/replicated by someone. Somewhere. But not the case. I have only seen two instances of the Dacian Falx made by custom makers. And one was a prototype that only saw light of day during the Legio XX "Roman Days 2003" demostration.

I have not seen anyone offer or make a Machiera OR a Rhomphaia outside of ourselves. Both were made for a customer who is a Living History reenactor/collector (Macedonia/Thracian) with a sizeable reference library and a few actual pieces. Our website shows the Machiera made for him based on a find he had. Not shown on the website is the Rhomphaia and how this came about was through Mr. Piscopo while I was doing some research.

Mr. Piscopo did post some photos of a Rhomphaia on his Yahoo group's photo folders. What it looked like when he got it all curled in it's "ritually killed" form and when it was carefully straightened out. It's quite long and intact. For awhile I was in contact with him about it as our customer wanted to have a reproduction made. Mr. Piscopo had offered to send it to my husband to examine but we graciously declined (would hate to have it get lost in the mail!) But his posted photos of it were good enough for my husband to use as a pattern. That along with any illustrations and photos from the customer's reference library.

By the time this project was done, I learned of Mr. Piscopo's passing and had hoped to send him pictures of the finished piece. As it was, I posted pictures of it over on the MyAmoury.com website.

Just how hard the Balkans are keeping artifacts from slipping through their borders? It's hard to tell. I rather believe some of this "cracking down" is pretty recent and no telling how long this seepage has been going on since the "Iron Curtain" has dropped. If there has been limited grave robbing before, it certainly has grown since there is more access to collectors outside their borders.

Fakes? Of course. But then, just how far? Fakery can be made with just about anything and has. With some historical periods being so popular, you just about figure almost anything on the market ....outside of reputatable sources.... are just that. But just how popular is Thracian history and their artifacts? Like I said, if commercial weapons offerings is any indication of what is fashionable.....Thracian weaponry is practically nil so far and armour is little better. But as time goes on with more legitimate excavations being broadcast (i.e. finds from the Bulgarian "Valley of Kings"), this just may change. It is important for all concerned that a crackdown on this kind of thievery be stopped for the sake of a country's heritage to kept safe.