Pugio_-_Gladius_brevis_est

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First of all, we mostly thank dr. MikeThomas for his very careful review of this book, his effort has been indeed precious for us.

Also mr. David Roeder gave us his valuable suggestions to improve our work, and we thank him for that.

It is then with great pleasure that we also thank Dr. Antonella Grassi for her help in providing us with the correct translation and interpretation of the numerous Latin citations, which we have been able to trace thanks to the meticulous work of Francesco Caratelli, to whom we also give our heart-felt thanks.

Not less precious is the consultancy given us by Dr. Tiziana Lorenzetti, fundamental for the interpretation of some symbols of the sheaths, as well as that of engineer Fabrizio Colicigno, helping us in the study and understanding of the mechanical strength of the blades.

A very big thank you to Dr. T. Tanzilli for obtaining access to some interesting specimens of pugiones and mr. D.X. Kenney for information on a specimen in his own collection.

We would also like to acknowledge the help we received from Dr. Mike Bishop, who we thank for giving us permission to use some of his excellent drawings.

Finally, many thanks to our wives, because often immersed in our research or overwhelmed by endless telephone calls in order to discuss the latest idea with enthusiasm, we were withdrawn from our family lives, putting their patience and understanding to the test.

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