Sicarii. Anyone see an authentic one?

[HJK]

For history buffs, the Sicarii were the Jewish zealots who were the last defenders of Judah against the Romans and who famously died at Masada.
Their name was taken from their blades, Sicarii.
Has anyone seen one or have a picture of the design? Are there any modern versions? They were supposed to be long, thin daggers, but it's hard to find reliable details.

 

[Esav Benyamin]

The dagger itself was the Sica. Sicarius was the knifeman. Sicarii, the plural.

 

[HJK]

Thanks. That could explain in part why I couldn't find much. Have you seen originals or replicas? I'm finding the Roman versions, which used the term "sica" in a disparaging way. Sort of like "Palestina"

 

[FullerH]

A sica was a curved bladed dagger and, to the Romans, it was a dishonorable weapon. This just meant that it was not a Roman weapon. For much of the rest of the world, it was a perfectly acceptable weapon. The Romans had a gladiator that used the sica, the Thrax or Thracian. The representations that have survived of the Thracian gladiators show a strange sort of a long dagger or very short sword which had a right angle bend in the blade about halfway down. The blade turned up at that point. Think of it as a sort of hook for going over and around shields. As far as the sicae used by the sicarii, they would have been any sort of curved dagger of the sort indigenous to the area. I should think that the Arab jambiya might be a good basis for a sort of retro-engineering process. But you should also remember that the Jews of Palestine would have armed themselves with whatever they could get, since the carrying or making of anything that was identifiable as a weapon was forbidden on pain of crucifixion.