This is great, Laloë!
oh! and welcome :D
spreading some light over that dark age stuff and the end of Roman history i like. :cool:

Thanks for the welcome :D

Here an image of cataphractaire of the Roman Lower Empire.
It is not a Alain, but it is rather close...

IMG]http://tinypic.com/mc6821.jpg[/IMG]




P.S: My firstname is Franck. Laloë is my name...

Aren't there some long gripped saxes from the migration period?
I remember there being a thread about them.

It could be as easy as a long handle to act as counterbalance for the blade; 74 cm of blade is a bit to short for effective two handed use.

I retry... [ Linked Image ]

Bishop and Coulston shows a Roman sword of unusual tang length - I would guess about 20 cm.

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I think I've found something quite interesting. However, Ihave no idea whether tis thing is authentic or two-handed.

Info:
ROMAN PRAETORIAN OR FRUMENTARII OFFICER'S SPATHA AND CHAPE
Material: Iron, Bronze, and Bone
Era: 3rd Century AD
Culture: Roman
Style: Roman and Roman Provencial
Origin: An Antiquities Dealer in England, purportedly from an old collection and found in Spain.


[ Linked Image ]


Source: http://romanofficer.com/permcol.html (scrolldown a bit and you'll see it)

Looking at the drawing of the sword that started this topic with a tape measure and calculator, if the proportions are reproduced correctly and the hilt is 34cm long, then according to my estimation the blade works out to about 79cm, or ca. 113cm total length... on par with many Medieval longswords and swords-of-war.

Wolfgang, that's a very interesting find. I wonder, might this specific type of hilt have been used as a status symbol, a sign of rank? It's only ever come up in association with rulers and officers, AFAIK.