Ancient usage of the dolabra as an entrenching tool. Romanian National History Museum, Cast of Trajan's Column

The dolabra[1] is a versatile axe used by the people of Italy since ancient times. The dolabra could serve as a pickaxe used by miners and excavators, a priest's implement for ritual religious slaughtering of animals and as an entrenching tool (mattock) used in Roman infantry tactics. In the 1st century CE, at the battle of Augustodunum, armoured Gallic gladiators were defeated by legionaries wielding dolabrae.[2]

Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo said, "you defeat the enemy with a pickaxe".[3]

See also

Bibliography

  • Adrian Goldsworthy, The Complete Roman Army
  • Strauss, Barry S. The Spartacus War. Simon & Schuster, 2009. Print.

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Dolabra.
  1. ↑ William, Smith (1890). "A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities". Perseus Digital Library, Tufts University. Archived from the original on 2016-05-14. Retrieved 4 November 2021.
  2. ↑ Cowan, Ross (Nov 2021). "Tales of the Axe". Ancient Warfare Magazine. 15/2: 9.
  3. ↑ Strauss, Barry S. The Spartacus War. Simon & Schuster, 2009. Print.


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