The ancient warrior’s weapons were the dagger, sword, spear, javelin, bow, and sling. The weapons in the Classical Collection cannot strictly be called Greek or Roman because they were made at a remote period before the Greek and Roman states came into existence, but they are interesting in that they show the types from which later weapons were developed, and often there is very little difference between the early types and their descendants. The oldest cutting weapons are the bronze dagger-blades from Cyprus, and those from Crete in Case D 2 in the First Room. They were fitted into wooden or bone handles. A Cretan dagger-blade with an engraved design still holds the three dowels which fastened the haft. The tangs of the Cypriote blades are prolonged or hooked to prevent the blade from loosening in its socket (figs. 107-108). Spear-heads also were at first made to be inserted in the shaft, but later fitted over it. They have a slit on one side of the socket, probably to give elasticity (figs. 105-106). The bronze butt-spikes were used to fix the spear in the ground during halts. Examples of these weapons are in Case 4 and the wall-cases in the corridor. The swords in the collection date from the Bronze or early Iron Age and so are pre-classical. The fine bronze sword (Case 4, No. 1460) belongs to an early Italian type (fig. 109), and the sword and sheath (No. 1461 in Case A in the Second Room) is also Italian. An iron sword from Cyprus (No. 1462 in the corridor) preserves the form of the bronze swords of the late Mycenaean period, as the early iron-workers at first imitated the shapes of bronze weapons. The pin in the shape of a sword illustrates the type in use during the fifth century in Greece (Case 4). The machaira which Xenophon often mentions had a curved blade and was especially useful as a cutting weapon for cavalry. A good illustration of this shape may be seen in a painting on an amphora in Case N in the Fourth Room representing a Greek and a Persian fighting. The Persian holds a machaira ready for the down-stroke (fig. 104). Roman swords were broad and flat. They were designed for thrusting, and were carried by common soldiers and officers.