Pompeii Gladius Naming Competition !

[Biggus Dickus]

Hi Everyone, as some of you may know I'm quite interested in all things Roman...but I'll be taking up sword fighting based around Tai Chi (wife teaching me...she uses a wooden Bokken samurai type) with a wooden gladius i'm having specially made for the task, being made by Len Morgan http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/fabrica/index.htm
I'm hoping to also practice some more Roman style moves also and practice on a Pell...but in addition to this I'm having a 21inch Pompeii gladius hand forged in USA by Mark Morrow http://www.swordsmith.net/ so i'll have the real thing too.

Since this is so special a sword and in the tradition of naming sword blades (which i guess is more anglo saxon/nordic thing)
I thought I'd call it something, what better place to come for ideas than here!
It needs to be Roman and likely latin
Excalibre is not an option!
No prizes for wining!
So let me know your thoughts and i'll go with the one that feels right!

Pictures will follow when I have the sword!!!

mark just sent me a picture of it awaiting polishing/sharpening

[carvel2]

hmmmmmm....serious will think on.

[mikeland]

Perhaps

"Praeparet bellum"

Prepare for war, from the famous quote

"Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum"

If you want peace, prepare for war.

[Correus]

Molōn labe - Μολὼν λαβέ

[Fury]

Perhaps "Praeparet bellum"

On a related note, perhaps "Bellona" after the Roman goddess of war, or "Bellatrix", the feminine form of bellatricus, the Latin word for warrior? I re-read Heinlein's Glory Road recently, hence the ideas for female names for a blade.

[carvel2]

OK...first go BD..
You should appreciate this..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USlnfTGlhXc&feature=related
So....
'After Aeneas' death, Aphrodite asked Jupiter to make her son immortal. Jupiter agreed and the river god Numicus cleansed Aeneas of all his mortal parts and Aphrodite anointed him with Ambrosia and Nectar, making him a god. ' (wikipedia)

So I vote for Numicus

[clivethecelt]

OK, first stab (sorry): name it after the Roman goddess of crafts and wisdom, Minerva - though I'm not sure if the Romans would have named items after her, but dedicated them to her. P'raps "Bellum pictor", the war-painter, as a second thrust?

[Big Al]

Hi BD

Just call it "Sting" (Bilbo's sword in The Hobbit). The latin for this is, apparently "Spiculum" or "Morsus". Spiculum, apparently means sting or sharp point and Morsus means sting, pain or biting bite (more to do with insects). A single name would be better to me as a name rather than two or three. It trips off the tongue better and The Hobbit is a brilliant book, even though it isn't history, and the film is being made.

[carvel2]

@ Big Al...I like that!

[Fury]

I agree, Spiculum sounds nice. The word was apparently used for a spear, so it may not be the best name for a sword.

A spiculum is a late Roman spear that replaced the pilum at around AD 250 as the infantryman's main throwing javelin. Scholars suppose that it could have resulted from the gradual combination of the pilum and two German spears, the angon and the bebra.