Roman Pugio
The Pugio was a dagger used by Roman soldiers as a sidearm or backup weapon. The weapon's exact purpose is still unknown even to this day, as attempts to identify it as a utlity knife are misguided as the form of the pugio is not suited to this purpose and in any case utility knives of a variety of sizes are common finds on Roman military sites, meaning there would be no need for a pugio to be used this way. The weapon was also used as ornate dagger by Roman officials during the performances of their offices. Some officials would also carry a concealed pugio should the need to defend themselves arise. The weapon is most famous for being used in the assassination of Julius Caesar.
Inspiration to model this weapon came from two sources; Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood and Ryse: Son of Rome. In Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood you were able to acquire a special set of armour and a unique dagger, called Dagger of Brutus which is modelled after a Roman Pugio. As for Ryse: Son of Rome, I loved the aesthetic of that game and was inspired to create a variety of Roman military items.
This dagger is quite low poly, as I had the idea to import this weapon into Skyrim at some point. The model uses normal maps to achieve scratches and a slight worn effect on both the handle and blade, the metal is the same texture for both the handle and blade; I just used Photoshop to change the colours to gold.
My only gripe with this "product" is that geometry on the handle is far to simple. But then, realisticly the shape in real life wasn't exactly complex either. Perhaps I could do another Pugio, but instead of a standard, I could do a ceremonial Roman Pugio like the ones that Roman officials would take around as ornates.