This looks like a typical H-shaped hilt: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mosaic_Achilles_at_the_court_of_Lycomedes_DMA.jpg The upper guard looks off. It looks thicker on the left side. Could it be something other than a flat guard? You see the same thing here (second from right): https://akg-images.com/archive/-2UMEBM47XU4W.html

A Stilicho/Aetius (not sure who) type hilt: https://www.akg-images.co.uk/archive/-2UMDHU3VK6PS.html

Not sure of the date on this: https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sdut-ancient-romes-german-swiss-legacy-preserved-2014oct12-htmlstory.html The pommels look similar to ones found in Scotland.

This one is dated 375-400: https://www.artsy.net/artwork/unknown-artist-plate-with-the-embassy-to-achilles

They're not sure of the date on this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parabiago_Plate

6th century Byzantine: https://www.livius.org/pictures/turkey/istanbul/constantinople-imperial-palace/constantinople-imperial-palace-hunter/

These are all really neat sources—thank you for sharing them!

Your're welcome, Kai. Here are those Scottish pommels I mentioned: http://www.tforum.info/forum//index.php?showtopic=31317

Dear Len and Kai,

Rynne's article (which was published in From the Stone Age to the ‘Forty-Five: Studies Presented to R.B.K. Stevenson, Former Keeper, National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland, eds. Robert B.K. Stevenson, Anne O’Connor, and David Victor Clarke; Edinburgh: J. Donald, 1983, pp. 188-195) was originally posted on this forum by Kirk Lee Spencer on Sunday 16 May 2004; it's about two-thirds of the way down the page. A cursory inspection of the images will show that Tozhe Forum's jpegs are the same ones that Kirk posted five and a half years earlier. Likewise, the image of Irish Iron-Age sword hilts was posted in the same thread by Kirk on Sunday 10 October 2004, second-to-last on the page; regrettably, its source doesn't appear in the posting.

I hope this proves helpful.

Best,

Mark Millman

Ravenna 6th century: https://pixels.com/featured/the-kiss-of-judas-mosaic-cycle-saint-apollinare-nuovo-ravenna-6th-century-ad-san-apollinare-nuo-album.html

Another 6th century Ravenna: https://fineartamerica.com/featured/abraham-prepares-to-sacrifice-his-son-isaac-in-a-6th-century-byzantine-mosaic-in-ravenna-italy-terence-kerr.html

From the column of Theodosius (half way down at right): https://www.thebyzantinelegacy.com/theodosius-column

Sword or dagger? 5th-6th century, found near Lyon: https://www.medieval.eu/how-to-know-a-goth-from-a-roman/
I'm going to assume it's a sword.

Here's some info: https://musee-archeologienationale.fr/en/node/470 It's a tile from a tomb. It would be nice if we're seeing a late Roman-Gaulish sword.

This might be the last of the Romano-British hilt types we have: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Roman_statue_of_Mars.JPG

This is an interesting hilt https://corvinus.nl/2020/01/09/valerianus-and-gallienus-the-years-253-260/ a little bigger https://fi.pinterest.com/pin/439663982378495970/ Look close at that pommel. It’s weathered, but doesn’t it look like it’s lobed across the top? And that guard is curved. It might be just a normal thick guard that’s worn, but it doesn’t look that way.

Constantine Cameo ca. 315 https://www.livius.org/pictures/a/roman-empire/leiden-constantine-cameo-crispus/