The Parazonium, _pugio_[915] or dagger, accompanied the Gladius under the later Empire, and was carried in the same, or in another, belt, generally on the opposite flank. It is the Greek ἐγχειρίδιον, and we have seen its origin in Egypt. The metal was successively pure copper, bronze and steel. The shape of this two-edged stiletto is either lanceolate (fig. 280 _b_),[916] showing its descent from the spear, or the straight lines converge to a point (_ibid._ _a_). It has a notable resemblance to the daggers found in Egyptian tombs (_ibid._ _c_), and the weapon with the Z-section, still used in the Caucasus and in Persia.[917] The tang is usually fitted to receive a wooden plate on either side: a favourite substance was the heart of the Syrian _terebinth_ (the ‘oak’ of Mamre). [Illustration: FIG. 281.—TWO-EDGED ROMAN STILETTOS.] The bronze hilt of the Gladius was retained long after the blade was made of steel. The common grip was of wood set with metal knobs or rivets; the richer sorts were of bone and ivory, amber and alabaster, silver and gold. The heft ended in a _capulus_; this metal pommel[918] was, in its simplest state, a plain mound or a stepped pyramid. But presently the ‘little apple’ became the seat of decoration;[919] Pliny moans over it, and Claudian speaks of _capulis radiantibus enses_. This fashion lasted deep into the Middle Ages. The haft was often capped with the head of some animal after Assyrian fashion, and that of the eagle recurved was a favourite in Rome. In the Armeria Reale (Turin)[920] there is a fine Roman chopper-blade with a peculiar handle, and a ram’s head for hilt. The handle was usually without guard-plate, and at most it had only a simple cross-bar or a small oval.[921] The original _vagina_ (sheath) was of leather or wood, ending in a _fibula_ or half-moon-shaped ferule of metal. Some scabbards on the monuments, where the Sword, like the helmet and the _pilum_, is conventionally treated, show the scabbard with three opposing rings on either side; and, as the belt had only one or two, it is not easy to explain the use of the other five.[922] In the luxurious days of the Empire, the sheath, like the heft, the pommel, and the ferule, was made of gold and silver reliefs, _repoussée_-work, and incrustations of precious stones disposed upon every part, made it a _chef-d’œuvre_ of art. Such is the ‘Sword,’ or rather ‘Parazonium, of Tiberius’ dug up at Mayence in 1848, and now in the British Museum. The scabbard, the mouth, the rings on either side, and the ferule are strengthened and beautified by reliefs in gold and silver, and the central field bears the portrait of the beautiful ‘Biberius.’ Another Parazonium (Anglo-Rom. Coll.) has an iron blade and a bronze scabbard. [Illustration: FIG. 282.—SWORD OF TIBERIUS.]