Noric steel is a historical steel from Noricum, a kingdom located in modern Austria and Slovenia.
The proverbial hardness of Noric steel is expressed by Ovid: "...durior [...] ferro quod noricus excoquit ignis..." which roughly translates to "...harder than iron which Noric fire tempers [was Anaxarete towards the advances of Iphis]..."[1] and it was widely used for the weapons of the Roman military after Noricum joined the Empire in 16 BC.[2]
The iron ore was quarried at two mountains in modern Austria still called Erzberg "ore mountain" today, one at Hüttenberg, Carinthia[3] and the other at Eisenerz, Styria,[4] separated by c. 70 km (43 mi). The latter is the site of the modern Erzberg mine.
Buchwald[5]: 118 identifies a sword of c. 300 BC found in Krenovica, Moravia as an early example of Noric steel due to a chemical composition consistent with Erzberg ore. A more recent sword, dating to c. 100 BC and found in Zemplin, eastern Slovakia, is of extraordinary length for the period (95 cm, 37 in) and carries a stamped Latin inscription (?V?TILICI?O), identified as a "fine sword of Noric steel" by Buchwald.[5]: 120 A center of manufacture was at Magdalensberg.[5]: 124
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "...harder than iron tempered by Noric fire [was Anaxarete towards the advances of Iphis']...", Metamorphoses, 14.712
- ^ "Noricus ensis," Horace, Odes, i. 16.9
- ^ 46°56′N 14°34′E / 46.933°N 14.567°E
- ^ 47°32′N 14°54′E / 47.533°N 14.900°E
- ^ a b c Vagn Fabritius Buchwald (2005). Ch.5: "Celtic Europe and Noric Steel". Iron and steel in ancient times. Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters. ISBN 87-7304-308-7.