Sword

This is a heavily corroded iron shortsword. It is sharp on both sides and pointed, meaning it was designed for slashing and stabbing. The blade is measured at only 38 cm (15 inches) in length, which suggests it was designed with close combat in mind. It remains in its storage box due to its poor condition.

This sword is too short to be a typical Roman gladius, which was made to be between 45 and 68 cm (18 and 27 inches) according to Polybius. It is also too narrow, being 4.5 cm wide versus the typical 5-7 cm width. However, it does have the double sided blade expected of the gladius.[1] Additionally, the cross-guard and hilt are both made of the same metal as the blade, which is atypical for the gladius, which was known to have  wood or ivory hilt.

It cannot be a spatha (replacement of the gladius in the 2nd century CE and beyond) because those were always made longer than the gladius.[2] It could be a semispatha, which was a version of the spatha from Late Antiquity that was shorter, but it is only mentioned once by a writer named Vegetius and has no archaeological evidence for its existence.[3] The blade is too thin and long to be a pugio (dagger-like shortsword for a legionary). This leaves very few options for possible origins of this artefact.