Neke tipološke osobine vizantijske spate
Some typological features of Byzantine Spatha

Summary/Abstract: This paper analyses finds of a special type of cross-guard, closer analogies of which may be found on Byzantine visual presentations from the IX–XI centuries. The only archaeological find of a sword with such a cross-guard, which includes a preserved blade, indicates the characteristics of the spatha — the type of sword that was widespread in Byzantium, in those times. Swords with this kind of cross-guard and the general characteristics of the spatha are depicted in visual presentations as the weapons of the protospatharios or some other high-ranking imperial guardsmen and, in the descriptions of Byzantine court ceremony, this weapon was also called a spatha.

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