Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jul 31, 2026

Dolabra

The dolabra is a versatile axe used by the people of Italy since ancient times. The dolabra could serve as a pickaxe used by miners and excavators, a priest's implement for ritual religious slaughtering of animals and as an entrenching tool (mattock) used in Roman infantry tactics. In the 1st century CE, at the Siege of Augustodunum Haeduorum, armoured Gallic gladiators were defeated by legionaries wielding dolabrae.

Last revised
Jul 31, 2026
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Wikipedia ↗
Early Roman Dolabra. source ↗

The dolabra1 is a versatile axe used by the people of Italy since ancient times. The dolabra could serve as a pickaxe used by miners and excavators, a priest's implement for ritual religious slaughtering of animals and as an entrenching tool (mattock) used in Roman infantry tactics. In the 1st century CE, at the Siege of Augustodunum Haeduorum, armoured Gallic gladiators were defeated by legionaries wielding dolabrae.2

Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo said, "you defeat the enemy with a pickaxe".3

See also

See also

Citations

Citations

  1. William, Smith (1890). "A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities". Perseus Digital Library, Tufts University. Archived from the original on 2016-05-14. Retrieved 4 November 2021.
  2. Cowan, Ross (September 2021). "Tales of the Axe". Ancient Warfare Magazine. 15 (2): 9.
  3. Strauss, Barry S. The Spartacus War. Simon & Schuster, 2009. Print.

General and cited references

  • Adrian Goldsworthy, The Complete Roman Army.
  • Strauss, Barry S. The Spartacus War. Simon & Schuster, 2009.
External links
  • Media related to Dolabra at Wikimedia Commons