The pugio (; plural: pugiones) was a dagger used by Roman soldiers as a sidearm. It seems likely that the pugio was intended as an auxiliary weapon, but its exact purpose for the soldier remains unknown. Officials of the empire took to wearing ornate daggers in the performance of their offices, and some would wear concealed daggers for defense in contingencies. The dagger was a common weapon of assassination and suicide; for example, the conspirators who stabbed Julius Caesar used pugiones. The pugio developed from the daggers used by the Cantabrians of the Iberian peninsula. Etymology The word pūgiō derives from the word pungo. The root of the word is pug. The word derives from the Proto-Indo-European root *peuĝ. It is still possible to use punch and stab synonymously in many Indo-European languages; hence, Latin pugnus and Greek πυγμή pygmḗ mean "fist". The Smith article cited below proposes that the pugio was the weapon grasped by the fist; however, the Latin word for swordplay was pugna, an exchange of thrusts without the intermediary of fists, although it could also be a fistfight. Usage Like the gladius, the pugio was probably a stabbing weapon, the type of weapon said to have been preferred by the Romans. Of them, late Roman writer Vegetius said it "was the method of fighting principally used by the Romans"<ref>De Re Militari, </ref> Forging By the early 1st century, the pugio typically had a large blade. There were different kinds of blades. One type was "leaf-shaped." Another type had narrow parts near the shoulders. Which ran parallel to about half the blade's length before narrowing to a sharp point. Midribs ran close to the length of each side, either standing out from the face or sunken and defined by grooves on either side. The tang was wide and flat with a grip was riveted through it, as well as through the shoulders of the blade. The pommel was originally round but by the early 1st century, it was replaced by a round and trapezial pommel. Which was often topped by three decorative rivets. By the second quarter of the 1st century AD, three types of sheaths were in use. All of these had four suspension rings and a bulbous terminal expansion which was pierced by a large rivet. Evidence shows that the two lower rings were unused. The first type was made with a curving metal plate