Quote:
Originally Posted by Teisani
Even though the blade is missing, the hilt is so nice, with the guard having that typical shape. Amazing how consistent these swords are in having that little bump detail on the guard, that mid-swelling in the handle. The contraction for the lower two fingers, which falcatas also poses, yet Italic/Etruscan examples seem to lack.
How would you characterize a Macedonia type vs. a Greek type? What are their distinguishing features?
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Another key characteristic I've noticed on these types is the notch in the handle right before the blade, easily seen on
this example. All of these consistent features are factors in how I personally classify the "Macedonian" type: the bird head, usually with gems as eyes, the tapering shape of the handle as you described, the solid iron grip, the guard with the characteristic bump, the notch before the blade, a long blade with a slight curve and wider end, and a ridge originating from the notch on the handle but continuing out further from the flat edge of the blade the further from the handle it gets. And I guess a sharpened edge on the last third of the back of the blade is also characteristic, though it's harder to tell from just the pictures how many of these have that.
Maybe calling it "Macedonian" is misleading, despite most examples apparently coming from Macedonian sites or graves. I mentioned my theory above of all of these characteristics being a hallmark of a contemporary craftsman/workshop, and I think the King Seuthes III example gives some credibility to it — it shares many of these characteristics (the blade looks different but it was heavily reconstructed), and King Seuthes III was a king of Thrace while it was subjugated by Macedonia, and soon after Alexander the Great died he rebelled against the Macedonians. So at some point maybe these swords were being commissioned by opposing armies?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Teisani
Although on this one the blade is almost straight, the handle is much more canted/curved. So the effect should probably the same. I'm guessing the blade tip is missing. Otherwise, I'm getting "parang' vibes coming from it 
I think you should post it. The larger the sample size, the better. This one from the Musée d'Art Classique de Mougins in France had me scratching my head, so I hesitated to post it. Its proportions seem strange. Any thoughts?
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Source: http://myarmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.39375.html |
Here's the makhaira example I was talking about, and another "Thracian" kopis, both of which fall outside my "Macedonian" classification but still share enough characteristics that make me want to describe them as Greek. They share some characteristics with
this example I posted above, mainly the handle with rivets that would have secured an organic material, and the horse head. Both of these are from private collections, so the data isn't very reliable, but it's interesting that the "makhaira" on the left is completely straight and even longer than the typical Macedonian kopis (which probably would have been used by the Macedonian companion cavalry) — I wonder if it has a single edge or not. The other example comes from the Vassil Bojkov collection, and it's hard to tell how much of it is original, if any. I think we can reliably say the wood was a recent restoration, and I suspect the blade might be modern too. Maybe it is just the iron handle that is original?
What's interesting though is that this example you posted has a similarly-wide/thick guard to these two examples. The typical Macedonian examples have much more pointy guards. What do you think?