2nd-3rd century A.D. The upper part of a Beneficiarius dedicatory spear or sceptre, comprising a circular-section shaft with an ivy leaf finial, a crescent (lunula) below and the point with triple acorn-shaped spheres; the lower end of the shaft square-section and with a rosette for attaching it to the wooden part, engraved with X-motifs and circumferential lines. Cf. Klein M. J., ‘Votivwaffen aus einem Mars-Heiligtum bei. Mainz’, in JRMES,10 (1999), pp. 87–94, fig.1 and 9, for similar votive spearheads; Kovács, P., ‘Beneficiarius Lances and Ring-Pommel Swords in Pannonia’, in Limes XIX, Procedings of the XIXth International Congress of Roman Frontier Studies, Pécs, 2005, pp. 955–70, fig.5 (similar spear represented on the Altar of Müllendorf); D’Amato, R., Sumner, G., Arms and Armour of the Imperial Roman Soldier: From Marius to Commodus, 112 BC-AD 192, London, 2009, fig.258, p.179, for similar specimen; Gaiu, C., ‘The Beneficiarius spearhead from Arcobadara’ in Journal of ancient Art and Archaeology, No.1.3/2014, pp.22-30. 62 grams, 49 cm (19 1/4 in.).

Found Cambridgeshire, UK. Accompanied by an academic report by Dr Raffaele D’Amato.

The beneficiarii, within the Roman army, were soldiers exempted from menial duties and acting as orderlies of senior officers; they were also charged with particular duties by governors and generals. Their distinctive insignia were decorated spears, often with a point shaped like an ivy leaf. The military stela from Perinth depicting a 3rd century beneficiarius shows a very similar spear, mounted over a particular structure on the midshaft of the spear.