{{short description|Short sword or large dagger}} {{other uses|Sica (disambiguation)}} thumb|Outline of a sica
The '''sica''' (plural ''siccae'') is a short sword or large dagger of ancient Illyrians, Thracians, and Dacians; it was also used in ancient Rome. It is a shorter form of the falx, and the root of the word is the same as the modern sickle.<ref>{{cite book | last=Ramsey | first=S. | title=Tools of War: History of Weapons in Ancient Times | publisher=VIJ Books (India) PVT Limited | year=2016 | isbn=978-93-86834-12-6 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=33HOEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT322 | access-date=2024-07-13}}</ref>
It was originally depicted as a curved sword (see the Zliten mosaic as well as numerous oil lamps) and many examples have been found in what are today Croatia, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Serbia, and Romania. It is also depicted on Trajan's Column; notably the Dacian king Decebalus is depicted committing suicide with one.
==Etymology== Possibly from Proto-Albanian ''tsikā'' (whence Albanian ''thikë'', "knife"), from Proto-Indo-European ''ḱey''- ("to sharpen") possibly via Illyrian.<ref>{{cite book|last=Orel|first=Vladimir|title=Albanian etymological dictionary|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yJQYAQAAIAAJ|year=1998|publisher=Brill|isbn=9004110240|pages=477–478}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Havers|first=Wilhelm|title=Die Sprache|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YjhxAAAAIAAJ|year=1984|publisher=A. Sexl.|page=84}}</ref> According to the ''Dictionnaire des Antiquités Grecques et Romaines'',<ref>''Dictionnaire des Antiquités Grecques et Romaines'', tome 4, volume 2 (R–S), Paris, 1926, p. 1300, s.v. sica</ref> the name ''Sica'' comes from Proto-Indo-European root ''sek-'', meaning "to cut", "to section", however De Vaan declares any connection to Proto-Indo-European ''sek''- to be formally impossible.<ref>{{cite book|last=De Vaan|first=Michiel|author-link=Michiel de Vaan|title=Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages|url=https://archive.org/details/etymologicaldict00vaan_724|url-access=limited|year=200|location=Leiden, Boston|publisher=Brill|pages=[https://archive.org/details/etymologicaldict00vaan_724/page/n572 561]-562|isbn=9789004167971 }}</ref>
== Illyrian == The Romans regarded the sica as a distinctive Illyrian weapon. The principal melee weapon of the Illyrians was the Sica.<ref>''The Illyrians'' (The Peoples of Europe) by John Wilkes, 1996, page 238, "Their principal offensive weapon was the single edged curved-sword, similar to the Greek machaira, a form of weapon that can be traced back to Bronze age times..."</ref> According to historian John Wilkes:<ref>''The Illyrians'' (The Peoples of Europe) by John Wilkes, 1996, pages 238–239, "Although a short curved sword was used by several peoples around the Mediterranean the Romans regarded the sica as a distinct Illyrian weapon used by the stealthy 'assassin' (sicarius)..."</ref>
<blockquote>Although a short curved sword was used by several peoples around the Mediterranean the Romans regarded the ''sica'' as a distinct Illyrian weapon used by the stealthy 'assassin' (sicarius)</blockquote>
==Types== From a typological point of view, though there is a strong tendency towards standardization, the sica daggers can be organised in three main types that differ only by morphological aspects, not functional.
[[File:Alba Iulia National Museum of the Union 2011 - Inventory Pieces from Cugir Dacian Warrior Tomb-5.JPG|thumb|left|150px|Scabbard for a sica from the Dacian warrior tomb of Cugir, dated 1st century BC. Fragments of the helmet and other inventory pieces are also seen on the right side. In display at the National Museum of the Union, Alba Iulia, Romania]]
The first type is characterized by its solidity, sometimes with a broken figure immediately after the blade's middle part, with a short and sharp point, with a slight curvature, a short handle cane, usually of a triangular shape, that has a hole for the fixing rivet, close to the blade. The blade has incised ornaments and a fuller deeply carved into it. These characteristics are not general, the only standing arguments for this type being the size and the shape approximately similar.<ref name="scribd.com">{{cite web|url=https://www.scribd.com/document/33875732/Borangic-C-Sica-Tipologie-Si-Functional-It-Ate-NEMVS-IV-7-8-2009|title=Borangic C. - Sica. Tipologie Si Functional It Ate, NEMVS, IV, 7-8, 2009|website=Scribd}}</ref>
The second type, not very different morphologically speaking, does not have the solid shape of the first type, but a longer blade, with a fuller, and keeps, most often, the haft's tongue short and of a triangular shape.<ref name="scribd.com"/>
The third type, more numerous, gathers a series of daggers characterized by a long blade, elegantly manufactured in most cases, by the ornamentation with incised circles and/or lines along the blade, the presence of the fuller, the haft's tongue as long as the haft and a guard muff. These distinctive elements are found either all together, or some of the pieces present one or more of these characteristic features. The sizes show a relative standardization, somewhere around {{convert|30–40|cm|abbr=on}} in length and approximately {{convert|3|cm|abbr=on}} in width. From a chronological point of view, this type of dagger is dated mostly in the 2nd and 1st centuries BC.<ref name="scribd.com"/>
==Significance== [[File:Decebal suicide.jpg|thumb|Suicide of Decebalus, from Trajan's Column]] The distinctive shape was designed to get around the sides of an opponent's shield, and stab or slash them in the back. Since the thraex gladiator's usual opponent was the scutum (large shield) carrying murmillo gladiator, such a weapon as the sica was necessary to make the duel more even and exciting.{{Citation needed|date=January 2012}}
The daggers’ decoration, remarkably complex, offers them a sum of spiritual, artistically and symbolical valences. On the blade geometrical shapes were incised, but also eagles and snakes, in which case their schematization requires the existence of a certain "code", or they were an emblem that underlined the membership of a certain brotherhood at arms or a certain social status, as well possible to have a mystical/magical component included.<ref name="scribd.com"/> From all the curved weapons used in the Thracian area, the sica daggers are the only ones that make the connection between the Southern Thracians and the Thracians North to the Danube, being spread the same on both sides of the river.<ref name="scribd.com"/>
The sica was the characteristic weapon of the Jewish rebel group known as the Sicarii, who were active in Judaea during the first century CE and during the First Jewish Revolt. The group derived its name from this dagger. Only three sica blades have been identified in the entire region of Palestine: at Qumran, Nahal David Cave 2 (both in the Judaean Desert), and possibly Khirbet el-Maqatir (in the northern Judaean Hills, though this example remains tentatively identified as such).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Streckert |first=Katherine A. |title=The Excavations at Khirbet el-Maqatir: 1995–2001 and 2009–2016: Volume 2: The Late Hellenistic, Early Roman, and Byzantine Periods |last2=Seevers |first2=Boyd V. |publisher=Archaeopress |year=2023 |editor-last=Stripling |editor-first=Scott |pages=306–307 |chapter=Militaria |doi=10.2307/jj.15135899 |jstor=jj.15135899 |editor-last2=Hassler |editor-first2=Mark A.}}</ref>
==See also== * Dacian warfare * Falx * Gladiator * Gladius * Illyrian warfare * Ludus Dacicus * Pugio * {{annotated link|Sicarii}} * Spatha * Thracian warfare
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{commons category}} * https://www.scribd.com/document/33875732/Borangic-C-Sica-Tipologie-Si-Functional-It-Ate-NEMVS-IV-7-8-2009 * www.enciclopedia-dacica.ro http://enciclopedia-dacica.ro/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=709&Itemid=377 * Dictionnaire des Antiquités Grecques et Romaines, tom 4, vol. 2 (R–S), Paris, 1926, p. 1300, s.v. sica
{{Illyrians}} {{Dacia topics}} {{Swords by region}} {{Knives}}
Category:Ancient European swords Category:Ancient weapons Category:Edged and bladed weapons Category:Dacia Category:Dacian weapons Category:Illyrian warfare Category:Roman swords Category:Culture of the Thracians